The Union government will soon offer companies the flexibility to choose a shorter four-day work week, albeit with longer shifts.
The weekly 48-hour work limit will stay but employers will be able to deploy people on four, 12-hour workdays per week; or five, around 10-hour days; or six, eight-hour days, labor secretary Apurva Chandra told reporters on Monday.
Chandra said that there would be flexibility for employers to give a four, five, or six-day week. There has to be unanimity between employers and employees over a four-day week, it cannot be thrust on employees, he clarified further.
He also said the government is likely to complete the process of finalizing rules under the four labor codes soon. It is worth mentioning here is that once the new rules are implemented, companies will no longer be required to take government nod to move to a four-or a five-day working week if the employees give the green signal to the arrangement.
The move has been prompted following there were concerns raised over the Centre’s proposal to increase the spread over hours to 12 under the Code on Occupational Safety. At present, employers have to take the consent of the government to cut the number of workdays in a week which has been fixed at 48 hours for a workweek of six days and eight hours of work each day.
ET quoted the labor secretary as saying, “There were concerns raised on the proposed 12 hours of spread over. We have taken these concerns into account and have tried to give flexibility to employers on workdays in a week while removing the rigidity.” The Code on Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions, 2020 will be applicable to all establishments and factories.
Further, the government is also likely to set up the web portal for registration of unorganized sector, including gig and platform workers and migrant workers by June 2021. Also, the Centre will allow employers to avail Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) facilities for an annual checkup of its employees who are ESIC beneficiaries instead of paying from their pocket. And final rules will clarify this.
