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Business Environment and Law-Factories Act, 1948

Working Hours, Holidays & Annual Leave- Factories Act, 1948

   Posted On :  15.05.2018 12:26 am

An adult is a person who has completed the age of 18. An adolescent is a person who has completed the age of 15 but has not completed the age of 18. A child is a person who has not completed the age of 15.

Working Hours, Holidays & Annual Leave
 
 
Adult [Section 2(a)], Adolescent [Section 2(b)] and Child [Section 2(c)]
 
An adult is a person who has completed the age of 18. An adolescent is a person who has completed the age of 15 but has not completed the age of 18. A child is a person who has not completed the age of 15.
It is very important to note that according to Section 67, a child who has not completed the age of 14 cannot be employed to work in a factory.
 
 
 

Working Hours

 
 
Weekly hours (Section 51): No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than 48 hours in a week. At present it is reduced to 40 hours.
Work not done in the factory under direction of office will not be counted. [Superintendent & Remembrancer of Legal Affairs, Bengal Vs. J.J. Andrews, (1931) I.L.R. 50 Cal. 519].
Daily Hours (Section 54): No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than 9 hours in any day and 40 hours in a week. However, to facilitate the change of shift, this limit may be exceeded, subject to the previous approval of the Chief Inspector of Factories.
Where work of the same kind is carried out by two or more sets of workers working during different periods of the day, each of such sets is called a “group” or “relay” and each of such periods is called “shift” [Section 2(r)].

Classification of Workers :
 
The manager of the factory shall classify the workers into such groups, as he may deem fit and proper. This would depend upon the nature of work, the number of workers in each group, wherein all the adult workers are not required for such work during the same period [Section 61
(4)]. 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. [Section 61 (5)].
 
Group working on a system of shifts :
 
The manager shall fix the period during which each relay of the group may be required to work on shifts. This is done in spite of the reason that there is already a pre-determined schedule that has been fixed as a system specifying the shift in which the respective relays have to work [Section 61 (6)].
 
Register of Adult Workers (Section 62) :
 
Registers disclosing the particulars of adult workers working in the factory shall be maintained by the manager incorporating the changes from time to time. Registers shall show (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) the place or spot where his group works on shifts, the relay to which he is allotted; and (e) such other particulars as may be prescribed. Work in accordance with Notice (Section 63) : All adult workers who are required or allowed to work in the factory, shall be in accordance with the notice periods of work as displayed on the general notice board and in conformity with the entries made in the register of adult workers.
 
It shall be the duty of the occupier or manager in the factory, not to allow any adult worker beyond the stipulated period of hours of work. Furthermore, he shall not allow the total number of workers to exceed the number that has already been notified and allocated for work. The plea of payment of overtime wages would not justify employing a worker to do work beyond the usual hours of work.
 

Holidays (Sections 52 & 53)

 
 
No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory, on the first day of the week, which is a Sunday. This would mean that a worker,

 shall have a holiday for every six days of continuous work. However, the manager may call upon a worker to work on a Sunday. In such cases, one day holiday must be given either out of the 3 days preceding the Sunday or out of the 3 days succeeding the Sunday. Before making this arrangement, a manager shall deliver a notice to the office of the inspector expressing his intention to that effect.
 
Furthermore, notice must also be displayed in the factory, intimating such change. No substitution can however be made, in such a way that it makes a worker to work for more than l0 days consecutively. Sunday shall, for the purpose of calculating weekly hours of work, be included in the preceding week, where any worker works on a Sunday.
 
Compensatory Holidays :
 
It is mandatory that a worker shall be allowed compensatory holidays of equal number to the holidays so lost. This arises on account of the worker being deprived of the weekly holidays under Section 52 made by the State Government exempting the factory from such provisions. The compensatory holidays must be allowed to the workman within 2 months or within a month in which the substitution of such holidays becomes due. The manner in which compensatory holidays has to be allowed, is prescribed by the State Government.
 

Annual Leave With Wages (Section 79 To 82)

 
 
Section 78 to 84 of the Factories Act deal with annual leave with wages. If any award or agreement including settlement or contract of service provides for a longer annual leave with wages under provisions of Section 79 to 82, the worker shall be entitled to such leave. But there cannot be any award or settlement reducing the annual leave as provided under the Act.
 
 

 

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