‘No work beyond 8 hours’: Indian expat shares experience of working in Poland

The conversation over work-life balance in India’s corporate sector has resurfaced after a video of an Indian expatriate living in Europe went viral online. The video highlighted differences in workplace culture, working hours and employee rights between both the nations.Pradeep Pankaj Singh, who worked in India for a decade before moving to Poland four years agoshared his experience of working in both environments. Sharing the video on Instagram, he wrote, “Work life comparison with real time experience in IT 10 years in India vs 4 years in Poland.”

He said there was often an expectation for workers to remain available beyond official office hours, even after completing their daily responsibilities.
This, he argued, created a culture where employees felt pressured to demonstrate commitment through their presence.“In India, I worked in India for 10 years, and then I came here. In those 10 years, I never saw a situation where if we go to the office at 8 am or 9 am, we would ever leave before 6 pm, 7 pm, or 8 pm. Especially in the IT industry,” he said in the video.

“And if we ever left at even 6 pm after working for almost 10 hours, or anyone who is currently working in India will be able to relate to this, if we left, everyone would look at you like, ‘Brother, are you leaving already?’” he added.

In contrast, Singh described Poland’s work culture as one that places greater emphasis on maintaining boundaries between professional and personal life. He claimed that during his four years in the country, he had never been required to work beyond his standard eight-hour shift.

“But in Europe, in any country, and I am especially talking about Poland because I have been living here for four years, it’s different here.

“To this day, there hasn’t been a single day where I have worked for more than 8 hours. If you want to sit and work longer by your own choice, you can, but your manager will never ask you to sit back,” Singh added.

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According to Singh, managers generally respect employees’ off-duty hours, and work-related calls outside office timings are uncommon. He added that workers are under no obligation to answer calls after working hours and face no consequences for choosing not to respond.

“If a manager calls you out of office hours and you do not pick up, no one can say anything to you. If you do pick up, you are highly appreciated, compensated with double overtime, or given extra leave,” he added.

He also pointed to overtime compensation as a key difference between the two systems. According to Singh, employees in Poland can receive up to double their regular pay for overtime work.