Information technology employee union Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) staged a protest in Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on August 3 against increasing working hours. Manjunath G, Additional commissioner, Labour Department, assured protestors that the demands would be taken up for consideration by the government, after being handed over documents opposing the proposed bill.
Karnataka government's controversial proposal to extend working hours for the IT/ITes employees has drawn widespread criticism. The state government is considering amending the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, which would allow companies to extend overtime by 3 hours, taking the total to 12 hours a day for an employee. However, the basic working hours remain unchanged at 9 hours a day.
The government says this aims to increase the state's share of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India from 45 percent to 50 percent, according to the documents accessed by Moneycontrol. Additionally, the document mentions that the maximum overtime hours are fixed at 125 hours over three months, to ensure that such extended shifts are infrequent.
Also read: The real reason why Karnataka government is increasing working hours of IT employees
Suhas Adiga, General Secretary, KITU, said that the proposed amendment is an attack on workers' basic right to personal life and said that the union will resist any efforts to implement this change. He urged the government to withdraw the proposal and warned that any move to proceed with the amendment would be met with strong resistance from IT and ITES sector employees.
“This is completely unacceptable, the government cannot treat IT employees this way, Bengaluru will cede ground to other emerging IT hubs if this becomes law,” said one protestor on the condition of anonymity.
Also read: 'Totally inhumane': Internet reacts to Karnataka IT firms' 14-hour workday proposal
Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out at the venue as workers of another IT employee union displayed their banner. Police, present at the site, scouted three workers out of the protest venue to calm the situation down.
The bill assumes significance for the state as nearly 18 lakh IT professionals are employed across 8,785 IT/BT firms in Karnataka. The tech industry employs over 50 lakh professionals in the country, implying a disproportionate 40 percent of the total base is located in Karnataka alone.
The move also comes at a time when Karnataka is set to become the first state in the country to introduce a Global Capability Centres (GCC) policy. Karnataka has set a target to host more than 15 percent of the GCCs of the world’s top 2,000 companies by 2030, which will generate over 1 million jobs.
A GCC is a dedicated offshore unit established by a company in a foreign country to in-source IT and other related business functions.
Earlier Protests
In the run-up to the protest, KITU has been staging protests across the IT parks in the Silicon Valley of India for the last couple of days to build momentum for the protest.
On July 22, KITU conducted street campaigns and gate meetings in 29 locations, including in front of Accenture's office in Koramangala, IBC Knowledge Park on Bannerghatta Road, and Bosch Global Software Technologies in Adugodi.
In March 2024, KITU staged a protest in front of the labor commissioner’s office (Karmika Bhavana), demanding that the state government end the exemption provided to the IT/ITeS sector. State labour minister Santosh Lad had stated last year that the government may not provide the exemption.
Other Unions
It is not just KITU which is protesting, several IT staff unions including the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) have opposed the proposal to extend the working hours.
Pune-based IT industry body NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja had earlier told Moneycontrol that the government should disclose which companies or industry lobby is pressuring the establishment into making such laws.
Saluja further said the proposed bill is a hogwash as none of the IT companies pay overtime to employees.
On July 24, Information Technology and Biotechnology minister Priyank Kharge said the extension of the working hours rule won’t apply to all companies after the government faced flak. "The proposal will be applicable to sectors like manufacturing and service-oriented industries that require longer working hours," Kharge told the legislative council on July 23.
The IT industry body National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) said it has not requested a 14-hour workday or a 70-hour workweek.
Also read: Karnataka labour minister: IT industries pressuring govt to extend working hours
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