Are Factories in Maharashtra Required to Close on National Holidays? Seeking Guidance

Dear All Seniors, Is there any rule, section, or act that prescribes that on a particular day factories in Maharashtra should be closed, i.e., 26th January, 15th August, 1st May, or 2nd October? Thanks in advance.

Irrespective of a factory being located within Indian territory, these are compulsory holidays and fall within the ambit of Labour Law. The ACT is related to:

THE ACTS RELATING TO NATIONAL AND FESTIVAL HOLIDAYS & CASUAL AND SICK LEAVES

No central labour law relating to private industry regarding these holidays is enacted, as it is a state matter. All state governments have enacted laws regarding these holidays.

Generally, all state legislations have common provisions for major matters. They provide at least seven holidays for national and other festivals. Republic Day, Independence Day, and Mahatma Gandhi's birthday are compulsory holidays. Employers and employees have the right to decide the remaining national and festival holidays.

Similarly, a minimum of seven days of casual leave and 14 days of sick leave is provided to employees.

These leaves are paid, meaning the employees receive the wages for these leaves as if they had actually worked that day.

An employee becomes entitled to these leaves after working for a specified period.

An employee who works in an establishment on national or other festival holidays is entitled to receive double wages for that day.

There is no question of arguing these issues. Also, in case of an emergency announced, the factories should adhere to the enacted laws irrespective of the state they are established in. Further, in case of elections, the factories should grant leave to the employee for voting in their respective constituencies, and the employer should respect the voting right of the employee. This will be announced from time to time by the respective authorities.

Observance of National Holidays in Factories

There is no provision in the Factories Act that requires a national holiday to be compulsorily observed. Therefore, one can continue working at their factory on national holidays such as Independence Day, Republic Day, or Maharashtra Day, etc.

Moreover, there is no such act in Maharashtra that makes it compulsory for an employer to declare a holiday on national holidays for its factory. However, for shops and establishments in Maharashtra, there is such a provision, and because of this, 26th January, 1st May, 15th August, and 2nd October are observed as paid holidays.

However, in other states such as Tamil Nadu, there is a statute called "Compulsory Observation of National Holidays," which mandates the observance of national holidays.

To my knowledge and practice hitherto, The Factories Act of 1948, amended from time to time, does not prescribe any paid holiday as a mandate. For that matter, the act does not provide for any paid holiday in the first place. However, by way of agreements between managements and workers' unions, paid holidays form a part of the holidays. Here again, observance of National or Religious holidays is not mandatory to be included in the accepted number of days of paid holidays as per the agreements. The holidays may be selectively defined between the parties in the agreements.

Yes, The Negotiable Instruments Act applicable to commercial establishments, e.g., banks, defines National Holidays as paid holidays as mandatory.

Regards,
Lalit Thakkar

National and Factory Holidays

The Factories Act (as revised from time to time) does not stipulate closed holidays in a factory. However, National Holidays are covered under the National Holidays Act. Those required to work on these days are entitled to wages as overtime.

Regarding other holidays, they are governed by the agreement between the employer and the employee. These holidays come with wages and are covered under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Regards,
S.K. Johri