Should I Pay Temporary Staff Extra for Working Sundays During Festive Season?

Hi all,

There is a small dilemma I have come across. For our festive period, we had recruited a few temporary staff to assist our key employees with data entry work. We had set a fixed salary for them (for example, Rs 5000 p.m.). Now, they were called to work on Sundays as well, in addition to the 6 weekdays they already worked.

I am wondering whether we need to pay them extra for working on the 4 Sundays in a month (i.e., 5000 + 4 Sundays' pay, which is Rs 166 per day). I believe every employee is entitled to one weekly off. Since they are not permanent employees, I cannot give them a comp-off for working on Sundays.

Kindly advise whether I should pay them extra for all Sundays worked or if I should stick to paying them only Rs 5000 as that is their monthly pay, including Sundays.

Kindly advise.

Hi!

You can give them any day off because by coming on Sunday, they have accepted it as a work norm.

Regards, Shyamali

Hi,

Yes, dear, you should pay them salary for the extra day or maybe you can give them overtime compensation on an hourly basis. Generally, we pay the overtime as follows: Basic / 122. Then multiply this amount by whatever hours of overtime everybody has done. For example, if the basic is 5,000, 5000/122 = 40.98. If a person has done 97 hours of overtime in a month, they will be given 97 * 40 = 3880. If you have any doubts, let me know.

Cheers,
Archna

Hi Sara,

Well, as per my view, you should give them a salary including Sundays since you have called them for all the Sundays. If you have called them for 1 Sunday, let it be, but for 4 Sundays, you should pay. If you cannot pay 100% of the amount, then pay 50% to them. However, take the decision thinking about the future and as per your company policy.

Regards,
Divya

Hi Shyamli, Archana, Divya,

Thank you all. Even I felt that we should pay them an extra day for working on Sundays because any employee is legally eligible for a weekly off, i.e., 1 day off after working for 6 consecutive days. I will pay them an extra day for all Sundays worked, and I feel that will be right.

Regards,
Vaishali

Hi Sara,

Yes, you are right in your approach. What we would recommend are three points:

1. If they work on Sunday, please make sure that no records are kept.
2. Appropriate payment should be paid as a lump sum as an ex-gratia along with the wages at the end of the month.
3. Please cross-check if you have to pay ESI on their services, as it is important how these expenses are accounted for in the book of ledgers and may come under scrutiny by ESI inspectors during their inspection.

Have a great weekend.

Cheers,
Rajat

Hi Rajat,

It's always informative to interact with you. Yes, I have not kept any records (neither attendance) for their work on Sunday. Secondly, I am giving them a lump sum (including the extra day worked on Sundays, totaling 3). I don't think ESIC will come into the picture as there are less than 20 employees whose gross salary is less than 7500.

Hopefully, I am doing the right thing by providing an extra day to them for Sundays worked (i.e., monthly salary 5000 + 166 rs).

Regards,
Sara

Dear All,

The basic requirement is that no one is allowed to work more than 48 hours in a week. Compensatory time off should be provided within 3 days. The calculation should be based on the number of extra hours they have worked, and twice the hourly wage should be paid.

Thank you.

Hi Sara,

Everything else is okay, but please double-check on ESIC. I faced this issue during the ESIC audit.

Rajat

Dear Sara,

I would like to clear something first. The concept of a 6-day workweek and one day off is applicable to factories, plantations, and mines. In West Bengal and some other states, I have seen that the working hours in shops and establishments are 5 full days of work and one half-day consisting of a maximum of 5 and 1/2 hours. Therefore, the concept of a 6-day workweek and 1 day off should be checked first if your workplace is covered under the State Shops and Establishment Act.

The next point is that when temporary workers are hired to do additional work, you should consider awarding a job-based contract instead of employing them on a daily basis. This approach usually relieves you of the responsibilities of an employer-employee relationship and hence statutory obligations. You would assign them a job, determine the charges, set a deadline, and leave it up to them to complete the task (this should be your official stance).

For any additional work done, make voucher payments. If you decide on payment for extra hours or days worked, ensure proper documentation.

Lastly, I would like to express my disagreement with my good and learned friend Rajat regarding the importance of keeping records of office attendance. I have encountered situations where not maintaining attendance records led to significant difficulties. I will share my experiences below:

1) A new employee, who had just received his ESI card, was involved in an accident resulting in death or permanent disability. In such cases, ESI requires records to determine if the accident occurred in the course of employment. Having accurate attendance records is crucial in such scenarios.

2) In the event that an individual is wrongly implicated in criminal proceedings, attendance records can serve as crucial evidence of innocence. We had a temporary worker who was falsely accused of theft in his neighborhood. The victim claimed to have seen him fleeing with the stolen goods. However, his attendance record proved his whereabouts. It is essential to maintain records of all employees' presence in the office.

Consider this scenario: if one of your temporary staff members commits a theft and denies being present at the office on that day, what evidence would you have to present in court to prove otherwise?

Reflect on these points. I am sharing my experiences, and you are the best judge to decide.

Kind Regards,

SC

Dear Divya,

All units covered by the Shops and Establishment Act follow the working hours, weekly off, and total days as per the relevant Act. The Shops and Establishment Act is essentially a State Act and is passed by the State Assembly. For instance, in West Bengal, we have the West Bengal Shops and Establishment Act, which specifies that there should be 1 and 1/2 days off every week, totaling 5 and 1/2 working days.

Please check with your State Act for clarifications.

Regards,
SC

Dear Rajat,

Just for clarification, why do we need to hide employees' attendance if they are working on holidays? Is there any law related to this? In my experience, we have hired many people on contract, which is a common practice in engineering companies. The employees are paid a fixed salary with specific details mentioning any applicable leave or benefits.

The contract letter should be very clear in this aspect to avoid any confusion. If their contract states they have to work six days a week, with no PL, CL, or SL applicable, and national holidays are applicable, then they should be paid for any day they work on weekly holidays or national holidays. You have to divide their salary accordingly, i.e., salary per month divided by the number of working days in that particular month (excluding Sundays).

This is the approach we have been following.

Regards,
Asha