Work load on individual affects his life in various aspects which
consequences in poor relationships with others and various emotional and
intellectual break-downs to his life at the personal as well as professional
level.
The standard working hours around the world is about 40-45 hours/week. There is
a need that the working hours should be humane, so that the persons engaged in
employment can manage his work life and personal life.
Inhumane working hours leads to violation of fundamental rights of a person as
it is required that the working hours and burden of work should not degrade the
heath of the employ in such a way that be the cause of his death.
The right to life which is provided under article 21 of the Constitution has a
broad applicability and it also protect the work life of the employees by
incorporating in its hygienic working environment, improving their standard of
living and also ensures leisure during their working hours as a part of
refreshment to their mind.
Impact of work stress on individual health.
The University of Cambridge outlines the effects of work-related stress on individual physical health, which includes:
- Sleep disturbance
- Headaches
- Gastrointestinal upset
- Cardiovascular disease
Impacts on individual emotions include:
- Anxiety and irritability
- Depression
- Labile emotions
Individuals' intellectual and behavioral aspects are also impacted, which include:
- Loss of concentration and memory
- Poor decision-making
- Lack of motivation
- Inappropriate display of behavior
- Isolation
- Decreased libido
In this way the multiple dimensions of an individual get adversely affected
which even leads to the death of many.
Views of various organization's view on work stress
International labour organizations (ILO) says that work-related stress is a
collective challenge that can have serious consequences for workers' mental
health and well-being.
World Health Organization (WHO) defines work-related stress as a reaction to
work demands and pressures that are too much for an employee's knowledge and
abilities.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIPOSH) believes that
job stress can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal
disorders and mental health problem.
EU-OSHA recognizes that poor work design, organization and management can lead
to work-related stress.
Therefore, we can conclude that the works related stress is profusely impacting
individuals in every perspective of their life, whether mentally, emotionally
and behavioral wise. If this is not taken into consideration on time, then the
nation loses many valuable human assets. Depression, anxiety, irritation, sleep
disturbances, etc. makes the person less effective and inactive in their work
life. The employed generation mental health is degrading eventually making them
exhaust and rising suicidal tendencies among them.
And it is therefore very crucial that the working youths have a healthy mental
health and the nation cannot be a nation which will be giving rise to a
generation which is depressed, irritated, exhausted and having suicidal thoughts
within them just because of their tiering and overburdened work life.
Work related stress is violating fundamental right, right to life
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which provides the "rights to life and
personal liberty" states that no person can be deprived of their life and
personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. It is a
fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of India which has a very
broad applicability.
This article also includes in it the right to healthy and safe working
environment. Every organization must keep their working environment hygienic,
safe to work, increasing the value of the life of its employees, maintain their
privacy.
The expression 'life' enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution does not
connote mere animal existence drudgery through life. It has a much wider meaning
which includes in it even the leisure.
There is an alarming need to focus on this issue as recently in India a woman
who was a Chartered Accountant in Pune and was 26 years old depart this life on
July 20, 2024 who was the employee of EY Company due to works load that causes
heart attack and sadly no one from her office was even present at her last
rites.
And just after two months of her demise on 21st of September, 2024, a man aged
38 years [hails from Chennai] who was a software engineer and was taking
treatment for depression committed suicide due to work pressure.
Another same incident happens on 25th of September 2024, where a woman from
Lucknow who works in HDFC Bank also loses her life due to work pressure. She
falls off from her chair and died, claiming her colleagues.
These are just a few examples but there are around thousands of youngsters who
lose their life due to this work pressure and the problem is not being addressed
yet. The cases of such incidents are rising day-to-day and still no proper
attention is paid to these issues.
Conclusion
The companies are violating the right to life of their employees by not
providing them a standard working life, leisure to its employees. By not taking
due care of its employees the companies are putting the human life at danger.
The nation if goes like this may sooner lose many of its valuable assets at the
hand of works stress.
In addition, the work pressure and persons intellectual health should be managed
and employees shall not be overburdened with the work by the Companies that even
their personal life, health and relationships gets hampered. In India, the life
of professional is a hectic one and the companies are at the podium to take
proper measures for their employees mental and physical conditions.
They are at the responsibility of taking care of their employees by not over
burdening them with works, fixing their work hours which shall not be more than
40 hours per week and proper leisure period is provided to them. The company
focuses to bring some incentives in their regulation that the employ enjoys
their work life as well as personal life and health.
Work related stress if reduced from the individual's life and a better working
environment is provided by balancing their work stress, then the employee become
more effective and drive more satisfaction from his work, thus, keeping him
stress-free and joyful. Maintaining a good and stress-free life of employees is
the duty of the company and they cannot ignore this duty.
Moreover, in my opinion, the Government must also take necessary steps to solve
this problem and not putting the life of the youth in danger by making some
laws. It is the fundamental duty of the government to take suo moto actions for
the benefit of nation and protect the fundamental rights of its citizen by
making and amending some laws in respect to workplace.
Lastly, the government and the company both shall need to take a step forward
towards keeping the employees mental health healthy and the government should
endeavor to restrain organizations who are overburdening their employees with
work by conducting employees surveys regarding their work related stress,
leisure periods, working hours, condition of their working place, a healthy
competition among employees, etc. and promote the idea of "Stress-free working
conditions for employees" because THE HUMAN LIFE MATTERS.
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