Dear @yashwanth_cb,
Welcome to the citizen.complainthub.org community. It is incredibly infuriating when management’s inability to plan or scope tasks translates into unpaid forced overtime for the engineering team. Tracking you for being a few minutes late while simultaneously stealing an hour of your unpaid time every single weekday is the absolute peak of toxic startup culture.
You are not wrong for feeling exploited. Yes, there are laws that govern this, but the IT sector operates in a notoriously massive legal gray area. Here is the factual reality of your situation and the labor laws that apply to you:
The Legal Framework: Shops and Establishments Act
In India, IT and ITES companies are governed by the Shops and Establishments Act of the specific state they operate in.
The 48-Hour Rule: Across almost all states, the law strictly mandates a maximum working limit of 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week (this usually accounts for 8 hours of work and 1 hour of mandatory break).
Overtime Mandate: If an employee is required to work beyond this 48-hour weekly threshold, the company is legally obligated to pay overtime wages, which is statutorily set at twice the ordinary rate of wages.
If they are forcing you to work 10 hours a day for 5 days a week (50 hours), they are breaching the 48-hour limit and owe you overtime for those weekdays, not just the weekends.
The IT Startup Loophole
Startups get away with this exploitation by heavily relying on two legal loopholes:
State-Level IT Exemptions: States with massive tech hubs often grant the IT/ITES sector blanket exemptions from standard shift timings to allow for “business flexibility” and 24/7 global support. Startups deliberately misinterpret this flexibility as a license to demand unlimited working hours.
The “Workman” Definition: Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, standard labor protections apply to a “workman.” IT companies typically draft your employment contract to classify software engineers and developers as “Management,” “Supervisory,” or “Administrative” staff. By giving you a fancy title, they attempt to legally argue that standard overtime laws do not apply to your role.
How to Protect Yourself
Arguing with an inefficient management team one-on-one usually just makes you a target for their “defaulters list.” To combat this, you need to be strategic:
Review Your Contract: Comb through your employment offer letter. Look for clauses like “working hours may be extended based on business deliverables.” This is the exact clause they are using to justify the unpaid weekday hour.
Document the Inefficiency: Do not rely on verbal complaints. If a task requires more time because of poor scoping by a manager, document it in an email or Jira ticket. Create a digital paper trail showing that the overtime is a result of their project management failure, not your slow performance.
Collective Pushback: Startups rely on isolating individuals and fear-mongering. If one person refuses the 10-hour shift, they are a “defaulter.” If the entire development team logs off at the 9-hour mark simultaneously, management is completely paralyzed and forced to restructure their sprints.
Because labor laws and specific IT sector exemptions vary significantly from state to state, we need to know your jurisdiction to determine exactly which specific government labor codes your company is violating.
Which state is your IT startup registered and operating in?