While "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells may be seen purely as an imaginative adventure into the future of humanity, I believe Wells is saying that work is necessary for everyone, and that the "upper class" shouldn't force the "lower class" to work for them. Initially the Time Traveller believed that work and labor had been eliminated, saying, "here was that hateful grindstone broken at last." But all that was left of the artistic spirit was foolish dancing and playing with flowers, for pain and necessity had been conquered. The people lacked curiosity and sophistication, they were happy but simple. In their bid to eliminate labor, these people had also eliminated their humanity, which Wells warns against dramatically.
But the Time Traveller was wrong about no labor being done, as he discovered in the Morlocks. The Eloi had foisted the work necessary for their own comfort upon the Morlocks. But Wells shows that the lack of work was really a curse for the Eloi. The Time Traveller observed the Morlocks eating meat, and wondered "what large animal could have survived to furnish the red joint" he saw. He soon decided that the "Morlocks' food had run short" a long time ago so they began to eat Eloi. Here Wells seems to be saying that if the upper class discriminates too greatly against the lower class, things will turn back even worse for the upper class.
To Wells, work seems to be a necessary evil. As shown by this book, when people stop working then will they stop advancing. In fact, they will degenerate and become hardly human. "The Time Machine" also argues that nothing good can really come from repressing the lower classes, as they may revolt and prey upon the upper classes as they were once preyed upon.