Telangana Approves 10-Hour Workdays for Businesses, Caps Weekly Limit at 48 Hours
- Posted on July 6, 2025
- News
- By Arijit Dutta
- 71 Views
Telangana has approved 10-hour workdays for commercial establishments, while keeping the weekly work limit at 48 hours. Overtime beyond this cap will be compensated, with a 12-hour maximum per day. The move aims to improve business flexibility while maintaining worker protections, including mandated rest breaks and quarterly overtime limits.

In a move aimed at boosting business flexibility while safeguarding labor rights, the Telangana government has approved 10-hour workdays for employees in commercial establishments across the state, excluding shops. The policy, introduced as part of the state’s ease-of-doing-business initiative, retains the weekly work limit at 48 hours.
Under the new rules, any work beyond the 48-hour weekly limit must be compensated with overtime pay. Additionally, employees working over six hours in a day are entitled to a 30-minute break. The total daily working hours, including overtime, cannot exceed 12 hours under any condition.
To prevent exploitation, the state has capped the maximum permissible overtime at 144 hours per quarter. These guidelines, officials said, are designed to give businesses the flexibility to adapt schedules based on operational needs while ensuring that employee welfare is not compromised.
The policy change comes at a time of renewed debate over working hours in India. Business leaders such as Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan have drawn criticism for supporting longer workweeks, while others, including Anand Mahindra, have emphasized quality over quantity.
Telangana’s move mirrors recent labor reforms in other states. Tamil Nadu, for instance, passed an amendment in 2023 allowing 12-hour factory shifts, provided total weekly hours remain unchanged. That legislation also allowed employees to opt for a four-day workweek.
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Globally, several countries are experimenting with reduced workweeks to improve productivity and work-life balance. Telangana’s latest decision, though in the opposite direction, is being closely watched as a model for balancing economic growth with labor rights in India’s rapidly evolving workforce landscape.