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Balance between work and family

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has reiterated that striking a balance between work and family is the key to achieving higher productivity, reducing accidents at the workplace, and narrowing the gender gap in earnings. Its recent study on working time in 50 countries says that although there has been a general progress towards a 48-hour week in keeping with the ILO’s first ever convention of 1919, the situation varies widely between the developed and the developing economies. About 22 per cent of the global workforce is said to put in excessively long hours beyond the limit, a cause for concern for the developing countries where the services sector and the informal economy account for the bulk of the jobs. In 2004-05, the highest incidence of long hours (nearly 50 per cent) was recorded in Peru, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand. In some industrialised countries, such as Britain, Switzerland, and the United States, the proportion is around 20 per cent. The availability of women for paid employment is largely constrained by competing demands on their time; but the Philippines is an exception. The phenomenon of long working hours, says the ILO, is linked to low pay and the recourse to overtime by enterprises in order to improve productivity aggravates the situation. Progress towards shorter hours, to be sustainable, must be accompanied by better remuneration. But given the pervasiveness of low hourly wages, policies on working-time flexibility remain largely on paper and improvement in the quality of working life continues to elude a vast majority.

The case for an effective enforcement of minimum wages and the progressive coverage of all sections of wage-earners, as envisaged in the international conventions, cannot be overstated. Similarly, under the 1994 ILO instrument, constituent-states have advocated that quality part-time work be recognised as part of the formal employment structure. Such an arrangement would afford greater flexibility and enhance productivity of women workers who have to strive constantly to cope with their child-care, domestic, and professional responsibilities. India is yet to ratify the 1970 convention fixing minimum wage, which specifically addresses the developing countries. Although the Government of India put in place a law on minimum wages six decades ago, the principles to determine its elements have as yet not been spelt out. As a consequence of this tardiness, what followed is a set of non-uniform measures across different States based on convention and tripartite negotiations.

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