‘Restrict working hours of employees’: Shashi Tharoor to labour minister during Zero Hour

Congress MP for Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, urged Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya, to restrict working hours of employees and ensure their strict enforcement. Tharoor said that long-working hours in the country have pushed employees into depression, anxiety, other mental health issues as well as other ailments such as hypertension and diabetes. 

Tharoor urged Mandaviya “to prioritise the implementation of laws that restrict working hours and ensure their strict enforcement”. 

“These legal measures must be complemented by mandatory sensitisation workshops, counselling services, and well-being activities for employees and management to emphasise the importance of work-life balance for physical and mental health. I also urge the Minister to establish a grievance redressal mechanism through surveys, annual reports, and anonymous feedback channels which can be overseen by the internal committees, formed within organisations, operating under ministry-guided protocols,” said Tharoor. 

The Congress MP said that while he tried to raise the issues of working professionals in the Parliament but Chair Jagdambika Pal started interrupting him within 30 seconds. 

In the Zero Hour, Tharoor said that there is an urgent need for measures to promote work-life balance, and humane working conditions. He gave the example of the untimely death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered account at Ernst & Young. 

After Perayil’s demise, her parents wrote to the company blaming them for her death due to work stress. As and when the letter became public, the consulting firm received a lot of criticism for its work culture. 

Perayil’s mother Anita Augustine, in her letter to the company, had said, “The workload, new environment, and long hours took a toll on her physically, emotionally, and mentally. She began experiencing anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress soon after joining, but she kept pushing herself, believing that hard work and perseverance were the keys to success.” 

Tharoor during the Zero Hour said that he had met Perayil’s parents and was moved by their anguish. “These tragedies reflect a systemic failure to safeguard the well-being of young professionals who are instrumental in driving our nation's growth and prosperity,” he said. He quoted International Labour Organisation data that states that 51 per cent of India's workforce exceeds 49 working hours per week, making India the second country with the longest working hours.

He also quoted a study to reveal that 78 per cent of Indian employees experience job burnout, resulting in physical and emotional exhaustion.