Should there be a legally controlled ceiling on weekly working hours?
Should there be a legally controlled ceiling on weekly working hours?
There are no work time regulations implemented by the government. However, seeing the current scenario, it seems that there should be legal restrictions on the amount of time a person should devote for his official work. The controlled work hours can have numerous benefits as well as disadvantages. As of now, working hours per week are different around the globe. So, what is your view on the topic? Should there be a legally controlled ceiling on weekly working hours?
Yes
- The ceiling on working hours will allow people to focus on their health which would further improve productivity.
- When there is ceiling on work hours, employers will have no choice but to recruit more staff to meet labor requirements. It will result in creation of employment.
- One of the most important principles of economics is that of demand and supply. By artificially reducing supply, demands for labor will increase.
- The limited working hours will act as protection for workers. They will be able to perform positively in every sphere of life. Also, family time will improve.
- There is a need to consider the long-traveling times into the office hours. There are several cities where travel time is more than one hour.
No
- The ceiling on working hours will result in numerous problems for the society and will increase costs for the economy.
- The average working hours are 8-9 hours. They are justified and do not require any sort of change. Anything less would create problems for all the market participants.
- The ceiling on working hours will limit economic growth. There would be several adjustments that a company would have to make due to limited working hours. The quality of performance will suffer.
- Another major problem is of extra costs. Small and mid-sized companies would not be in a position to afford the extra costs associated with employing added labor.
- Different industries have different needs and therefore one rule cannot be applied on all the sectors.
Conclusion
Working time regulations are good for employees but will add extra problem for employers. The ceiling on working hours would result in several benefits like higher employment rate, increased productivity and lower workplace related medical problems. However, it would become extremely tough for the employers to meet the cost. They have to divide the salary in proportion of working hours which would not be acceptable by employees. Therefore, it should be left on employers to decide the flexible working hours for their employees.
Discussion
- RE: Should there be a legally controlled ceiling on weekly working hours? -Deepa Kaushik (03/31/15)
- There is definitely a requirement for the legal slab on the strict working hours. In the current scenario where money speaks a lot more than emotions, people are turning out to be ruthless animals rather than civilised human beings. The increase in the number of crimes across the country is not only due to the incorrect up-bringing an prevailing unemployment, but also due to the change in the human psychology due to tired and sick mind.
The primary focus with restricted working hours would be on the health of the individual which has compromised multi-fold in the lure for money. When we talk of the economy of the country, it would develop when the citizens would be healthy enough to carry on the work load for a prolonged period of time. The over-loaded person would eventually drop-down far ahead of his actual threshold time.
Next comes the family life and the personal sphere. People are unable to devote quality time to their family. The differences between the couples and the number of divorce cases coming upfront; in another reason of this lack of quality time to their personal life. Again, the improper upbringing is also a result of lack of time by parents to the kids, which could all be sorted well by placing a limitation to the working hours.
The unemployment is another major challenge in our country. Very correctly said, the demand and supply chain has to be altered to put-in the correct equation at place. If we reduce the supply chain by limiting the labour hours per individual, there would arise a demand for more labour and hence an improvement in the employment opportunities would arise. The companies cannot escape with their inability to accommodate more people, as the average working hours would remain the same which is around 8. By limiting the working hours we would actually be placing a cap on the extra over-time working by the individuals. The company need to have sufficient staff as per the average working hours of the employees. The over-time should not become a rule.
Hence, with every ground, we need to cap the working hours of the employees to have a healthy environment and better economic development.
