Weekly Off in Factory Act: Can We Choose Any Day for Employee Rest?

In the Factory Act, is there any specific day prescribed for the weekly off, or can we frame the policy for the weekly off on any day of the week - be it Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.?

As per Section 52 of the Factories Act, which prescribes weekly holidays:

(1) No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory on the first day of the week unless:
(a) he has or will have a holiday for the whole day on one of the three days immediately before or after the said day.

So, any day can be a weekly off.

But you have to inform the area Inspector of your weekly off and also display it on the notice board at the main entry point of the factory for the workers' awareness.

Any changes that occur should be reported promptly.

P.K. Sharma

Dear Seniors,

Please tell me one more thing: suppose in our factory the weekly off is Sunday as per the Factory Act. Is it mandatory not to allow the workers to work on the weekly off?

As per your query, for your shift and weekly off, you need to obtain approval from the concerned authority regarding how many shifts you will run in your factory and for the weekly off. This information must be displayed at your factory gate. Whenever there are changes, they should be communicated to the concerned department.

Weekly Holiday Regulations

According to Section 52 of the Act, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory on the first day of the week, which is designated as the weekly holiday. Section 53 of the Act further states that if a worker is deprived of any of the weekly holidays provided for in Section 52, they shall be allowed compensatory holidays of an equal number to the holidays lost, within the month in which the holidays were due or within the two months immediately following that month.

Work Hours and Rest Intervals

Section 55 of the Act stipulates that the periods of work for adult workers in a factory each day shall be fixed so that no worker shall work for more than five hours before having an interval for rest of at least half an hour. The Chief Inspector of Factories can exempt any factory from this provision, provided that the total number of hours worked by a worker without an interval does not exceed six.

Alternatively, you can provide overtime compensation for that day.

Regards,
Raman

You have not mentioned how you plan the production/services. Are you going to work 2-3 shifts or only the general shift? Do you want to work all month days? If you work every day, then you need to specify the weekly off days of the workers according to your state's format and rules. If you have uniform weekly offs, please mention that in the format.

Dear all,

Please pose questions but also mention the context.

Dear Sir,

We have a plan for 2 shifts in production: 9 AM to 6 PM and 9 PM to 6 AM. However, workers are allowed to do 3 hours of overtime and work even on weekly offs. Please tell us whether it is fair to work even on the weekly off and allow the workers to do 3 hours of overtime because Section 56 of the Factory Act restricts the hours of overtime.

Please guide.

To answer your question both legally and conventionally, you have provided very little information. Even so, I will try to address your query.

Weekly Off Days in Factories

1. If your factory operates 24/7, there is no question of a common weekly off day. There will be rotational weekly off days for groups of workers, known as staggered weekly off days.

2. If you are working six days a week, you can choose any day as your common weekly off. In both cases, you are not required to seek permission from the Factory Inspector, but you must notify him.

3. Normally, the common weekly off day is decided based on local customs, usage, market day, or the day when the electric supply is generally shut down. For example, in Pune, Maharashtra, Thursday is the common weekly off day. Therefore, if you choose a different day as the weekly holiday in Pune, it may not be effective. You need to determine the weekly off day in accordance with the prevailing practices in your factory area.

I hope this clarifies your questions.

Dear All,

Yes, we are running the factory 24/7. Sunday is the weekly off, and workers can work even on Sunday as per their wish. However, we are running only one shift, each of 8 hours, and workers are allowed to do a maximum of 3 hours of overtime. My queries are:

1. Is it fair to allow the workers to work even on the weekly off?
2. Is it fair to allow the workers to do 3 hours of overtime every day?

Please revert.

Twelve hours working every day is illegal. Please conduct manpower planning and recruit additional staff. This will enable you to implement staggered weekly offs. If employees are required to work, how can it be considered a weekly day off? It may be acceptable to do this occasionally, but not every time.

Sirs,

I have a simple query. As per the Factories Act, workers shall work for 9 hours a day for 6 days. This means they will work for 54 hours in a week, and the law restricts them to work for 48 hours in a week in the next section. Does this create confusion? Please clarify.

Thank you.

As per the Factories Act, any employee is not allowed to work on the first day of the week. According to the act, working beyond 48 hours in a week is not permitted; hence, the first day of the week is considered a weekly off.

Depending on the factory, management is encouraged to have employees work on Sunday, which is also considered the first day of the week. In such cases, those who work on Sunday should be given a full day off one of the three days immediately before or after Sunday.

The management must write a letter to the inspector of factories, stating their intention to require workers to work on Sunday and providing details on how this will be substituted according to company policies. Additionally, management is responsible for displaying a notice to inform employees about this arrangement.

For further information, please refer to the Factories Act. Feel free to contact us for any additional details.

Regards, B. GANESSH

Normally, the weekly off remains on Sunday. However, if your company operates on a 7*7 schedule, you can allocate weekly offs on alternate odd days. Alternatively, you can designate any day as the weekly off or adhere to the rules outlined in the standing orders.

Dear sir,

As per the Factory Act and other relevant regulations, every employee is entitled to one day off per week. However, if an employee has not worked for more than four days or has taken two to three days of leave within a week, are they still entitled to their weekly day off?

Thanks & regards,

knjha

Respected Seniors,

Kindly confirm for me how much attendance is required for a worker/employee to be eligible for a paid weekly off in a production unit.