This can be a landmark case in the history of the IT industry in India.
It can be considered to be an exemplary case, Frustrated over bad leave policy and long working hours, employees of leading Information Technology companies with offices in India, have filed a case against their employers.
The case is a Public Interest Litigation, which has been filed by three IT employees from Hyderabad, along with activist group Forum Against Corruption.
The PIL has been filed at the Telangana High Court. PIL has been filed to make the lives of the IT employees better, and stop work related exploitation by the companies.
There have been cases wherein employees have worked for 10 hours, without any extra pay, forcefully spending 4-5 hours in daily commute via office cabs, not allocating the leaves in time, and more.
The Andhra Pradesh Shops and Establishments Act of 1988, which was renamed to The Telangana Shops and Establishments Act of 1988 states that:
- Employees cannot be asked to work for more than 48 hours a week and/or 8 hours a day
- Overtime can only be imposed for 6 hours a week and 24 hours a year
- Every employee must be given 15 days of paid leave, 12 days of casual leave, and 12 days of sick leave in a year
However, in 2002, a Government Order was passed, which allowed IT companies to bypass these labor laws, in order to encourage more IT firms to set up their offices in the then state of Andhra Pradesh.
Total of 6 sections were allowed to be bypassed, which include opening and closing hours, daily and weekly working hours, holidays and provisions to protect an employee in case of termination of service.
Since 2002, this GO has been given extension, and the last extension was given in 2019, for another two years.
Originally published 11 September 2019
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