Mumbai: A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has revealed that Indians are among the most overworked workers around the world and gets the lowest minimum legal wage in the Asia-Pacific region.
The paper titled, Global Wage Report 2020-21: Wages and Minimum Wages in the Time of COVID-19' places India on the fifth spot around the world among nations with long working hours. The study states that amongst the Indian staff, it's the well-paid workers, both salaried and self-employed, who work more. It also said that salaried workers in urban areas work more than their rural colleagues.
The report further stated that the working hours in India can extend up to 48 hours a week adding that only some countries such as Qatar, Mongolia have average working hours longer than in India. Meanwhile, data from the 2018-19 Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) also showed that better-paid workers in cities work longer than their rural areas.
Also, the study revealed that men put in longer hours at work than women in both areas of the country, while for both of them, the work hours are lengthier in urban areas. To be precise, salaried employees and regular wage earning men spend 53 hours a week working, while women work for 46 hours. In case of casual labour, men in urban limits spend 45 hours a week working, while women are in office for 38 hours.
People in India work 48 hours every week on average. US, UK, China, and Israel accounts 37, 36, 36 and 46 hours a week respectively.
