Dear Mr. Janarthanan,
As the views expressed by me and the views of Mr. Bhaskar in this thread are at variance, I feel that I need to place my views in the proper perspective.
A. Labour Laws Regulating Working Conditions in India
The following laws relating to labor regulate the working conditions of workmen/employees in India. These laws have all-India applicability.
1. Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act 1966.
2. Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1996.
3. Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act 1981.
4. Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act 1948.
5. Factories Act 1948.
6. Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1979.
7. Mines Act 1952.
8. Motor Transport Workers Act 1961.
9. Plantation Labour Act 1951.
10. Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act 1976.
11. Weekly Holidays Act 1942.
12. Working Journalists (Conditions of Service and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1955.
B. State-Specific Legislations
Apart from the above legislations having all-India applicability, which regulate the working conditions of workmen/employees employed in different sectors of employment, almost each State in India has passed legislation to regulate the working conditions of workmen/employees employed in Shops, Establishments, and Commercial Establishments. These Acts are applicable only in the particular State which enacted that law.
C. National/Festival Holidays
The legislations listed in paragraph A above do not provide for the grant of national/festival holidays, and there is no law with all-India applicability that requires an employer to grant national/festival holidays to employees. Some States might have amended the laws enumerated in paragraph A to incorporate the grant of national and festival holidays. Such amendments will have force only within the States carrying out those amendments. Some laws passed by individual States to regulate the working conditions of employees employed in Shops and Establishments may provide for the grant of national/festival holidays to those employees.
Some States, like Tamil Nadu, have passed separate legislations requiring the employer to grant national/festival holidays to employees. In Tamil Nadu, the Tamil Nadu (Industrial Establishments) National and Festival Holidays Act requires an employer of an industrial establishment to grant in a year four national holidays and five festival holidays to employees. This Act defines the term "industrial establishment," and all industrial establishments situated in Tamil Nadu that come within that definition are covered by the provisions of this Act. The workmen/employees as defined in that Act and who are employed in such "industrial establishments" are entitled to four national holidays with wages and five festival holidays with wages in a year.
The Tamil Nadu Act referred to in this paragraph also gives power to the employer to require an employee to work on a national/festival holiday. This Act also prescribes the rate of wages to be paid to the employee who is required to work on a national/festival holiday. According to this Act, if an employee is required to work on a national/festival holiday, he has to be given wages for that day and a holiday with wages on a day within three days prior to the national/festival holiday or within three days subsequent to the national/festival holiday. Alternatively, the employee who is required to work on a national or festival holiday could be granted "twice the wages." The choice is that of the employee and not that of the employer. This Act is specifically silent as to the entitlement of a national/festival holiday if the national/festival holiday falls on a weekly holiday. The presumption is that if a national/festival holiday falls on a weekly holiday, the worker is not entitled to any other additional benefit.
D. Example: National Holiday on 26th January 2012
Now, coming to your example of the national holiday on 26th January 2012, I assume for the purposes of this discussion that the "industrial establishment" referred to by you is a factory as defined under the Factories Act and is situated in Tamil Nadu. This day is a Thursday. If 26th January 2012 happens to be a weekly off day for the worker, then he gets no benefit of the Tamil Nadu Act. If it is a working day for the worker, then he can avail the national holiday on that day. If he is required to work on 26th January 2012, then the options to the worker in Tamil Nadu are (i) he could claim to be paid for 26-1-2012 twice the wages (1+1 =2) or (ii) in the alternative, he has to be given a holiday with wages either on 23rd January or 24th January or 25th January or 27th January or 28th January or 29th January.
E. Overtime Considerations
The next question is whether any overtime is involved if this worker is required to work on 26th January. I again assume for the purpose of this discussion that the daily hours of work for the worker in the example who is assumed to work in a factory is 8 hours per day. Therefore, the weekly hours of work would be 48 hours per week. According to the Factories Act (I have assumed for the purposes of this discussion that the worker is employed in a factory in Tamil Nadu), the worker is entitled to get overtime if he works for more than 9 hours in a day or for more than 48 hours in a week.
F. Example Analysis
Now please consider the example. If the weekly holiday for the worker falls on 26th January 2012 and if he is not required to work on 26th January 2012, then there are no issues. For the purpose of this discussion, I have assumed that the weekly off of the worker falls on Wednesday. If the worker is required to work on 26-1-2012 according to the Tamil Nadu Act, he should be given twice the wages for working on 26-1-2012 or he should be given a holiday with wages on any one of the three days following or preceding 26-1-2012. The following table indicates the hours he would have worked each day and during the whole week if the worker is required to work on 26-1-2012 and is given a holiday with wages on 24-1-2012 in lieu of the work on 26-1-2012.
Day | Date | Hours Worked
--- | --- | ---
Sunday | 22-1-2012 | 8
Monday | 23-1-2012 | 8
Tuesday | 24-1-2012 (Holiday in lieu of work on 26-1-2012) | 0
Wednesday | Weekly off | 0
Thursday | 26-2-2012 (Required to work by the employer) | 8
Friday | 27-1-2012 | 8
Saturday | 28-1-2012 | 8
Total hours worked for the week | | 40
The worker had not worked for more than 48 hours in the week and he has not worked for more than 8 hours in any day and is therefore not entitled to any overtime. In case the worker is given twice the wages for working on 26-1-2012, then the hours he would have worked during each day and during the week will be as indicated in the following table.
Day | Date | Hours Worked
--- | --- | ---
Sunday | 22-1-2012 | 8
Monday | 23-1-2012 | 8
Tuesday | 24-1-2012 | 8
Wednesday | 25-1-2012 (Weekly off) | 0
Thursday | 26-1-2012 (Required to work on this National Holiday) | 8
Friday | 27-1-2012 | 8
Saturday | 28-1-2012 | 8
Total hours worked during the week | | 48
In this case also, the worker has not worked for more than 8 hours in a day or for more than 48 hours in the week. Therefore, he is not entitled to any overtime wages.
G. Overtime Wages in Tamil Nadu
In Tamil Nadu, the requirement to pay overtime wages and the rate of overtime wages are governed by the provisions of the law relating to working conditions applicable to the particular "industrial establishment" (either a factory or mine or plantation or shop or commercial establishment) and not by the Tamil Nadu (Industrial Establishment) National and Festival Holidays Act or by any other law.
H. Clarification on Mr. Bhaskar's Post
In his post, Mr. Bhaskar has not indicated the law based on which he made the statements contained therein.
I. Clarification of Previous Post
I have clarified the contents of my previous post in this thread in case you have any doubts/reservations regarding its contents.
With regards