Time To Stop Burning The Midnight Oil

Memes, doodles and sharp-witted one-liners were all the rage on social media immediately after Larsen & Toubro Chairman and Managing Director S N Subrahmanyan, known as SNS across this large Indian multinational company, was seen suggesting in a video that a 90-hour work week would keep the group competitive.

Amul, an Indian brand with a 79-year history of manufacturing dairy products, also joined in the bashing. Responding to Subrahmanyan’s suggestion, Amul captioned its doodle ‘Labour and Toil?’ with L & T featured in bold letters.

Subrahmanyan’s suggestion, which included working on Sundays, drew a “firestorm” of protest, leaving company executives across its engineering, construction, energy and defence verticals embarrassed across a much “respected” organisation with a storied 80-year history. A few months ago, N R Narayana Murthy, who founded Infosys, an “innovative” software services global company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange, in 1981, suggested a 70-hour work week for Indians.

Controversies aside, Subrahmanyan and Narayana Murthy’s suggestion to work more has directed attention to the perennial debate on work-life balance. The concept of work-life balance and the right to disconnect are gaining traction globally, but their implementation and recognition in India are still evolving.

While proponents argue for increased productivity and national progress, critics emphasise the detrimental effects, including burnout, declining quality of life and fertility rate challenges, which countries such as Japan, China and South Korea have now begun to address. In France and Australia, employees can legally ignore calls and emails that potentially eat into personal time.

In India, the ‘right to disconnect’ remains nascent. In 2018, Member of Parliament Supriya Sule introduced the Right to Disconnect Bill to empower employees to disengage from work-related communications outside of working hours.

This right is recognised in several European countries and aims to prevent the negative consequences of constant connectivity, such as occupational stress and infringement on personal time. The bill proposed penalties for employers violating these boundaries; however, it has yet to become law.

Employees’ well-being is paramount

Critics argue that specific sectors may struggle to implement such measures due to the nature of their operations.

While work-life balance is a dynamic equilibrium between professional responsibilities and personal life, implementing the right to disconnect requires clear policies, cultural shifts in workplaces and industry-specific considerations to mitigate the risks associated with hyperconnectivity.

The right’s effectiveness also depends on the cooperation between employers and employees and establishing clear communication protocols within organisations. The increasing use of digital mechanisms for work and the resulting constant availability of workers highlight the need for such a right.

While corporate honchos such as Subrahmanyan (whose annual salary is US$ 58,98,290.61 or Rs 51.05 crore) and Narayana Murthy wax eloquent on India reaching its full potential and alleviating poverty, the pressures on employee health and mental health were revealed when a 26-year-old Ernst & Young employee died of a cardiac arrest allegedly due to “overwhelming work pressure”. In September 2024, an employee at Bajaj Finance committed suicide following alleged “unbearable work pressure and mental torture by his seniors”.

Many Indian industries, especially IT, banking and startups, often demand extended hours, which add to the length of workdays that involve long commutes in cities such Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi. This is accompanied by the cultural norm of working late to demonstrate commitment, which is grounded in the theory of the prevalent competition for jobs in a populous country such as India.

There is also a lack of awareness as many workers are unaware of their rights to time off or are hesitant to take leave.

Work-life balance policies in India often tend to be perceived as necessary primarily for women due to traditional gender roles. This perception, which is rooted in the patriarchal structure of Indian society, assumes that only women need them to manage family responsibilities. Policies must address the needs of all employees, regardless of gender.

Inclusive policies

There is also a lack of employer and co-worker support for implementing family-friendly policies, contributing to the work-life balance struggles among professional women. This gap highlights the need for more inclusive policies catering to both men and women, promoting gender neutrality in the workplace.

In this regard, India’s labour laws aim to regulate working conditions, ensure safety and prevent exploitation. Some key legislations include The Factories Act of 1948, which limits weekly working hours to 48. It protects workers from hazardous working conditions by establishing specific health, safety and welfare framework criteria.

Similarly, the Minimum Wages Act of 1948 ensures fair wages across industries and regions. Besides, laws like the Employees’ State Insurance Act of 1948 provide comprehensive benefits and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 bans children from hazardous industries.

Lastly, the Industrial Disputes Act provides a framework for resolving disputes between employers and workers. All these are accompanied by the Indian Constitution which explicitly prohibits forced labour and trafficking. However, the legal framework is inadequate and needs to evolve to address the contemporary challenges.

A comparative analysis of work-life balance policies in Hong Kong and China reveals several critical insights as both regions demonstrate fragmented strategies in addressing the issue. Traditional organisational practices and societal expectations often prioritise professional commitments over personal life shaped by cultural norms.

In these high-performing economies, traditional work ethics, which emphasise long hours and dedication, frequently conflict with modern concepts of work-life equilibrium, complicating policy adoption and implementation—the reason behind this is correlating long working hours with economic success.

Hong Kong, for example, does not have a standard maximum working hours law, which means many workers end up working beyond the typical 40–48 hours per week, often leading to fatigue and stress, impacting both physical and mental well-being.  Moreover, policies such as mandatory leave, paternity leave and working hour regulation are less developed than in other regions, though discussions are ongoing to improve the current policies.

The right to disconnect is a forward-thinking initiative to foster healthier work environments and ensure a better work-life balance for employees. While India’s labour laws already provide a good framework for worker protection, integrating contemporary concepts like the right to disconnect is crucial to address the evolving challenges of modern workplaces, transforming not only employer-employee relationships but also the legal system to focus on occupational health, safety and privacy.

Lessons from Hong Kong and China highlight the need for tailoring such policies to align with cultural, economic and organisational contexts and ensuring their effectiveness in promoting employee well-being and productivity. Policies would need to focus on inclusive practices to cater to employees’ evolving needs and aspirations while balancing organisational performance effectively.