Maharashtra’s Work Hour Reform From An HR Perspective

The Maharashtra cabinet on September 3, 2025, approved a historical amendment that will change the manner industries and private organisations treat their employees. The step raises workers’ working hours per day to place the state on par with those states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and Tripura which have already done it. In the perspective of HR managers and organisational leaders, this transition is not just a matter of compliance; it’s about finding the right balance between operational requirements and employees’ welfare.

What Changed in the Amendments to the Factories Act and Maharashtra Shops & Establishments Act

The two major legislations are affected by the amendments: the Factories Act, 1948 and the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017. These amendments mark a crucial shift in the state’s labour framework, reshaping how organisations balance productivity with employee rights. The updates are designed to give employers greater flexibility to handle seasonal demand and workforce challenges, while also mandating safeguards for workers through regulated hours, overtime pay, and rest provisions.

Key highlights include:

• Extended working hours:
  
  • Factories – enhanced from 9 to up to 12 hours per day.
    
  • Shops and Establishments – increased from 9 to 10 hours per day.
• Revised rest breaks: Employees must now take breaks after 6 continuous hours of work, instead of 5.
• Expanded overtime provisions:
  
  • Factories – overtime ceiling raised from 115 to 144 hours per quarter.
    
  • Shops and Establishments – increased from 125 to 144 hours per quarter.
    
  • Written consent of employees is mandatory.
• Weekly limits: Adjusted proportionately to match expanded daily hours, without breaching the total weekly cap.
• Exemptions for smaller businesses: Offices with fewer than 20 employees need only notify the government instead of obtaining registration certificates.
• Stronger wage protection: Double wages are mandated for all overtime work to ensure fair compensation.

These changes signal a move towards a more flexible, business-friendly environment in Maharashtra. However, they also place greater accountability on HR leaders and managers to ensure compliance, protect worker welfare, and avoid potential misuse of the new provisions.

Why Maharashtra Is Extending Work Hours

The government has justified the reforms on a variety of reasons:

1. Ease of doing business: Longer working hours add operational flexibility, and hence, Maharashtra becomes a better place for investments.
2. Employment generation and industrial development: By emulating other progressive states, Maharashtra is determined to simplify bureaucratic procedures and invite big-ticket industries.
3. Protection of worker rights: As the hours are increased, the government has given utmost importance to protecting wages, fair overtime payment, and the inclusion of workers, particularly women.
4. Global competitiveness: Standardised labour laws in states are what would be most liked by most multinational corporations, and Maharashtra’s move follows a national trend in this regard.
5. For HR managers, the policy shift translates into a two-pronged strategy: compliance as well as retooling internal workforce policies to maintain worker confidence.

What Extended Work Hours Mean for Business

Organizationally, the shift is intended to be one that promotes efficiency. This is what employers will accrue:

• Increased resource utilisation: Companies with seasonal demand can now operate at full capacity without having to constantly hire and retrain.
• Reduced disruptions: Staff shortages during peak seasons can be met with longer shifts.
• Increased flexibility: Managers become more flexible to work scheduling without breaking legal restrictions.

Yet there has to be a sense of responsibility to ensure that the longer hours do not lead to burnout or uncontrolled attrition.

The HR Challenge: Balancing Compliance and Care

The reform imposes added levels of responsibility on HR managers and decision-makers. The following are some near-term considerations:

• Policy revisions: HR should review shift policies, attendance mechanisms, and overtime guidelines to integrate with the new legal environment.
• Consent management: Employee consent in writing for overtime work is now obligatory. HR departments require clear lines of communication and adequate documentation to prevent misunderstandings.
• Well-being monitoring: Increased working hours can result in fatigue, stress, and decreased productivity unless strictly monitored. Wellness initiatives, proactively, flexible timings, and regular feedback meetings are essential.
• Diversity and inclusion: As the government has emphasised the participation of women, HR policies must include safe transport provisions, workplace safety assurances, and flexible timing.
• Technology integration: Workforce management systems will have to be adapted to precisely monitor overtime and double-pay compliance.

Potential Risks and Concerns

Even though the reform is planned to favor employers and employees alike, HR executives need to be careful about pitfalls:

• Employee morale: Overtime can at first be met with suspicion, especially when companies can’t find a suitable equilibrium of workload and rest.
• Legal scrutiny: Disobedience towards the new overtime rules could bring penalties as well as adverse publicity.
• Attrition risk: Talent workers may prefer firms that offer work-life balance over extended shifts.
• Union reactions: Labour unions can interpret the move as business-friendly, requesting stricter accountability in the enforcement of worker rights.

Why This Reform Matters for HR

For HR managers and leaders, these reforms are not merely about regulatory compliance. They are a test of leadership, culture, and organisational agility. How an organisation reacts to these reforms will have a direct bearing on its ability to attract and retain talent, drive productivity, and build a strong workforce.

Maharashtra’s action is part of a larger trend in India—states aligning labour laws to balance industrial expansion and workers’ rights. For industry, success won’t be determined by the quantity of hours employees work, but rather by how intelligently those hours are spent.

Final Word 

The approval of long working hours in Maharashtra is both a challenge and an opportunity. HR leaders must rise to the occasion by reinventing policies that not only comply with the new law but also ensure the human touch of work. With industrial growth being an imperative in the environment, businesses that pay attention to the wellness of employees during the transition to regulatory changes will be those that come out sustainable and ethical employers.