Editorial: Reality of four-day workweek

The government has said this measure could be implemented while still maintaining the 48 hours a week schedule, which in turn could mean employees might have to clock in longer, 12-hour days at work. While the Ministry is yet to release details of the proposal, Secretary Apurva Chandra said the idea is to offer employees a degree of flexibility at work. 

The conversation around work-life balance has been at odds with the realities of office in India. It’s something that has a precedent set in the post-Independence era. Our equivalent of the US’ baby boomers, has always afforded the workplace a reverential stature, reinforced by its depiction in popular culture, where the concept of employment is tied to a disciplined culture of 9 to 5 office-going workdays and a one-day weekend. Fast-forward to the millennials who turned the concept of punching in and out of work on its head, pulling in all-nighters, and working weekends to make ends meet. 

Keeping up with the demands of a globalised world, many offices function around the clock, with multiple shifts. While the International Labour Organisation has set the standards to 48 hours a week, in India, the work hours often exceed beyond this prescribed limit, on a daily and weekly basis. The fallout of this is pronounced in the country, which has been termed as the most overworked in the world. The results of an employee well-being survey conducted last year estimated that at least 50 per cent of office-goers in India were stressed about an uncertain future. While 36 per cent suffered from mental health issues, 17 per cent was afflicted by physical ailments. The pandemic has exacerbated the situation, by throwing in variables such as pay-cuts, retrenchments and a work from home culture where the delineations separating office time from personal time have all but vanished. 

The WHO estimates the global economy faced losses upwards of $1 trillion annually on account of low productivity fuelled by workplace anxiety. In a developed nation like Japan, a term has been coined to describe the phenomenon of being overworked to death - karoshi, mainly caused by heart attacks, strokes and improper diets. Here in India, it might be a few years before we can embrace a concept as radical as a four-day workweek. 

The reason is that this work routine cannot be treated as a one size fits all solution. Not every company is involved in a line of work that requires its staff to work 12 hours a day. And how does it translate to essential services staffers? It might also be unrealistic to set a 9-9 schedule for any given day when you must factor in at least an hour or two for lunch and dinner breaks. Couple this scenario with commute times in a city, and it’s a recipe for breakdown, as breadwinners and working parents might barely get to meet their families on workdays. The idea also has loopholes that could be exploited by unscrupulous employers and employees for their benefits. 

The fact that the Centre is paying attention to India’s workforce, is a heartening development. But there’s more to be done by both governments and the corporate sector to ensure work-life balance can be implemented in the right manner. It begins with an attitudinal shift. Cutting corners, when it comes to investing in the right quantum of people and the right technologies, holding back on training opportunities, ignoring employee wellness and personal time-off in the interest of short- term profitability are character traits that organisations must shed in the post-pandemic world. What we need is a humane approach to human resources.