Amid a raging debate on work-related stress, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has found that regular wage/salaried employees work for longer hours per week than casual labour or the self-employed.
Experts feel this could be mainly due to corporate work culture involving heightened demands for productivity, tight deadlines, and rising client expectations.
According to PLFS Annual Report for July 2023-June 2024, average number of hours actually worked in a week by regular wage/salaried employees was 48.2 during April-June period as against 39.7 hours for casual labour and 39.6 hours for the self-employed. Similar trend was observed during previous three quarters (July-September 2023, October-December 2023 and January-March 2024). Results of PLFS Annual Report are based on a survey conducted among over 4 lakh persons (over 2.4 lakh in rural areas and over 1.7 lakh in urban areas).
Leading HR consultants and experts feel the 50-hour week actually does not work out to be very “stressful.
Rajneesh Singh, Managing Partner at SimplyHR Solutions, said: “I am assuming this is calculated on a 6-day working per week basis. It works out well for the salaried class as it is coming to be an 8-hour per day of work. If it’s a 5-day working then yes, it’s more than 9 hours per day work which again is fine given that you get 2 days weekend.”
There are other indications from the survey, especially the dynamism it reflects in terms of the work hours of different classes of employees.
According to Kartik Narayan, CEO-Staffing, TeamLease Services, salaried employees, especially in corporate and service sectors, are decidedly under greater work stress.
“Salaried employees, particularly in corporate and service sectors, often face increasing workloads due to heightened demands for productivity, tight deadlines, and evolving client expectations,” he said
Other issue
Singh of SimplyHR wondered whether the working hours for both the self-employed and casual workers are being tracked properly. “A self-employed person may not be punching his or her attendance but is working beyond the working hours and even over the weekend. For the casual labour too, the attendance marking may not be happening on a very regular basis. In my view both these categories equal or maybe more hours than the salaried,” he said.
But Narayan had a counter-view. He said casual and self-employed workers tend to have more control over their schedules, albeit at the cost of income stability. “While their work hours are typically lower, these categories of workers often engage in physically demanding roles or work that is subject to fluctuations based on market demand,” he said.
Balanced work culture
The issue of longer working hour is in the news because of untimely death of a young CA in Pune and subsequent debate over how her untimely death was due to very demanding work schedule. Here, Naryan said organisations need to foster a balanced work culture by encouraging realistic project timelines and defining clear expectations.
“This includes promoting productivity within reasonable working hours and discouraging a culture of extended work as a measure of commitment,” he said.