Weekly Day Off for Employees: Is It Mandatory After Six Days of Work?

First of all, I would like to say thanks for providing such a nice platform where we can share things. I desire to know whether a weekly day off is mandatory for employees after completing 6 days of duty.

Thanks,
NSC, Delhi, Ministry of Culture

Yes, an employee is entitled to at least one day off per week. This entitlement is provided under the Factories Act and the Shop & Establishment Act.

The Factories Act states that an adult worker shall not be employed for more than 48 (forty-eight) hours in a week and not more than 9 (nine) hours in a day. A compulsory rest of at least half an hour (30 minutes) between each period of work is required, and such a period of work shall not exceed five hours. The total period of work, inclusive of the rest interval, cannot be more than 10.5 hours.

The Shops and Establishment Act states that the maximum number of work hours is 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week. Therefore, irrespective of the number of days worked by an employee, if the total working hours, including the lunch break, reach 48 hours, then automatically, as per the law, an employee/worker/sevak, or any other title, must be given one day off. Similarly, after six continuous days of work, regardless of the hours completed, an employee/worker/sevak, or contract worker, needs to be given one day off.

I hope this information was beneficial to you.