How flexibility of labor laws could become a double-edged sword for states

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M K Stalin, has announced that the state government would withdraw the amendment to the Factories Act that was recently passed. The change in the act would have allowed niche global electronics companies such as Apple to have flexible work hours and increase production for exports. The relaxation in work hours is crucial for companies like Apple, which have set an ambitious plan to ramp up production to $20-25 billion by FY26. The Factories Act amendment would have helped Apple’s vendors ramp production with the same number of workers. The broad changes in the Factories Act in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are similar. The amendment extends the total number of working hours in each shift to 12 for four days instead of the current system of three eight-hour changes for six days. The cap of 48 hours a week is unchanged in both cases. The option of which one to choose remains with the worker. However, trade unions and political parties opposed the amendment, saying it would force workers to work more.