Hyderabad IT Professional Complains Against MNC Over Excessive Work Hours

The complaint filed by the former employee assumes significance in the wake of a raging national discourse on how many hours an employee should ideally put into work each week sparked off by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy’s suggestion that the Indian youth should aspire to work 72 hours a week as the new normal.

“How is it physically or mentally even possible to 16 hour workday mnc that many hours. Also, if companies bill their customers on an hourly basis, why can’t they pay employees for overtime?” asked Sridhar Merugu who has also written to the National Human Rights Commission on the issue.

“I was never paid any overtime allowance. Matter actually came up only when the torture became unbearable,” Merugu told TOI while alleging that he was shown the door last September for raising objections over working under “illegal conditions”.

“I wasn’t given any opportunity to explain my case. Instead I was sacked within a week of bringing it up,” alleged the 45-year-old Merugu.

40-hour week an ‘illusion’ in IT sector

When contacted other IT employees in Hyderabad said working beyond the prescribed 40-hour week had become an unofficial rule of the sector to the point where people do not think of applying for OT even though they are legally entitled to it.