Work-life balance: 5 labour laws in other countries that India should adopt too

The news of a young CA's death in India allegedly due to overwhelming work pressure and stress has brought the spotlight on toxic work environments and the need for proper labour laws in the country. Twenty-six-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil was a CA who got her first job at one of the big four firms. However, in a letter addressed to the MNC's India Chairperson where Anna worked and which was leaked online, her mother Anita Augustine claimed that her daughter was so overworked and stressed that it eventually took a toll on her in just four months of working in the company.She also alleged that no one from the office attended her funeral, which further shows the company and her colleagues' apathy to the grave situation.

Responding to her letter while the MNC's India Chairperson paid his condolences to Anna's grieving parents; he also denied that work pressure was the (sole) reason for Anna's untimely death during her short stint of just four months in the company, as per reports. "I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Anna's funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again," he posted on LinkedIn.
Anna's cousin Sunil George Kuruvilla, Assistant Director- Acuity Knowledge Partners, on September 20th, shared in a LinkedIn post that Anna was set to get married this year. "After the news of her death, I called her grandfather. With a broken voice, he spoke at length. I didn’t weep, even when he told me her marriage was arranged for this month. Sometimes tears are not enough," he wrote-- a statement which makes one wonder that what happened with Anna could have happened to any of us, at any time.

Considering this particular incident, the Union labour ministry is now probing Anna's death and its connection to her workplace. Meanwhile, this particular incident of overwhelming pressure and stress at the workplace taking a toll on one's life resonated with many working professionals in India. It has become a topic of national debate-- Are workplace environments too harsh in India? Are the long working hours exploiting employees?, How much is too much work?, and many more.
Coincidentally, a few months ago N. R. Narayana Murthy, Co-founder and retired Chairman of Infosys, had stirred up a controversy with his remark that youngsters should work for 70+ hours a week to boost the country's productivity. His "70 hours work week" statement had irked many who questioned Murthy's idea of hustle culture.
In an earlier interview, we had asked popular author and leadership expert Robin Sharma for his views on Narayana Murthy's 70-hour work week remark. To which, Robin Sharma had told us, "If all we're doing is working, we're actually depleting our mental focus, our creativity, and our productivity. As a matter of fact, the hustle and grind culture comes from the factory era. If we worked longer in the factory, we'd be more productive. We'd make more widgets. We live now in the intellectual era, the cognitive era, the information era, the digital age. And so I believe, just my personal opinion, it's not about how long you work, it's about how intensely, intelligently, and wisely you work. And if you really wanna have a long career without burning out, then I think recovery is very important." Read Robin Sharma's full interview here

And looking at some of the most developed countries in the world, Sharma's views seem to be true. Data shared by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as of January 11, 2024, reveals that the average work week in some of the first-world countries is indeed less than in India. While the average workweek in India is 46.7 hours, in contrast to this, people in the United States work for an average of 38 hours a week, in Japan for 36.6 hours per week, and in the UK for roughly 35.9 hours. Not just this, some countries in the West also have certain labour laws that promote better work-life balance for employees. Here we list some such laws in other countries that India should adopt too:
1. Right to disconnect

In 2017, France became the first country to have a right to disconnect law for employees. According to it, workers have a right to ignore work-related communications after their working hours. Over the years, many countries including Spain, Belgium, Italy, Ireland, among others have also implemented this law with Australia becoming the most recent country to have a right to disconnect law. In fact, in Portugal managers can even be fined for calling their employees after their work hours! Checkout the countries that have a right to disconnect for workers HERE.
2. 4-days workweek
Considering how fast workplaces are changing these days, many countries have now adopted a 4-day work week culture which aims at having more productivity and keeping employees happy. Some countries that have adopted this policy include Belgium, Netherlands, Japan, among others. Checkout the list here.
3. Mandatory vacations
Did you know that in Austria employees who have worked for six months or more in a company are entitled to get a minimum of five weeks of paid annual leave every year? Yes, you read that right and it's a part of their laws! At a time when employees are sometimes made to feel guilty for taking leaves, adopting such laws would help make workplaces better for their employees' well-being.

4. Career break or time credit
In Belgium, people can take a year-off from their work too without losing their job! This is also known as 'time credit' and a person working in Belgium can take it either in full or even work part-time during this duration and still get paid by the state. And in some special cases, this time credit can be extended to up to six years! Now this sounds like music to the ears, doesn't it?
5. A set number of working hours per week
As per ILO data (as of January 11, 2024), in India people work for an average of 46.7 hours per week which makes it one of the top 15 countries in the world to have the highest workweeks. While Bhutan tops the chart for this 60-hour workweek, India stands at number 13 on the list. Not just this, ILO's data also reveals that 51 percent of workers in India work for more than 49 hours per week which is more than the national average. On the contrary, a 2023 report by The Week reads, 'the French put in just under 40 hours a week, an hour less than the Eurozone average, according to 2008 Eurostat numbers'.

With the news of Anna Sebastian Perayil's untimely death allegedly due to work-stress, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that he spoke to the late Anna's father, Sibi Joseph. Following their "deeply emotional and heartrending" conversation, Tharoor said that would raise the issue of having the legislation cap work hours to eight hours a day, five days a week (i.e. 40 hours per week) in both public and private sectors. This was suggested to him by Anna's father Sibi Joseph, as per reports.
Maybe Anna's untimely death would indeed bring a change at workplaces in the country, highlighting the issue of work-life balance being the need of the hour. As Anna's cousin Sunil George Kuruvilla wrote in his LinkedIn post, "My second cousin Anna is gone. Forever. And she is now more powerful than ever. Like a canary in the coal mine, she may yet save young lives from the clutches of silver-tongued executives who act like the Grim Reaper. A few years back, Anna was at a crossroads in her career: an MBA from IRMA or a CA degree. She spoke with my dad at length and finally decided to go for a CA degree, against his advice. To echo Frost’s lines, two roads diverged in a wood, and she took one, just as fair. And that has made all the difference... But Anna lives on in me and in those who nurture fond memories of her. Anna is more powerful than ever."
The need for work-life balance

Over time, an overwhelming amount of stress can lead to many lifestyle diseases like high BP, diabetes, and even mental health issues including burnout, anxiety, depression, and more. This makes it imperative for one to find ways to destress and live a more mindful and healthy life. In the Bhagavad Gita, Shri Krishna also often emphasises the need to have balance in all aspects of one's life. When applied to modern times, it teaches one to be detached and stay balanced to lead a more fulfilling life-- be it their professional or personal life.