Govt proposes to up daily factory work limit to 12 hours, draws protests

Work-life balance of employees will be hurt if they work for so long and then commute, say labour economists

The Central government has proposed to increase the maximum work-day of a factory worker by one-and-a-half hours. According to the proposal, a worker may be allowed to work in a factory for 12 hours a day as against the current limit of 10.5 hours.

The government has also, for the first time, proposed that migrant workers should meet some minimum conditions to be eligible to receive allowance from their employers to travel to their home states.

“The period of work of a worker shall be so arranged that inclusive of his intervals for rest, shall not spread over for more than twelve