Page 65 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Labour Legislations

(F) Working Hours of Adult Workers
1. Section 51 and 54 contain general provisions regarding weekly and daily working
hours. According to Section 51, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to
work in a factory for more than 48 hours in a week. As regards daily working hours
under Section 54, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory
for more than 9 hours in a day.
2. Section 52 speaks of weekly holiday to the workers of a factory. An adult worker
shall not be allowed or required to work in a factory on the first day of the week, i.e.
Sunday. But if it becomes necessary to make Sunday a working day, a substituted
holiday is made compulsory.
3. Compensatory Holidays to be allowed for the worker who has been deprived of
weekly holidays with equal number so lost within the month in which the holidays
were due to him or within a month immediately following that month.
4. Every adult worker working in a factory are to be allowed rest during working
hours of at least half an hour. This interval is to be so placed as to break the working
hours for a maximum of 5 hours at a stretch. This period of 5 hours work can be
extended to six hours by the permission of the State Government or subject to the
control of State Government by the Chief Inspector on sufficient grounds to be
recorded in the permission order.
5. A worker of a factory required to work in excess of the maximum hours of work
prescribed under Section 51 and Section 54 is to be paid extra wages for overtime
work done by him. Therefore, a worker required working for more than 9 hours in
any day or 48 hours in any week shall be paid at twice the ordinary rate of wages for
the extra hours of work done by him. Ordinary rate of wages for this purpose shall
be the basic wages plus such allowances including the cash equivalent or the
advantage accruing through the concessional sale of food grains and other articles
made available to workers excluding bonus.

(G) Restrictions on Employment of Women: No exemption from the provisions of Sec. 54
relative to daily hours of work may be granted in respect of any woman. No woman shall
be required or allowed to work in any factory, except between the hours of 6 am and 7 pm.
However, there is absolute prohibition on employment of woman between the hours of
10 pm and 5 am.
(H) Employment of Young Persons: No factory can employ any person unless he has completed
fourteen years of age. (Section 67). There is total prohibition in employing children below
14 years of age.
For adolescents, i.e., above the age of 15 years but below 18 years, they also cannot be
employed in a factory unless
(i) He as well as the manager of a factory are in possession of certificates of fitness
granted by the Certifying Surgeon and

(ii) The adolescent carries with him while at work a token giving a reference to such
certificate issued to him.
An adolescent who has been granted certificate of fitness to work as an adult in a factory
by the Certifying Surgeon is to be treated as an adult for the purposes of working hours
and annual leave with wages.
(I) Working Hours for Children: The Act regulates the working hours for children above age
of 14 years as eligible for employment in a factory. They can be employed for maximum

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