Bill proposes that firms seek employees' written consent for overtime work

Bill introduced in Parliament removes provision on specific overtime work hours

Establishments will require the written consent of workers before asking them to work ‘overtime’, according to a proposal in the Code on Occupational Safety Health and Working Conditions, 2019.

The Bill, introduced by Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar in the Lok Sabha (LS) last week, has proposed that “no worker shall be required to work overtime by the employer without prior consent of the worker in writing for such work”.

The government has removed a provision present in the existing law specifying the number of overtime hours a worker 

is allowed to do. Instead, the Centre or state governments