Introduction
A young IT professional who graduated from one of the most prestigious institutes, IISc Bangalore, decided to take his own life amid the myriad stresses he was facing at work. The colleagues claimed that Nikhil was faced with an overload of work since two of the teammates left the team and were confronted with physical abuse from the senior. The occurrence of such incidents is ubiquitous and reflects on a legal framework that has failed in its duty to protect the workers, on whose contribution this country’s economy survives. A 42-year-old Bajaj Finance employee in a similar manner fell to his inner battles, claiming that he wasn’t able to sleep for the past 45 days from the overwork his company rained upon him.
In a country grappling with severe unemployment, where even PhD holders are applying for peon positions, individuals facing work-related stress often find it difficult to resign, fearing the uncertainty of finding another job. Big companies veritably use it to benefit their fortunes at the expense of the employees’ mental and physical well-being. The glorification of hustle culture further enriches this exploitation. Narayan Murthi, the founder of Infosys, in an interview, advocated for a 70-hour work week, claiming that such dedication is imperative to success.
The proven research studies on long working hours have shown how it could impact the health of an employee significantly. As per the National Library of Medicine report, working for long hours increases the risk of depression, heart disease and chronic fatigue. It leads to poor sleep, reduced productivity and unhealthy coping habits like smoking or alcohol use, ultimately harming overall wellbeing and work performance. While India has taken steps in labour welfare through minimum wage laws and the Code on Social Security, there exists a lacuna in laws that effectively cap long working hours for large swaths of India’s white collar jobs.
The article herein explores the lack of legal limits on working hours and questions the silence of labour laws in white collar sectors. This piece calls for urgent legal reforms to ensure fair and humane working conditions.
Bridging the Gap: Constitutional Promises and Labour Law Limitations
Labour law, also known as employment law, is the body of laws, precedents and administrative rulings that address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organisations. Under the Constitution of India, Labour is a subject on the concurrent list, implying both the Central and State Governments are competent to enact legislation on the subject. As a result, India has a large number of labour laws covering a wide range of areas, everything from minimum wages and working hours to workplace safety.
The apex court in the case of Philips India Ltd vs. Labour Court, Madras & Ors laid down that employers cannot indirectly increase working hours without paying extra compensation by fixing lower working hours and then taking additional work without fair payment. It’s omnipresent in the corporate world to expect the employee to work overtime but not get any compensation or payment for the same. The court reiterated the principle in the case of Bank of India v. T.S. Kelawala. The court adroitly mentioned that the employee must be paid as per the work that he has done and not merely presence at the place. By analogy, it can be argued that when an employee is compelled or expected to work overtime for the benefit of the company, such additional work should be duly recognised and appropriately compensated. The Court in Associated Cement emphasised the importance of managing workers’ hours by considering factors such as the health and fatigue of employees, the impact of working hours on their efficiency and productivity, and the essential need for leisure in their daily lives.
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the right to life and personal liberty. Importantly, the word “life” used here refers not just to a life of survival or animal existence but to a humane life. It has been expansively interpreted by the courts to mean a life of dignity that includes the right to a better standard of living, humane working conditions and protection from exploitation. in Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. v. Employees State Insurance Corporation, the Supreme Court affirmed that employers must ensure that their employees can lead a meaningful and dignified life. However, while the Constitution promises these rights, the laws and workplace policies intended to realise them often fall short. This inadequacy is particularly evident for managerial and white-collar employees who, being excluded from the definition of “workers” under labour laws, remain without adequate legal protection. Consequently, the gap between the Constitution’s vision and the lived reality of many employees in India becomes stark and undeniable.
The Overlooked Workforce: Legal Gaps for White-Collar Employees
Most labour laws in India define “workmen” and do not apply to the managerial or supervisory staff, i.e. the white- collar workforce which forms the backbone of most of the corporate houses. They are not CEOs or executives instead, these are the mid-level professionals expected to deliver all tasks like machines but protected like no one. The Industrial Disputes Act, the Factories Act, and other labour laws do not apply to those in managerial positions. Instead, these employees are governed by private employment contracts and internal company policies, which often lack any enforceable grievance mechanism or basic protections. In toxic corporate environments, where overwork, micromanagement, and mental burnout are rampant, these policies are just a toothless tiger.
Now, with India moving towards a new labour law framework through the four new labour laws, the Code on Wages, Code on Social Security, Industrial Relations Code and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (OSHWC), which are awaiting a government notification, gave hope for change.
These new codes divide the workforce into 2 categories, i.e. workers and employees.
A ‘worker’ is an individual who has no managerial or supervisory role. An ’employee’ covers all individuals who are workers as well as those working in managerial and supervisory positions in an organisation. On paper, this seems inclusive. But in practice, the legal vacuum remains.
Out of the four codes, only two apply to a company’s entire workforce : (i) The Code on Wages covering minimum wages, payment of minimum wages, and bonus payments, among others and; (ii) The Code on Social Security includes provisions such as the Employees’ Provident Fund, gratuity and maternity relief. While these are important, they don’t address toxic work culture, long working hours, mental stress, or mechanisms to report abuse for managerial-level employees. The new laws continue to ignore the nuanced challenges faced by white-collar professionals, treating their suffering as invisible simply because their salaries are higher.
Building Better Lives: Global Efforts in Worker Protection and Welfare
Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states that ‘Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with payment” The global world is continuously making efforts to enforce better workers’- rights, implementing flexible working hours and necessitating the right to disconnect. The fight against long working hours isn’t recent, it stems its origin from the industrial revolution. Workers around the world have long advocated for the right to a work-life balance, but regrettably, this concept remains elusive in India.
According to a report by Expertmarket, which analysed the productivity of each nation, they found a direct connection between reduced working hours, employee satisfaction and productivity. Countries such as Luxembourg, with a remarkable work-life balance, were placed in top spots. The countries that performed below par, like Mexico, prove that long hours and few paid holidays don’t tend to translate into productivity. Countries such as France, Italy and Spain have emerged with the novel but exceptional concept of “Right to disconnect”. Workers are provided with the unmitigated right to not answer office calls and emails outside office hours, providing a clear boundary between professional and personal life.
While Indian employees are often expected to be present even on Sundays, countries such as Iceland, Belgium Japan have astutely emancipated their workers from work-related stress by providing a 4-day work week. Sweden has provided its workers with the right to get paid parental leave, safeguarding their right to care for their children in the formative stage of their development. Ireland enacted remote working legislation after witnessing the positive impact of work-from-home arrangements on productivity, made possible by advances in technology.
Conclusion: The Way Forward
The persistence of excessive working hours in Indian’s corporate sector is not merely a labour issue, it’s a constitutional concern that tests the nation commitment to ensuring a life of dignity for all. While the Indian market and economy are on the rise, the workers’ mental health remains decadent. The law must evolve in such a manner that the worker is not “made to do more work than he is paid for”. It becomes imperative for the government to impose strict statutory limits on daily and weekly working hours for all employees, including managerial and white-collar workers, ensuring clear enforcement and penalties for violations. The Right to Disconnect bill, which was introduced in parliament in 2018, still waits at the threshold of law seeking passage, and could be a step in the right direction.
Workers’ mental health deserves uncompromising protection, and introducing on-site therapy, an approach successfully adopted by several leading international firms, can equip employees with healthier coping mechanisms while fostering a more resilient workforce. Employees who work beyond standard hours should receive compensation for every extra hour they put in. Effective enforcement of this principle can only be ensured if it is backed by clear statutory provisions. The concept of flexible remote work, if it is not essential to be present in the office can also be introduced, however it must be made certain that unreasonable demands aren’t made during the remote work. Companies may be legally required to publicly disclose key data, including the average working hours of their employees and their compliance with overtime payment obligations. Such transparency will not only drive accountability but also encourage healthier workplace practices across the corporate sector.
The tragic case of a young IT professional driven to suicide under the unbearable weight of overwork must serve as a stark reminder that the human cost of unregulated workplaces is far too high. The government must broaden and strengthen its laws to ensure that no individual who contributes meaningfully to the nation’s growth and prosperity is ever pushed to such a desperate brink simply because work-related stress was allowed to go unchecked. It is imperative that our laws acknowledge that economic progress cannot come at the cost of human lives, and that every worker deserves the chance to live with dignity, balance, and hope, free from the fear that their workplace will become a silent battleground for their mental health and well-being.
(This post has been co-authored by Udit Jain, a third-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at National Law University, Jodhpur, and Kavya Tyagi, a third-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Amity University, Noida.)
CITE AS: Udit Jain and Kavya Tyagi ‘Overworked and Unprotected: The Legal Vacuum Around Working Hours in India’s Corporate Sector’ (The Contemporary Law Forum, 07 August 2025) <https://tclf/2025/08/07/overworked-and-unprotected-the-legal-vacuum-around-working-hours-in-indias-corporate-sector/>date of access.