Working Hours and Overtime Under India’s New Labour Codes: Productivity or Pressure?

In this discussion, Rishi Agrawal Ceo - Co- founder TeamLease RegTech responds to concerns around working hours, overtime, and shift-related provisions under India’s new labour codes—particularly whether these changes increase productivity or place additional burden on employees.

He begins by explaining the scale of rationalisation involved in the reforms. Earlier, India operated under 29 separate labour laws with multiple overlapping definitions of workers and establishments. Businesses were required to maintain dozens of registers, and several provisions carried criminal liability for minor non-compliances. This complexity discouraged formalisation and limited business growth.

The new labour codes simplify this framework by introducing unified and harmonised definitions, reducing duplication, and standardising compliance requirements. Rishi explains that this clarity benefits workers directly, as it encourages employers to expand operations without fear of disproportionate compliance risk.

Importantly, core worker protections remain unchanged. The 48-hour workweek continues, and overtime is still paid at twice the normal rate. What has changed is flexibility—allowing businesses to structure working hours based on operational needs without diluting worker entitlements.

He also highlights progressive provisions such as allowing women to work night shifts with explicit safeguards around security, welfare, and consent, and the formalisation of fixed-term employment with parity of benefits compared to permanent workers.

Rishi concludes that these reforms are not about increasing workload, but about removing artificial constraints that kept enterprises small and workers informal. By encouraging formal growth, the new labour codes aim to benefit workers, employers, and the broader economy alike.

Courtesy: Excerpts in this video are sourced from a news broadcast CNBC Awaaz. We thank the news channel for the opportunity and coverage.

Видео Working Hours and Overtime Under India’s New Labour Codes: Productivity or Pressure? канала TeamLease Regtech