New labor law rules: A person works hard throughout the week and takes rest on his weekly off day so that he can recharge himself for the new week starting again. Apart from this, he also completes some of his personal work on this week off day only.

However, many times the employee gets into trouble due to a call from the boss from the office. Many times, on a holiday, your boss calls you and hands over some old or pending work to you, which you have to complete at any cost, but have you ever wondered what the law says about this? Is it right or wrong to do so? Let us tell you about this in detail today.

Deadline pressure in private companies

Malak Bhatt, Founding Partner, NM Law Chambers, speaking to ET Wealth Online, said, “It is quite common in many Indian private companies, especially those under pressure to perform, that managers call employees even on their holidays, cancel pre-sanctioned leaves citing ‘project deadlines’ or expect them to be available even during holidays.” Due to fear, he starts completing his work silently.

What does the law say?

Under India’s new Labor Code (2025-26), employees cannot be forced to work on holidays without their consent. If this is done, it is mandatory to give double salary or compensatory off as compensation.

Additionally, extra work beyond 15-30 minutes will now be considered overtime. There is also a provision for double payment for this. According to a report in Zee Business, at least one day off every seven days is mandatory and there is also a proposal to ignore calls or messages after working hours under the Right-to-Disconnect Bill.

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