Navigating Weekly Offs: Can a Public Holiday Affect Your Rest Day Choice?

Dear Seniors and friends,

Under Section 52 of the Factory Act, one should have a holiday for a whole day on one of the three days immediately before or after the weekly off. My query is that if Mr. A has worked on the weekly off, i.e., on Sunday, and is supposed to take a holiday within 3 days, i.e., by Wednesday, but on Tuesday, there is a public holiday. In that case, can he or she take the rest on some other day instead of Wednesday? Please clarify the above.

Thank you.

Understanding Section 52 of the Factory Act

Section 52 states that if an employee is not given a weekly holiday due to any reason, they should be given a whole day of rest within three days of being denied such a weekly holiday. Therefore, if the second or third day is a holiday for the company, that day will be treated as their rest day.

The above provision applies only to casual daily-rated workers and not to regular workers. For regular workers, the day they remain on leave will be considered as a day worked for all purposes, including continuous work. Therefore, if a regular worker works on a scheduled weekly holiday, they will be entitled to double the rate of wages.

Regards, Madhu.T.K