Textile ministry mulls 60-hour work week

To boost textiles exports, the textile ministry has proposed to relax working hours in the industry to 60 a week from the present 48. This comes close on the heels of the government allowing women to work in night shifts.

The ministry has also proposed exempting garment exporters from some norms under the Industrial Disputes Act which prevent them from retrenching workers in firms that employ more than 100 workers.

Chapter V (B) of the Act requires an employer with more than 100 workers to obtain several permissions including one from the state government if he wants to retrench.

The exporters have been complaining that to execute seasonal orders, they often have to hire extra hands. Once such orders are executed, employers no longer need the additional hands but they cannot retrench them because the law does not allow them to do so.

The ministry has, however, added a rider that the exemption will be applicable, only if such workers are employed for at least a 100 days in a year.

Officials said the measures were to prevent garment exporters from being harassed by compliance inspectors.

"We feel these measures would go a long way in helping the ministry attain the target of a 20 per cent increase in exports during 2005-06," an official told Business Standard today.

"Allowing an increase in the working hours enables the workers to earn overtime," officials said.

Officials admitted that while data compiled by the Directorate-General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics indicated a dip in exports during the first three months in 2005 after the removal of the quota regime, information from exporters suggested that business was growing.

Weft & warp

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• The ministry proposes to exempt garment exporters from retrenchment norms under the Industrial Disputes Act
• The exemption will be applicable only if such workers are employed for at least a 100 days in a year
• The measures will prevent garment exporters from being harassed by compliance inspectors