Under the new labour laws being created by the Indian government, a provision of 4 days of work in a week could be possible in the coming days in India. The government will give companies the option of three days of paid leave but will keep the working hours at 48 hours a week. If applied by the companies, it will result in employees being subjected to longer work hours per day.
“Companies will have to give three days’ of paid leaves and 12 hours of work per day to their employees with the consent of the workers. We are not forcing employees or employers. It gives flexibility. It’s an enabling provision in sync with the changing work culture. We have tried to make some changes. We have tried to give flexibility in working days,” said Labour and Employment Ministry Secretary Apurva Chandra.
“It (working days) could come down below five. If it is four, then you have to provide three paid holidays…so if it has to be a seven day week, then it has to be divided into 4 or 5 or 6 working days. Under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 draft rules, the limit of working hours for a week was 48 hours. This limit was sacrosanct and that employers and workers would have to agree to a change in working days. It cannot be forced,” he said.
“Employers will have to ensure that if they choose a four-day work week, there has to be a three-day break, and if it is a five-day week, two days of break before starting a new work week has to be implemented,” Chandra said.
The 4-day work week in Microsoft, Japan
In November of 2019, Microsoft introduced a program in Japan called the “Work Life Choice Challenge,” which shut down its offices every Friday in August and gave all employees an extra day off each week.
The results were promising: While the amount of time spent at work was cut dramatically, productivity — measured by sales per employee — went up by almost 40% compared to the same period the previous year.
