Is Lunch Break Part of the 48-Hour Workweek in the Private Sector? Seeking Advice

I need your expert advice. I am working in a private sector company, and my company is involved in tunneling. I would like to know if the lunch break is included in the 48 hours of work in a week or if it is separate from the 48 working hours in a week.

Dear Senior Member, I need your expert advice. I am working in a private sector company, and my company is involved in tunneling. I would like to know if the lunch break is included in the 48 hours of work in a week or if it is separate from the 48 working hours in a week? The 48 hours of working time is separate from the lunch break. It's 8 hours per day for 6 days a week, totaling 48 hours.

Weekly Hours and Overtime Regulations Under the Factories Act of 1948

According to the Factories Act of 1948:

1. Weekly hours: Not more than forty-eight hours in any week. In a day, the number of working hours can be a maximum of up to 9. So, in a factory, instead of the normal duty hours of 8, we can have 9 hours of duty, subject to a maximum of 48 hours of work in a week.

2. For working more than these hours, written permission should be obtained from the labor inspector or through standing orders, and for that, double the rate of pay should be given.

3. However, the maximum number of hours in a week, including overtime, shall not exceed 60, and the total overtime hours cannot exceed 50 in a quarter (meaning a period of three months).

Hope this information helps you all.

With Regards,

The Factories Act is not applicable to your tunnel work. You are governed by the BOCW Act 1996 at your site. If your office is elsewhere, the respective state Act or Shop and Commercial Establishments Act will apply. Please read those two Acts along with their rules.

Regards,
Varghese Mathew
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

In a factory working single or two shifts, it is possible to exclude the lunch break from the 8 hours. However, in a factory working 3 shifts, excluding the lunch break from the working hours may not be feasible as the day consists of 24 hours. In such a case, there are two options: either you include the lunch break within the shift hours or reduce the number of working hours in the night shift. Even in such a case, the lunch break should be built into the working hours only.

Regards,
M.V. Kannan

In factories operating on three shifts, an 8-hour workday includes a lunch break. Even during the night shift, you must allow a rest period of half an hour, as you cannot have an employee work continuously for more than five hours.

Regards,
Varghese Mathew
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Dear Karnanand, whatever the type of your industrial establishment and the parent labor law applicable to your industry, you should understand that working hours normally refer to the actual hours worked by the workmen. However, as you are well aware, one cannot work at a stretch continuously and would require certain breaks for physical comforts such as rest and other incidental physical needs such as taking food, answering nature's calls, etc. Therefore, working hours need to be stretched beyond the actual hours of work, including the times for such breaks, and this entire stretch of time inclusive of actual working hours and intervals or breaks for rest is called "Spread over." So, the time allowed for a lunch break in a day or in a week is exclusive of the daily or weekly hours of work.

Understanding Lunch Breaks in Employment Hours

Please note that in any employment act, the lunch break is not included in the specified working hours. In other words, lunchtime can be added to the daily hours or shift working.

Inclusion or Exclusion of Meal Breaks During Working Hours

The question of whether to include or exclude meal breaks during working hours depends on whether you are working continuously for 24 hours (8*3) or not. In a continuous shift arrangement, the lunch break is included in the 8-hour shift. However, when there is no continuous shift working, the lunch hour could be excluded.

Normally, in process industries, there is continuous working, and the lunch break is included in the shift hours. It is not very clear which category your activity falls under. However, the point to be noted is that even where there is a continuous shift, the shift hours shall be arranged so that the worker does not have to work continuously beyond 5 hours and gets a rest interval of half an hour before resuming work (Section 55 of the Factories Act 1948).

Therefore, in such cases, it has to be either 5 hours of work - 1/2 hour rest interval - 2 1/2 hours of work, or 4 hours of work - 1/2 hour rest interval - 3 1/2 hours of work, or the reverse.

Regards,
KK

I was stating the general principles regarding shift work since this keeps on appearing. Further to clarify, Section 28 of the BOCW Act 1996 empowers the appropriate Government to frame rules regarding the hours of work and rest intervals to be provided. Rule 234(2) of the Central Rules lays down a similar provision to Section 55 of the Factories Act, stating that the building worker cannot be employed to work continuously for more than five hours unless he has an interval of rest of not less than half an hour.

Hope the above position makes it clear.

Regards,
KK

Often, there are 9 working hours per day that include the lunch break. However, if your daily working hours are 8, then the lunch break will not be included in that.

Based on your opinion and practice, we all try to give justification that break hours can be excluded from 48 hours of work in a week. It is required to prove the same by compiling the act. Can anyone give the section or rule referring to the clarification of break hours, which separates break hours from the 48 hours?