Understanding Lunch Break Regulations and Working Hours Compliance under Labor Laws

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.

Dear Karnanand,

According to the Factories Act of 1948:

1. Weekly hours: Not more than forty-eight hours in any week, but in a day, the number of hours working 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,

Mr. Karnanad,

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

Varghese Mathew
9961266966

Dear Mr. Karnanand,

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.

M.V. Kannan

In factories on 3 shifts, 8-hour work is inclusive of a lunch break. Even during the night, you have to allow the rest of half an hour as you cannot work an employee continuously for more than five hours.

Varghese Mathew
9961266966

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.

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

Dear all,

The question of inclusion or exclusion of 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, whereas 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 as to 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 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.

KK

I think the Factories Act will not apply to Karnanand. His company is involved in tunnel work.

Varghese Mathew

Dear all,

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.

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?