National Holidays in Factories: Who's Eligible to Work and Why?

In factory premises, which type of labor is eligible to work on national holidays?

No kind of employee can be called upon to work on a National Holiday. However, if engaging workers on a holiday is so important, then you can engage them, provided you give them overtime payment and a compensatory holiday.

Since Managers are not workmen under any labor law, they can work on holidays, and for that, no overtime nor compensatory holiday is to be paid. They are deemed to be representatives of the owners or employers.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Thank you very much, sir. Please elaborate on this question by providing answers to the following:

Q.1. Is there any "Essential Service" that can work on a National Holiday? If yes, please tell me which services fall under "Essential Service."

Q.2. Can contractor labor work on a National Holiday?

By essential service, I only meant those services which cannot be suspended. For example, in a boiler and work related to it, there should be some workers engaged round the clock. Similarly, urgent repair work that has to be attended to, without which the factory might remain closed on Monday or the following day, is also considered essential work.

Regarding contract labor, I have a different opinion because contract laborers are engaged in work of a non-perennial nature which has no direct connection with the routine work of the company. Therefore, there is hardly any urgency to engage them on national holidays. It is advisable to avoid engaging them on holidays.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Moreover, on national holidays like Independence Day, you have to pay thrice the normal pay as overtime, as opposed to double on regular days.

Thank you!

As per sec. 5 of the National & Festival Holidays Act, where an employee works on any holiday allowed under section 3 or 3A, he shall, at his option, be entitled to:

1. Substituted by Act 28 of 1997 w.e.f. 30.9.1997 (a) twice the wages; or (b) wages for such day and to avail himself of a substituted holiday with wages on any other day.

Moreover, the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the SIAL case declared that the employer has the right to engage workmen during National Holidays.

Arulmani RS

In my knowledge, the above-said Act (National and Festival Holidays Act) is not a central Act but a state legislation, like the Kerala Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays) Act, the Karnataka Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays) Act, Punjab, etc. Accordingly, there will be different provisions about holiday wages under different state Acts.

Regards, Madhu.T.K

Hi, could you please tell me who is eligible to avail compensation holidays? Are engineers or assistant engineers eligible to get compensation holidays?

Regards,
V. Vivek

As per labor laws, only workmen are entitled to receive overtime (OT) and/or compensatory time off. However, anyone who works for the organization on a holiday is eligible to receive time off on another day based on the convenience of the establishment and its workload.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

I am still in confusion. Let me introduce my area: We are a pharmaceutical company established in the region of Gujarat. Right now, we have two construction projects going on in the factory premises, and various contract workmen are working on the projects.

Question on Independence Day Work Policy

Now, my question is: On Independence Day, can we allow work on the premises? Can anyone introduce me to the applicable law that addresses the working hours of contract workmen on national holidays?

Please do the needful at the earliest.

Thanks,
Hitesh Limbani

I think your query has been answered in the previous posts. Regarding contract workmen, they are also eligible for national holidays like others.

Regards, Madhu.T.K

Engineers, if they fall under the purview of the definition of a worker under the Factory Act, are entitled to Compensatory Off (C-off) if they are not supervisors.

Mangesh Wakodkar
Aurangabad

Eligibility of Contract Workers for National and Festival Holidays

Where is it mentioned that contract workers are eligible to get National Holidays? Should they also get Festival holidays?

Regards

Eligibility for Holidays Under Kerala National & Festival Holidays

How many holidays are eligible for employees under Kerala National & Festival Holidays? Can you please share any gazette notification regarding the numbers?

Regards