Confused About Legal Working Hours and Breaks? Let's Clarify the Shops Act Rules

Can someone please tell me what the maximum working hours are as per law? Is it 8 hours or 9 hours? And does this include break time or exclude break time?

We work from 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM for 6 days a week with one hour of break time every day. It is 9.5 hours including one hour of break and 8.5 hours excluding the break. I understand that the Shops Act states an employee is not supposed to work for more than 48 hours in a week. Does this 48 hours include break time?

As per my knowledge, it's a 9-hour shift consisting of a 1-hour break. You can take breaks as per your convenience, e.g., a 30-minute lunch break and two 15-minute tea breaks, or a 1-hour lunch break (you can set this as per your company's suitability).

Understanding Working Hours Under State Acts

Shops and Commercial Establishments are governed by state Acts; therefore, each Act may vary. However, 48 hours per week is a common standard across all states. In some state Acts, the standard working day is 9 hours, capped at a maximum of 48 hours per week. This excludes rest intervals as per state regulations.

Taking into account rest intervals (distributed over working hours), the typical working hours are 10 hours and 30 minutes in most states, except for those where it is set at 12 hours for shops and 10 1/2 hours for commercial establishments.

Overtime Regulations

In cases where the normal working hours are set at 9 hours per day, an employee will only receive overtime wages when working beyond 9 hours. Overtime pay starts from the ninth hour worked. For example, if an employee works for 8 hours and 30 minutes, they will not receive overtime pay for the additional 30 minutes worked. However, if they work for 10 hours, they will be eligible for 2 hours of overtime pay.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Thank you, Madhu, for the clarification. From your comment, I understand that even though our employees work for 8.5 hours a day, excluding a 1-hour break, they are not entitled to overtime pay for the extra 30 minutes worked each day. Is it legal for the employer to require 8.5 hours of actual work per day, totaling 51 hours per week? Furthermore, I comprehend that according to the Shops Act, no employee should work more than 48 hours per week.

No, please read the sentence once again and then comment on it. The last sentence in my post, "...he will not get overtime wages" (for the day) for the half an hour...", means that where it is 9 hours per day but 48 hours a week, it should be like this for "the day". Therefore, if the practice is to engage the worker for half an hour extra every day, he should be paid overtime for the hours which exceeded 48 hours in that week. This is similar to the provision for overtime wages under the Factories Act (Central Act).

Overtime Calculation for Different Work Arrangements

Under an arrangement where there are only 5 days working, the employees will be working only for 45 days but for the purpose of overtime calculation, the extra hours worked over 8/9 hours, as the case may be, will be counted for overtime notwithstanding 48 hours. Similarly, in a week with holidays or leave with or without pay, the overtime will be based on hours exceeding 8/9 hours per day, whereas in such cases the employee would not have worked for 48 hours. Therefore, calculation of overtime hours as per above is possible in the case of daily rated workers for whom there will not be any leave days.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Ok, thanks again for clarifying. My point was to know if the 3 hours of extra working in a week should be treated as overtime. Secondly, is it legal on the employer's part to demand 8.5 hours of compulsory working in a day, without any overtime pay?

Overtime Rules and Legal Working Hours

The overtime rules state (assuming you are subject to the Bombay Shop and Establishment Act) that anyone working more than 9 hours in a single day or 48 hours in a single week will be entitled to overtime for that extra work period, whichever is less, naturally. So, for working an extra 3 hours, you would get overtime at double the rate.

However, the other part of the law states that an employee should not be asked to work for more than 48 hours a week. So the standard shift time cannot be 51 hours a week; it is illegal. Overtime is for extra work as an exception and not a standard routine daily practice.

The extra 3 hours per week shall be treated as overtime provided there was no leave day nor was there any holiday during the week. In any case where there was a holiday or leave, the employee would not have worked for 48 hours. However, in respect of workers who are eligible for leave with wages and statutory holidays, this will not work, and the practice is to count either the proportionate hours in the week or to take overtime hours on each day.

If the establishment works for 5 days in a week, the employer can ask the employees to work for 9 hours a day.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

If someone works more than 48 hours a week, they will receive overtime. However, the company cannot have a normal work schedule (work hours/shift time) exceeding 48 hours; that is illegal. Overtime is not designed to be an everyday standard but rather for exceptional circumstances.

Otherwise, the government should not object to security guards working 12 hours a day as they would receive overtime pay. There are two separate provisions: one that prohibits work beyond 48 hours a week, which dictates the shift timing across a week, and the other that requires extra pay for any additional work done. However, the latter cannot be the basis for shift time beyond the stipulated 9 hours a day/48 hours a week.

"The extra 3 hours per week shall be treated as overtime provided there were no leave days or holidays during the week because in any case where there was a holiday or leave, the employee would not have worked for 48 hours. However, for workers eligible for leave with wages and statutory holidays, this approach will not work. The practice is to either count the proportionate hours in the week or calculate overtime hours on each day.

If the establishment operates for 5 days in a week, the employer can request employees to work for 9 hours a day.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Overtime and Working Hours Limitations

Please also note that there is a limit on overtime hours as well. The total number of overtime hours worked by an employee should not exceed 50 within one quarter. According to the S&E Act, working hours for an employee should not exceed 48 hours in a week or 9 hours in any one day. This excludes rest periods and intervals.

Hello sir, this is my viewpoint: the working hours are 9.5 hours, but lunchtime we have to provide within 1 hour. Hence, the total working time is 8.5 hours. You have to provide a 15-minute break in the morning session and another 15 minutes in the evening session (we will decide on the right times according to our company norms).

I need your suggestion. We are from the embroidery work industry, where wages are given on the nafri system. The working hours are from 9 am to 4 pm, which counts as 1 nafri. The next shift from 4 pm to 7:45 pm is considered a double nafri, i.e., 2 nafri. However, we are unable to comply with the minimum wages act based on our current payment structure. For instance, the minimum wage for an unskilled worker is 318 per day as per the existing rates. We pay our unskilled labor 214 per nafri, and since they work a minimum of 2 nafri daily (until 7:45 pm), they end up receiving 428 per day, which is more than the minimum wage.

Therefore, please advise on how to calculate wages under the nafri system to comply with the minimum wage requirements.

Thank you.

Our company's daily working hours are 9 hours, including a 30-minute lunch break, a 10-minute morning session, and a 10-minute evening session. In a week, we work for 54 hours, including breaks and one weekly off. Is this legally correct?

My question is, according to the Shop Act, the total working hours in a week should not exceed 48 hours or else it should be a 5-day working week. Our company is a service provider, so we are not paid any overtime. Please help me decide on the office timing norms.