How To Make Corporate Bosses Champions Of Work-Life Balance? This IIT Professor Has A Plan

Amidst a national debate on work-life balance, where many business leaders advocate for excessively long workweeks (up to 90 hours), an IIT professor has highlighted a crucial point often overlooked by corporate bosses: overtime pay.

Nirmalya Kajuri, an assistant professor of Physics at IIT Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, expressed on X, "If India strictly implements overtime pay for 40+ hours of work per week, all the corporate bosses who are now advocating that employees work 70-90 hours a week will become the biggest champions of work-life balance."

If India strictly implements overtime pay for 40+ hours of work per week, all the corporate bosses who are now advocating that employees work 70-90 hours a week will become the biggest champions of work-life balance

— Nirmalya Kajuri (@Kaju_Nut) January 11, 2025

In a follow-up post, he noted that in the US, Europe, and China, professionals are compensated for overtime if they work more than 40 hours a week, regardless of their field of work. "In India also, there is a provision of overtime pay(typically for 48+ hours) for white-collar employees under the Shops and Establishment Act. But this law varies from state to state and is not implemented well. So if an employer is making you work more than 48+ hours, they are most likely violating the law," Kajuri said.

Sharing his own experience, the IIT professor mentioned that his friends working abroad are always compensated for any overtime beyond 40 hours and, in many cases, even receive payment for dinner if they work past 8 pm. "In contrast, Indian companies often require employees to work 50-60 hours without any overtime pay," he pointed out.

Kajuri's post resonated with several users on X.

A user wrote, "The day we have stringent labour regulations including work hours, compensation & overtime. These same people will preach about work-life balance."

Another user suggested, "Implement a pay-by-hour system in India and see how it could revolutionize the workforce dynamics, making extra hours a choice rather than an expectation without reward."

"This 70-90 hours work isn't only in India, but most development and developing nations are having the same issues. They have an unlimited supply of labour resources that helps them exploit," the third user commented.

The professor's comments likely referenced remarks made by L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan in a viral, undated video. In response to an employee's query about the company's Saturday work requirement, Mr Subrahmanyan said, "I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays also."