IIT professor's take on corporate bosses wanting 70-hour work week 'with 0 overtime pay' wins hearts

The professor was most likely referring to the remarks made by L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan in an undated viral video where he urged his employees to work on Sundays. (Representational image)

In the midst of an ongoing country-wide debate on work-life balance with several business leaders pushing employees to work long hours (as much as 70 to 90 hours a week) an IIT professor has highlighted what none of the corporate bosses have touched upon yet -- extra payment for working overtime.

Nirmalya Kajuri, an assistant professor of Physics at IIT Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, wrote 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."

In a follow-up post, he added that in the US, Europe, and China, irrespective of what line of work professionals are in, they get paid for overtime if they work for more than 40 hours a week. "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.

Drawing from personal experience, the IIT professor added that his friends working abroad always get compensated for working over 40 hours and even get paid for dinner in many cases if they stay beyond 8 pm. "Whereas Indian companies regularly make employees work 50-60 hours with zero overtime pay," he said.

Kajuri's post found favour among thousands and was viewed by close to four lakh X users.

The professor was most likely referring to the remarks made by L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan in an undated viral video. In it, the L&T chief was responding to an employee's question about why the company mandated working on Saturdays. “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest," he replied. "If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays also.”

Moreover, challenging the need for time off, he added, “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Get to the office and start working.”

Subrahmanyan justified his stance with an anecdote about a conversation with a Chinese professional who claimed that China could surpass the US due to its stronger work ethic. According to the anecdote, the Chinese individual said, “Chinese people work 90 hours a week, while Americans work only 50 hours a week.” Drawing parallels, he urged L&T employees to emulate this work culture. Subrahmanyan, however, did not mention paying his employees extra for working overtime.