Analysis of Section 8 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954
To answer your query, a critical analysis of Section 8 of the Delhi Shops and Establishments Act, 1954, which deals with the employment of adults, hours of work, etc., becomes essential.
Sec. 8 states that no adult shall be employed or allowed to work in the business of the establishment for more than 9 hours on any day or 48 hours in any week. The occupier shall fix the daily periods of work accordingly. Most likely, the daily and weekly limits of working hours mentioned in the main part of the section are the reason for the query raised. A conjunctive reading of the other two parts of the section, namely the two rider clauses and the explanation, is therefore required to understand the import of the section as a whole.
Understanding Daily and Weekly Limits
As per the first part, the maximum daily limit of actual working hours is 9, but the weekly limit is 48 hours only. Therefore, the employer cannot require 9 hours of work from the employee on all 6 working days because of the cap on the total weekly hours. This implies that the employer has to arrange the normal working hours in such a manner that the weekly limit is not crossed. If the office boy works 9 hours every day, it means the weekly total comes to 54 against 48, which in turn implies that the excess 6 hours are overtime work.
Rider Clauses and Overtime Work
As per the rider clause of the first proviso, which also prescribes the purposes for which overtime work may be required, the total number of working hours should not exceed 54 hours in any week, subject to the yearly limit of 150 hours of overtime work. If the employee is required to work 6 hours of overtime every week for a year (52 weeks x 6), the aggregate of overtime hours comes to 312, which is not permissible because of the yearly ceiling. Hence, the conclusion in view of this clause is that the employer cannot require 6 hours of overtime work from the employee in all the 52 weeks of the year.
As per the rider clause of the second proviso, which also mandates the prior permission of the Chief Inspector, it fixes the rate of overtime wages as twice the rate of normal working hours.
Explanation Clause
The explanation clause further clarifies that the day shall be reckoned as consisting of 8 hours for the purpose of calculating the normal hourly wages.
Conclusion
The final conclusion is that the office boy is entitled to overtime wages beyond 8 hours of work, and the employer is entitled to require him to work overtime only subject to the limits imposed on the weekly working hours and yearly overtime work hours.
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