CHAPTER VI.- Working Hours of Adults

Section 51. Weekly hours. -

No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week.

Section 52. Weekly holidays. -

(1) No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory on first day of the week (hereinafter referred to as the said day), unless-

• (a) he has or will have a holiday for whole day on one of three days immediately before or after the said day, and
• (b) the manager of the factory has, before the said day or the substituted day under clause (a), whichever is earlier,-
  • (i) delivered a notice at the office of the Inspector of his intention to require the worker to work on the said day and of the day which is to be substituted, and
  • (ii) displayed a notice to that effect in the factory:

Provided that no substitution shall be made which will result in any worker working for more than ten days consecutively without a holiday for a whole day.

(2) Notices given under sub-section (1) may be canceled by a notice delivered at the office of the Inspector and a notice displayed in the factory not later than the day before the said day or the holiday to be canceled, whichever is earlier.

(3) Where, in accordance with the Provisions of sub-section (1), any worker works on the said day and has had a holiday on one of the three days immediately before it, that said day shall, for the purpose of calculating his weekly hours of work, be included in the preceding week.

Section 53. Compensatory holidays. -

(1) Where, as a result of the passing of an order of the making of a rule under the provisions of this Act exempting a factory or the workers therein from the provisions of section 52, a worker is deprived of any of the weekly holidays for which provision is made in sub-section (1) of that section he shall be allowed, within the month in which the holidays were due to him or within the two months immediately following that month, compensatory holidays of equal number to the holidays so lost.

(2) The State Government may prescribe the manner in which the holidays for which provision is made in sub-section (1) shall be allowed.

Section 54. Daily hours. -

Subject to the provisions of section 51, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day.

Provided that subject to the previous approval of the Chief Inspector the daily maximum specified in this section may be exceeded in order to facilitate the change of shifts.

Section 55. Intervals for rest. -

(1) The periods of work of adult workers in a factory each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed five hours and that no worker shall work for more than five hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least half an hour.

(2) The State Government or, subject to the control of the State Government, the Chief Inspector, may, by written order and for the reason specified therein, exempt any factory from the provisions of sub-section (1) so however that the total number of hours worked by a worker without an interval does not exceed six.

Section 56. Spreadover. -

The period of work of an adult worker in a factory shall be so arranged that inclusive of his intervals for rest under section 55, they shall not spreadover more than ten and a half hours in any day:

Provided that the Chief Inspector may, for reasons to be specified in writing, increase the spreadover up to twelve hours.

Section 57. Night shifts. -

Where a worker in a factory works on a shift which extends beyond midnight,-

• (a) for the purposes of sections 52 and 53, a holiday for a whole day shall mean in his case a period of twenty-four consecutive hours beginning when his shift ends;
• (b) the following day for him shall be deemed to be the period of twenty-four hours beginning when such shift ends, and the hours he has worked after midnight shall be counted in the previous day.

Section 58. Prohibition of overlapping shifts. -

(1) Work shall not be carried on in any factory by means of a system of shifts so arranged that more than one relay of workers is engaged in work of the same kind at the same time.

(2) The State Government or subject to the control of the State Government, the Chief Inspector, may, by written order and for the reasons specified therein, exempt on such conditions as may be deemed expedient, any factory or class or description of factories or any department or section of a factory or any category or description of workers therein from the provisions of sub-section (1).

Section 59. Extra wages for overtime. -

(1) Where a worker works in a factory for more than nine hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, he shall, in respect of overtime work, be entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), "ordinary rate of wages" means the basic wages plus such allowances, including the cash equivalent of the advantage accuring through the concessional sale to workers of foodgrains and other articles, as the worker is for the time being entitled to, but does not include a bonus and wages for overtime work.

(3) Where any workers in a factory are paid on a piece-rate basis, the time-rate shall be deemed to be equivalent to the daily average of their full- time earnings for the days on which they actually worked on the same or identical job during the month immediately preceding the calendar months during which the overtime work was done, and such time-rates shall be deemed to be the ordinary rates of wages of those workers:

Provided that in the case of a worker who has not worked in the immediately preceding calender month on the same or identical job, the time-rate shall be deemed to be equivalent to the daily average of the earnings of the worker for the days on which he actually worked in the week in which the overtime work was done.

Explanation. - For the purposes of this sub-section in computing the earnings for the days on which the worker actually worked, such allowances including the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to workers of foodgrains and other articles, as the worker is for the time being entitled to, shall be included but any bonus or wages for overtime work payable in relation to the period with reference to which the earnings are being computed shall be excluded.

(4) The cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to a worker of foodgrains and other articles shall be computed as often as may be prescribed on the basis of the maximum quantity of foodgrains and other articles admissible to a standard family.

Explanation I. - "Standard family" means a family consisting of the worker, his or her spouse and two children below the age of fourteen years requiring in all three adult consumption units.
Explanation 2. - "Adult consumption unit" means the consumption units of a male above the age of fourteen years, and the consumption unit of a female above the age of fourteen years and that of a child below the age of fourteen years shall be calculated at the rates of 8 and 6, respectively of one adult consumption unit.

(5) The State Government may make rules prescribing-

• (a) the manner in which the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to a worker of foodgrains and other articles shall be computed; and
• (b) the registers that shall be maintained in a factory for the purpose of securing compliance with the provisions of this section.

Section 60. Restriction on double employment. -

No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in any factory on any day on which he has already been working in any other factory, save in such circumstances as may be prescribed.

Section 61. Notice of periods of work for adults. -

(1) There shall be displayed and correctly maintained in every factory in accordance with the provisions for sub-section (2) of section 108, a notice of periods of work for adults, showing clearly for every day the periods during which adult workers may be required to work.

(2) The periods shown in the notice required by sub-section (1) shall be fixed beforehand in accordance with the following provisions of this section, and shall be such that workers working for those periods would not be working in contravention of any of the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55, 56 and 58.

(3) Where all the adult workers in a factory are required to work during the same periods, the manager of the factory shall fix those periods for such workers generally.

(4) Where all the adult workers in a factory are not required to work during the same periods, the manager of the factory shall classify them into groups according to the nature of their work indicating the number of workers in such group.

(5) For each group, which is not required to work on a system of shifts, the manager of the factory shall fix the periods during which the group may be required to work.

(6) Where any group is required to work on system of shifts and the relays are to be subject to pre-determined periodical changes or shifts, the manager of the factory shall fix the periods during which each relay of the group may be required to work.

(7) Where any group is to work on a system of shifts and the relays are to be subject to pre-determined periodical changes of shifts, the manager of the factory shall draw up a scheme of shifts, whereunder the period during which any relay or group may be required to work and the relay which will be working at any time of the day shall be known for any day.

(8) The State Government may prescribe forms of the notice required by sub-section (1) and the manner in which it shall be maintained.

(9) In the case of a factory beginning work after the commencement of this Act, a copy of the notice referred to in sub-section (1) shall be sent in duplicate to the Inspector before the day on which work is begun in the factory.

(10) Any proposed change in the system of work in any factory which Will necessitate a change in the notice referred to in sub-section (1) shall be notified to the Inspector in duplicate before the change is made, and except with the previous sanction of the Inspector, no such change shall be made until one week has elapsed since that last change.

Section 62. Register of adult workers. -

(1) The manager of every factory shall maintain a register of adult workers, to be available to the Inspector at all times during working hours, or when any work is being carried on in the factory, showing-

• (a) the name of each adult worker in the factory;
• (b) the nature of his work;
• (c) the group, if any, in which he is included;
• (d) where his group works on shift, the relay to which he is allotted; and
• (e) such other particulars as may be prescribed:

Provided that if the Inspector is of opinion that any muster-roll or register maintained as a part of the routine of a factory gives in respect of any or all the workers in the factory the particulars required under this section, he may, by order in writing, direct that such muster-roll or register shall to the corresponding extent be maintained in place of, and be treated as, the register of adult workers in that factory.

(1A) No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in any factory unless his name and other particulars have been entered in the register of adult workers.

(2) The State Government may prescribe the form of the register of adult workers, the manner in which it shall be maintained and the period for which it shall be preserved.

Section 63. Hours of work to correspond with notice under section 61 and register under section 62. -

No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in any factory otherwise than in accordance with the notice of periods of work for adults displayed in the factory and the entries made beforehand against his name in the register of adult workers of the factory.

Section 64. Power to make exempting rule. -

(1) The State Government may make rules defining the persons who hold positions of supervision or management or are employed in a confidential position in a factory or empowering the Chief Inspector to declare any person, other than a person defined by such rules as a person holding position of supervision or management or employed in a confidential position in a factory if, in the opinion of the Chief Inspector, such person holds such position or is so employed and the provision of this Chapter, other than the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 66 and of the proviso to that sub-section, shall not apply to any person so defined or declared :

Provided that any person so defined or declared shall, where the ordinary rate of wages of such person does not exceed the wage limit specified in sub-section (6) of section 1 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936), as amended from time to time, be entitled to extra wages in respect of overtime work under section 59.

(2) The State Government may make rules in respect of adult workers in factories providing for the exemption, to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed-

• (a) of workers engaged on urgent repairs, from the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55 and 56;
• (b) of workers engaged in work in the nature of preparatory or complementary work which must necessarily be carried on outside the limits laid down for the general working of the factory, from the provisions of sections 51, 54, 55 and 56;
• (c) of workers engaged in work which is necessarily so intermittent that intervals during which they do not work while on duty, ordinarily amount to more than the intervals for rest required by or under section 55, from the provisions of sections 51, 54, 55 and 56;
• (d) of workers engaged in any work which for technical reasons must be carried on continuously from the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55 and 56;
• (e) of workers engaged in making or supplying articles of prime necessity which must be made or supplied every day, from the provisions of section 51 and section 52;
• (f) of workers engaged in a manufacturing process which cannot be carried on except during fixed seasons, from the provisions of section 51, section 52 and section 54;
• (g) of worker engaged in a manufacturing process, which cannot be carried on except at times dependent on the irregular action of natural forces, from the provisions of sections 52 and 55;
• (h) of workers engaged in engine-rooms of boiler-houses or in attending to power-plant or transmission machinery, from the provisions of section 51 and section 52; (i) of workers engaged in the printing of newspapers, who are held up on account of the breakdown of machinery, from the provisions of sections 51, 54 and 56.

Explanation. - In this clause the expression "newspapers" has the meaning assigned to it in the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (XXV of 1867);

• (j ) of workers engaged in the loading or unloading of railway wagons or lorries or trucks, from the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55 and 561;
• (k) of workers engaged in any work, which is notified by the State Government in the Official Gazette as a work of national importance, from the provisions of section 51, section 52, section 54, section 55 and section 56.

(3) Rules made under sub-section (2) providing for any exemption may also provide for any consequential exemption from the provisions of section 61 which the State Government may deem to be expedient, subject to such conditions as it may prescribe.

(4) In making rules under this section, the State Government shall not exceed, except in respect of exemption under clause (a) of sub-section (2), the following limits of work inclusive of overtime : -

• (i) the total number of hours of work in any day shall not exceed ten;
• (ii) the spreadover, inclusive of intervals for rest, shall not exceed twelve hours in any one day;

Provided that the State Government may, in respect of any or all of the categories of workers referred to in clause (d) of sub-section (2), make rules prescribing the circumstances in which, and the conditions subject to which, the restrictions imposed by clause (i) and clause (ii) shall not apply in order to enable a shift worker to work the whole or part of a subsequent shift in the absence of a worker who has failed to report for duty;

• (iii) the total number of hours of work in a week including overtime, shall not exceed sixty;
• (iv) the total number of hours of overtime shall not exceed fifty for any one quarter.

Explanation.- "Quarter" means a period of three consecutive months beginning on the 1st of January, the 1st of April, the 1st of July or the 1st of October.

(5) Rules made under this section shall remain in force for not more than five years.

Section 65. Power to make exempting orders. -

(1) Where the State Government is satisfied that, owing to the nature of the work carried on or to other circumstances, it is reasonable to require that the periods of work of any adult worker in any factory or class or description of factories should be fixed beforehand, it may, by written order, relax or modify the provisions of section 61 in respect of such workers therein, to such extent and in such manner as it may think fit, and subject to such conditions as it may deem expedient to ensure control over periods of work.

(2) The State Government or, subject to the control of the State Government the Chief Inspector may, by written order, exempt on such conditions as it or he may deem expedient, any or all of the adult workers in any factory or group or class or description of factories from any or all of the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54 and 56 on the ground that the exemption is required to enable the factory or factories to deal with an exceptional pressure of work.

(5) Any exemption granted under sub-section (2) shall be subject to the following conditions, namely:

• (i) the total number of hours of work in any day shall not exceed twelve;
• (ii) the spreadover, inclusive of intervals for rest, shall not exceed thirteen hours in any one day;
• (iii) the total number of hours of work in any week, including overtime, shall not exceed sixty;
• (iv) no worker shall be allowed to work overtime, for more than seven days at a stretch and the total number of hours of overtime work in any quarter shall not exceed seventy-five.

Explanation. - In this sub-section "quarter" has the same meaning as in sub-section (4) of section 64.

Section 66. Further restriction on employment of women. -

(1) The provisions of this Chapter shall, in their application to women in factories, be supplemented by the following further restrictions, namely:-

• (a) no exemption from the provisions of section 54 may be granted in respect of any woman;
• (b) no woman shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between the hours 6 A.M. and 7 P.M.;

Provided that the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, in respect of any factory or group or class or description of factories, vary the limits laid down in clause (b), but so that no such variation shall authorise the employment of any woman between the hours of 10 P.M. and 5 A.M..

• (c) there shall be no change of shifts except after a weekly holiday or any other holiday.

(2) The State Government may make rules providing for the exemption from the restrictions set out in sub-section (1), to such extent and subject to such conditions as it may prescribe, of women working in fish-curing or fish- canning factories, where the employment of women beyond the hours specified in the said restrictions, is necessary to prevent damage to, or deterioration in any raw material.

(3) The rules made under sub-section (2) shall remain in force for not more than three years at a time.