Seeking Guidance on Office Work Hours According to the Companies Act 1956 – Can You Help?

Dear Friends, I am working in a small company with around 20 members. Previously, our office timings were 9 am to 6 pm. Now, my manager has asked me to find out the office work hours as per the Companies Act of 1956. Could any professionals guide me regarding this?

Thank you.

Office hours are as per the local laws applicable. If it's not a factory, then the Shops & Establishment Act needs to be checked.

Work Hours and Shifts for Women Employees

The number of hours worked should be 8 hours a day (including breaks) and 6 days a week, starting from 8:30 am as per the law for women. If a company has shifts, each shift should be structured with 8 hours (8 hrs x 3 shifts = 24 hrs a day). Women employees are not permitted to work night shifts unless they are provided with transportation and accompanied by a female security personnel while traveling.

For a 6-day work schedule, shifts can be scheduled from 9 am - 5 pm, 9:30 am - 5:30 pm, or 10 am - 6 pm. If it is a 5-day work week, the working hours are 9 hours a day from 9 am to 6 pm (or flexible timings as per the company's requirements). However, this practice is not in accordance with the law but is commonly practiced in the IT industry.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need further clarification.

Thank you.

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions. However, I would like to know, as per the law, what about the duration of the lunch break? Does the 8-hour workday include the lunch break?

Working Hours as per the Factories Act

Section 51 of the Factories Act states that no adult employee should be allowed to work for more than 48 hours a week. Furthermore, subject to Section 51, no adult employee should work for more than nine hours in a day. The duty hours may be in the General Shift, i.e., from 08:30 am to 05:00 pm, or 09:00 am to 05:30 pm; or in A, B, or C shifts. The periods of work for adult workers in a factory each day should be scheduled so that no period exceeds five hours, and no worker should work for more than five hours before having at least a half-hour rest interval.

The rest hour is exclusive of the total working hours. Thank you.

Regards

Understanding Legal Work Hours Under Labor Laws

Under various acts pertaining to labor and workers, such as the Factories Act or the Shops & Establishment Act, 48 hours weekly is fixed for all workers. If it's a 5-day week, these hours can be divided over 5 days. If the office is open for six days, then it's 8 hours daily. Therefore, you can inform your boss that the maximum hours permissible under labor laws is 8 hours, and 9 to 6 equates to 9 hours, which totals 9 x 6 = 54 hours, exceeding the legal limits. If any disgruntled employee files a complaint against the company with the labor department, they will face trouble.

I hope you can guide your company/firm properly.

Regards,
Navneet Sarin

Dear Nithiaramchandran, Greetings in the New Year! I would like to refer to your original question regarding the working hours as per the Companies Act, 1956. The fact is that the Indian Companies Act, 1956 does not specify any working hours for either an office or a factory. This point has not been clarified by any of the participating members in the replies/views given above.

Secondly, I would like to inform you that the working hours of an office are governed by the local laws of each state, which have their own Shop and Establishment Act. The working hours of an office are typically 8 hours per day, similar to the Factory Act which permits 8 hours of work. The specific timings can be decided by the management. Commercial organizations and office establishments may follow different timings based on the applicable laws. Although you did not inquire about lunch timings, the standard practice is to observe a half-hour lunch break.

I hope this explanation addresses your query.

With best wishes and warm regards to you and the members/readers of this post.

Regards

Working Hours and Legal Limits

The working hours on any day cannot exceed 9 hours (depending on the state, as the Shop and Establishment Act is separate for all states). This excludes lunch and break times. If you exclude break times, then even with a 6-day workweek, you will probably not exceed the 48-hour limit.

Interval for Rest as per Karnataka Shops and Establishments Act

The periods of work for an employee in an establishment each day shall be fixed so that no period exceeds five hours. Additionally, no person shall work for more than five hours without an interval of rest of at least one hour.

Dear Seniors,

Please guide us on the necessary actions to be taken in case of prolonged working hours of 9.30 per day with the 2nd and 4th Saturdays off. Our company is engaged in supplying and providing Japanese engineering products. Office timings are from 9 am to 6.30 pm with the 2nd and 4th Saturday off.

Although it is not acceptable to most of the employees, no action has been taken to change this situation. Kindly suggest the steps to be taken to correct the timings and implement them as per the law.

Regards,
Aparna

According to your statement, your company is providing and supplying Japanese engineering products, which means that your company is engaged in trading and therefore falls into the category of a commercial establishment under the Bombay Shop & Establishment Act, 1948. Section 14(1) of the Act prescribes that employees can work for nine hours in a day and 48 hours in a week. However, in Subsection (2), it is provided that employees can work up to six hours in excess of 48 hours, which means that a company can require work from employees for a maximum of 54 hours in a week. Section 15 prescribes one hour of rest after 5 hours of work. In your case, you have not mentioned anything about the hours of rest given to employees. Therefore, it is presumed that 9.30 hours of work include the one-hour rest period. Thus, in your case, I do not find anything against the provisions of Section 14 and Section 15 of the Act.

Please note that my answer is based on the information provided in your question. If you wish to add any further information, please do so to enable me to review my answer thoroughly. The State Government or the local authority is the law-enforcing agency under this Act.

With good wishes,

Regards

Office Timing and Salary Deduction Concerns

I am working in a small-scale company with around 25 members. Previously, our office timings were 9 am to 6 pm. Now, my company director has informed me that if I am not present for 8 hours in the office, meaning if I am present for 7 hours and 59 minutes, he will deduct half a day's salary. Additionally, if we work more than 8 hours in the office, he will not provide overtime pay.

Please provide a solution for this critical situation in accordance with the Indian government Acts. Kindly mention the specific government acts related to this issue.

This matter is urgent, so please take immediate action. We are eagerly awaiting your valuable response.

Thank you.