[Shanavas]

Hi ,
I am working in a corporate giant's call center division in Bangalore.
this is about recent one sided and anti-emoployee( I feel) decisions from the manager(ment).

Recently we had a change to a different process .( Nothing was discussed - management decision)

We are there in the new process for 1 month now. Already there are teams working here. Comparing to them, out performance is less( which is abvious as we are new and they are working for more than 9 months to 3 yrs in the same)

When I say performance, the rest is on 44 % score and we are on 33% ( not so pathetic)

Here comes the catch:

Now they are going to extend our shift from 9 hrs to 10 Hrs in the name of performance.

(We are 2 team and 1 team is already doing so.)

The above reason is a sheer lie. They have some hidden agenda behind this. - for managerial gains

They dont have any idea that how long the shift is going to be extended .

So My questions are As per the Indian Labour rules.

1.are the Indian Labour rules are not applicable for Corporate multinational companies?

2.The below link talks about indian labour rules
THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948

Point 54 talks about 9 hrs a day. Is it including breaks or not? (braks for food, washroom etc)

3. Point 51 talks about 48 hrs per week.

Company has a human rights policy :-

Working Hours: Do not require employees to work more than the maximum hours of daily labor set by local laws. Comply with overtime pay requirements.



Please explain.... it starts next week. So please help.

[Ganpat]

You have quoted certain provisions of Factories Act. But this Act is applicable to those places where a "manufacturing process" is carried on ( as defined under Sec.2(m) of the Act). A call centre cannot fall under this category and hence there is no point in citing the provisions of the factory Act. Instead it will be better for you to find out about the Shops & Establishments Act as applicable to Karnataka.

When your working process gets changed, then I believe that the new one is applicable for all the teams including those with the 3 years service. This means that the other teams have adapted themselves to the new process faster than that of yours. Therefore comparing yourself with other teams will not be to your advantage.

Before you can think of seeking any remedy under any provision of Labour laws, you have to be clear about certain terms and conditions of your employment.

If you have been recruited with the title of a "call-centre executive", then none of these labour laws will apply as they are meant only for "workmen".

The next area is your actual terms of appointment, i.e., whether you are recruited on a time rate contract (where you work for certain fixed hours everyday) or on a piece rate contract (where your job perfromance is measured not in terms of the time you spend at job, but on the quantum of output).

Please go through your appointment letter terms and also the conditions of service contract, if any, that you have executed at the time of joining. Without a complete knowledge on these, it is not possible to give you a specific guidance in this regard.

[Shanavas]

Hi Ganpat,

Thank you very much for the reply. Valid inputs.
But a few points I will need to make clear.

1 . None of the existing team here is working extra hours. ( only one team joined with us which is also new.)
2 . 3 yr ( or less) teams or people were in this process from the day one of there tenure here. As part of a corporate decision, we will need to work in this process for 3-5 months. After that we will be back to the old process.
3. It is not a case of adaptability. From the new teams (2) mine is the better performing one.

4 . Could you please explain "title" part? Does that makes any difference. My title is Technical suppport engineer.

5 . We are recruited on a time rate contract. 40 Hrs per week.

6 . Appointment letter says 9 hrs per week but company can extend it for a business need. ( as performance will not increase by shift extension in our case, it will not be a business need. Service level is a business need ( as this is a consumer service department))

But here is the company's policy:

Working Hours: Do not require employees to work more than the maximum hours of daily labor set by local laws. Comply with overtime pay requirements.

7. I will check the Shops & Establishments Act definitely.Thank you for the information.

Please check this link:
Welcome to India in Business

And the following is the information from THE KARNATAKA SHOPS AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS ACT,
1961


7. Daily and weekly hours.—(1) No employee in any establishment
shall be required or allowed to work for more than nine hours on any day
and forty-eight hours in any week:
Provided that the total number of hours of work including overtime shall
not exceed ten hours in any day except on days of stock-taking and
preparation of accounts:
Provided further that the total number of overtime hours worked by an
employee does not exceed fifty in a period of three continuous months.


Thank you again