9-5 must be 9-5 even in startups and must be legally enforced

[copticman]

@jadeemars Startups need those extra working hours from employees sometimes to stay afloat in this cutthroat competitive world.

I suggest an alternative. Instead of 9-5 being enforced I think we'd be better off with flexible working hours. Attend the scheduled meetings and work in stipulated hours if some of your work is time of the day sensitive. But apart from that, letting the employees finish their work as they deem fit while maintaining deadlines might be a good solution.

 

[jadeemars]

@copticman Yes. By 9-5, I didn't mean 9-5 exactly but a limited number of working hours in a day. This may be flexible or fixed as per the company and the position. And I understand that there might be needs in startups to work for longer hours but then there should be overtime payments for those longer hours. Atlesat a nominal per hour pay would go a long way in boosting the morale of employees, who unlike the startup owners get nothing in return for the extra hours they put in.

 

[terene]

@copticman And what do employees get for these extra hours?

 

[copticman]

@terene Well nothing. That's the sad part. Worse is if you are not willing to do it, they will find someone who will.

 

[worshiplady3]

@jadeemars Good luck with that, my job was 9 to 7, it ended up being 9 to 9.

 

[caw429]

@jadeemars Indians, by nature have a habit of boot licking and worshipping whoever is at the top. It's almost as if they have no self esteem. If all Indians come together and demand fixed working hours, then corporates will bend. People fail to understand that people running companies are no gods. You can say no to them and ignore work related calls.

 

[lemondrops]

@jadeemars I have experience of working in mega tech companies in the US and concept of work life balance doesn't exist even there for employees in most job roles.

There are WITCH or CHWTIA companies in India for those who are looking for work life balance. Then there are government jobs where most people don't work for even 40 hours/week. I have never seen any startup founder holding a gun on anyone's head forcing them to join their startup.

For every person who is craving for work life balance, there are like 100 guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to get a job and then grow in their professional careers.

 

[jadeemars]

@lemondrops You have assessed the situation correctly. And the situation is not good. Yes, there are a lot of people looking for any kind of work. I myself have worked as a flipkart delivery boy and in freelance projectswhen I lost job during the covid pandemic. But what I am pointing at or trying to understand is can't the goverenment do something about it. And I have worked in TCS. Although, it is possible to an extent to maintain work life balance in TCS, They encourage people working longer hours because it is considered as going an extra distance for the company.Employees do this themselves as this is a way of competing wiht their peers as well. In myexperience this is what has led to the notion that in order to be a good employee, you have to scarifice your personal life for the company. Employees who don't do htat are often removed from projects and during layoffs, which do happen in WITCH companies, the first ones to get laid off.

If it is regulated by law that employees should not be made to work beyond a specific number of hours, then atleast anemployee will be able to demand in writing what is the cause for removing him from a project and I believe this will cause a slow shift inthis mindset.

Government jobs are a limited in number and getting a government job is a completely different issue altogether, especially if you don't have any kind of reservation. I don't wven wish to start that discussion here as it is completely off topic.