Understanding Paid Holidays in Maharashtra: What Does the Factory Act Say?

Kindly let me know which are the paid holidays for Maharashtra as per the Factory Act. If possible, please send the list.

Regards,
Sonali.

There is no concept of "paid holidays" under the Factories Act, unlike in the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act. The Factories Act provides only for earned leave where, briefly speaking, one has to work for 240 days in a calendar year to be eligible to earn leave, which he/she earns at one day for every 20 days worked.

If you have something else in mind, please focus your question more sharply!

Regards,
Samvedan
November 16, 2011

There are no compulsory paid holidays beyond the leave earned by an employee as explained. Paid holiday is conceptually different from leave. On a Paid Holiday, the establishment (in your case, the factory) remains closed. But when people take leave (earned) or even absent themselves unauthorizedly, the establishment is working as normal, albeit without them! Is the difference now acceptable? Please don't look for "paid holidays" in a factory unless the company has agreed with the Union of employees to grant some days as paid holidays or has on its own decided (irrespective of any legal compulsion) to grant some days as paid leave!

Cheers.

Regards,
Samvedan
November 17, 2011

Generally, these are mutually finalized with the Union, but typically in factories, it would be a total of 7 or 8 paid holidays. Anything additional would be up to the management. One cannot exclude Independence Day, Labour Day, and Gandhi Jayanti from the list of paid holidays. The rest is up to the employer. Election day—as and when required—if you are smart, you can add a rider to your agreement and adjust it in the total of 7 or 8 sanctioned paid holidays.

Regards,
Kalpana Iyer

As per the Factory Act, can we remove the national holiday from the list?

The Factories Act of 1948 does not specify the granting of National Holidays. National and Festival holidays are granted based on the state National and Festival Holidays Act. Furthermore, what is the rationale for removing these national holidays from the list?

Regards, R N KHOLA