T’gana Turns Up the Clock: 10-Hour Workdays, But the 48-Hour Week Stays in Check

The Telangana government has issued a fresh labor order allowing commercial establishments (except shops) to raise daily working hours up to 10 hours, but within a 48-hour weekly cap. The new amendment to be implemented from July 8, 2025, is brought with the intention of enhancing business flexibility and ease of doing business in the state.

 

Key Highlights:

 

The notification is exempting the commercial establishments under Sections 16 and 17 of the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act, 1988, pertaining to the working hours and the breaks of rest.

 

Employees working over 6 hours must be provided with a mandatory 30-minute break.

 

Total working and resting time in a day should not exceed 12 hours.

 

Work in excess of 48 hours of work per week is compensated as overtime, up to 144 overtime hours within a quarter.

 

Violating these requirements exposes employers to the risk of losing the exemption and facing more stringent labor laws.

 

Stores are still exempted from this directive and are governed by current regulations.

 

Prognosis This balanced strategy aims to increase productivity without compromising the rights of workers, bringing Telangana to the forefront of other states' progressive labor reforms. Whether the policy works would lie in effective compliance and enforcement by employers, which could be a model of labor adaptability in India's evolving business environment.

 

Source: India Today, Economic Times, News18