Is It Fair to Deny Overtime Pay for Sunday and Holiday Work? Let's Discuss

Order Extract and Factory Act Exemption

The extract of an order: "It is clear from this provision that if any technical staff or employee is called for work on Sunday, Second Saturday, or any public holiday, he will be granted compensatory holiday(s) within the same month or within the two months immediately following that month and shall not be entitled to any overtime allowance."

The factory is covered under the Factories Act, 1948, and exempted from the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, and 56 of the said Act.

Please give comments.

Regards,
A. Khan

What is your query? Your post does not call for any comment as the said "order" is precisely in line with legal provisions. For weekly off and declared holidays, there should be provisions for giving compensatory off. Just check for 2nd and 4th Saturdays as they are additional off days, for which there could be a claim for overtime and not compensatory off.

Regards,
Shailesh Parikh
Vadodara, Gujarat
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

The extract is the portion of the order quoted above. Let me put here the same query in another way.

Overtime Allowance as per Section 59 of the Factories Act, 1948

As per Section 59 of the Factories Act, 1948, the worker will be paid overtime allowance at the rate of twice their ordinary rate of wages for the overtime work performed beyond 48 hours in any week. Accordingly, 7 days x 8 hrs. = 56 hrs. This means that the work performed on Sunday is 8 extra hours, which are beyond 48 hours in a week and therefore eligible for double overtime.

Compensatory Holidays as per Section 52

Section 52 states that if a worker is deprived of any of the weekly holidays for which provision is made in sub-section (1) of that section, he shall be allowed, within the month in which the holidays were due to him or within the two months immediately following that month, compensatory holidays of an equal number to the holidays lost. Therefore, the worker is entitled to double overtime allowances and a compensatory holiday.