Karnataka’s proposal to extend work hours to 12 per day is sending shockwaves through India’s tech sector. Bengaluru, the country’s IT hub, is at the epicenter of this potential overhaul. While the government pitches it as a move for operational flexibility, unions and employees fear it’s a step toward worker exploitation, burnout, and job losses. Here’s everything we know so far, unfiltered and in full context.
Karnataka’s 12-Hour Shift Plan: Reforms or Reverse?
A silent tremor is running through the corridors of India’s tech industry and it’s the southern state of Karnataka that is at the center of it all. The state, which hosts India’s version of Silicon Valley – Bengaluru – is contemplating a move that’s as audacious as it is contentious. It is weighing stretching the work day to 9 or even 12 hours for tech and service workers who work daily, including overtime. Some consider this a step toward business flexibility, while others are afraid it’s a harbinger of burnout, unemployment, and even worse work-life balance.
Millions watch and a critical question emerges – are we evolving to become a more productive work culture, or are we endangering the well-being of an enormous workforce in the name of productivity?
What’s the 12-Hour Shift Proposal?
Currently, in Karnataka, the Karnataka State Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, limits the hours off work to 9 per day. The new proposal aims to do that – from a legal perspective.
Here’s what the government is currently contemplating:
- Let the normal 10-hour working day be the rule
- Allow up to 2 overtime hours, making it a 12-hour day
- Maintain 48-hour weekly working time ceiling
This is to say that as the sum total of weekly hours remains constant, the pattern of hours distribution could change. Workers could put in more hours on any given day but shorter workweeks are a possibility. On paper, it appears to be a balancing act. But just below the surface is where a more complex matrix of effects emerge.
For Businesses: More Flexibility
The government is arguing that the change will make the transaction of business easier. Two 12-hour shifts might take the place of the customary three 8-hour ones. For management, that could mean lower costs, less red tape and simpler systems. Proponents say the proposed law is consistent with India’s wider national labor reforms pursuant to the four labor codes that were rolled in between 2019 and 2020.
It is being touted as a pro-growth and pro-investment measure that could up the attractiveness of Karnataka to global investors and startups.
For Workers: A Heavy Toll
But for workers, particularly in tech and services, that might translate to:
- Longer hours at desks or on the manufacturing floor
- Shorter recovery periods between shifts
- Reduced time to spend with family, for leisure, and on self-care
- Greater levels of fatigue and psychological distress
The worry is that what is currently referred to as “overtime” could become the regular way of most companies doing business. Once it’s all over, what separates what should and shouldn’t be required of us turns hazy to the point of being dangerous.
How IT Professionals Are Disproportionately Affected
The tech professionals in India are used to long hours. Workdays, already stretched past standard hours with late-night calls with clients working across the globe, product release crunch time and round-the-clock support will now further extend into months. There is, however, a legal safety net — the cap at 9 hours. That’s what’s about to change.
The Karnataka proposal seems to want to formalize what has been informally leaden overwork. If enacted, tech workers may no longer have the option. What was once extraordinary might soon become commonplace.
The eye of this policy storm will be Bengaluru, home to tens of thousands of IT workers. For India’s largest and most powerful tech hub, that rule could rework working terms for the sector – inside the state and across India.
KITU: Modern Slavery in the Making
The largest IT union in the State, the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) has strongly opposed the decision. They have even labeled it the legal road to “modern slavery.” Their fears are entirely justified, both on the grounds of logic and history.
According to the union:
- The 12-hour shift suggestion would help enable a two-shift model, rather than the current three-shift system
- That could put a third or more of the jobs in companies that use this technology at risk
- Workforces could burn out, become mentally stressed and return to distressing family and social lives
- The new law gives companies an opening to ask for more work, without an equivalent raise in pay or help
This is not just a matter of the extra hours. It is about a fundamental shift in the employer-employee dynamic – from prioritising people to valuing productivity.
Not Just Karnataka: National Formations Emerge
This is not something happening in a vacuum. Karnataka’s decision comes after a crackdown in other states, such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. These states have already passed laws permitting companies to work more hours per day than time worn practice allows.
All of this traces back to four labor codes that the Union government passed between 2019 and 2020. These laws gave states the authority to set working hours and other conditions of employment. Labour flexibility may sound like two refreshing words in a glass case, inside a room full of stale ones but here’s the thing – just as with everywhere, you don’t get what you ask for, you get what you demand: in the offices, in the streets and from legislatures.
Where Is the Government in This?
Oddly when the public interest and agitation are on the rise, the Karnataka Labour Department is not releasing any communications following its internal meeting with industry and union representatives. A formal draft of the amendment has not been provided to the legislative assembly or the public for review.
This silence is raising eyebrows.
Trade unions oppose any move to force through such legislation without an open debate and warn it could trigger mass protests or industrial strikes. They call for a full public consultation and declare that workers must not just be spectators when it comes to decisions that impact their health, homes, and their future.
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Work-Life Balance: The Hidden Casualty
More hours affect not just physical health. The primary cost is frequently emotional (and mental) exhaustion. Sounds like overworked employees are more on the receiving end of:
- Burnout and reduced productivity
- Sleep disorders and chronic fatigue
- Higher prevalence of anxiety and depression
- Weakened relationships and social isolation
Now, in a post-pandemic world where mental-health awareness is growing, to enforce a policy like this seems anachronistic, at best. Not least in a state that prides itself as a laboratory of experimentation, creativity and globalism.
Business Growth vs Human Capital
Advocates of the move say that flexible hours make India more competitive in the world. They add that it comports with the requirements of world markets while promoting economic efficiency.
But critics caution that you don’t want to be sacrificing human capital in the service of profit margins. “Working someone too long might be good in the short-term but will be bad in the long term in terms of attrition and engagement and innovation – all the things that kill you in the tech world.”
If productivity is the objective, then those policies should reflect healthier means to get there: flexible working hours, working from home, mental health support, better tools — not more hours.
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Voices from the Ground
The proposal has yet to reach the state legislature, but workers have been spreading the word on social media and in private. Many are annoyed at the notion of such a life-altering change occurring unbeknownst to them.
For every ambitious engineer or coder galvanized by the prospect of a compressed four-day week, there are dozens anxious about being forced back to work two hours later at night with no advance notice. In an industry that operates on deadlines, crunch times and global dependencies, after all, a 12-hour stint can very quickly cross the line to compulsory.
The Bottom Line: Is This Reform, or Backsliding?
Karnataka’s proposal of 12-hour shifts for select factories might have been pitched as a business-friendly reform, but if implemented, the change could have profound implications for India’s work culture. It could exacerbate existing inequalities, fray the mind and further erode the barriers that separate work and life.
What comes next is not simply an issue of law, but of public conversation. The workers, the unions, the citizens, all their voices need to be heard before the ink is dry on this legislation.
Conclusion
Reforming how we work isn’t just a matter of the numbers – hours, productivity, GDP. It’s about people. It all about the invisible balance between what we give and what we get. A longer workday may drive greater efficiency from systems but must not do so at expense of human dignity, health and freedom.
If Karnataka becomes the first major tech hub to legitimize the 12-hour day, other states may follow its lead. Which also makes this not just an issue for the state – but also for the nation. It is time for a frank, open conversation about how we want to work – and how much of our lives we are prepared to trade for it.
FAQs
Has the 12 hour shift law passed in Karnataka?
No, the law has not been enacted. As of now it is being discussed and no proposed legislation has been brought to the legislature.
Will you be expected to work more weekly hours under this law?
No, they keep the 48-hour-week limit in this weekly cap. The law will accommodate up to 12 hours of work a day, which could shrink the workweek.
Why are the unions against this bill?
Unions are worried about job losses, increased burnout and exploitation under the guise of efficiency. They see it as a breach of workers’ rights and of good mental health.
Which other states have allowed extended shifts?
States including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have already approved similar labor reforms, permitting longer daily work shifts.
Who is likely to be affected by this change?
Techies, in Bengaluru in particular, may be the hardest hit, thanks to the city’s teeming IT populace and turbocharged work culture.
Reference
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