Lunch Break Dilemma: Should Handwashing and Water Breaks Count in 30 Minutes?

Dear seniors,

My question is very simple, but I need your guidance about this matter: Is handwashing time and drinking water time included in the lunch break if the lunch break is 30 minutes?

There is no such clarification given under any labor law. It only specifies the time limit for lunch.

Working Hours in India

As per the Factories Act 1948, every adult (a person who has completed 18 years of age) cannot work for more than 48 hours in a week and not more than 9 hours in a day. According to Section 51 of the Act, the spread over should not exceed 10-1/2 hours. The spread over period includes lunch intervals, etc. Workers are at liberty to wash their hands, drink water, etc., during the spread over. Section 55 of the Act lays down that the periods of work of adult workers in a factory each day shall be so fixed that no worker shall work for more than 5 hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least half an hour. Please read the bare Act; it provides all this information.

There is a mandatory break hour within an 8-hour work shift. You can take as many breaks as you need, such as for drinking, smoking, spitting, urinating, washing, bathing, having tea, chatting, etc., during that break hour, or if you require more time.

Thank you!

I have a doubt regarding the duration of working time. Does the lunch break (30 minutes, varies) count towards the 8-hour workday, or is it considered extra time?

Dear Jinay,

Please read my reply carefully given above.

The first paragraph of Section 51 of the Factories Act states that the spread over of this daily 8 hours is not more than 10 and a half hours. Working hours are not simply from 0800 hrs to 1600 hrs – it includes a half-hour break after 5 hours of work. All this, including lunch, etc., can be spread over a period of 10 and a half hours in a day.

Hope this is clear now.

Dear Ravi, lunch interval is the time granted to employees to finish their lunch as every human being normally does. You cannot subdivide the action of taking lunch into hand washing, drinking water, chewing and swallowing the food, occasional belching, and the like, and set timing step by step. If the time is not sufficient, would you forego hand washing and drinking water?

However, though such are the practical aspects of the lunch interval during working hours everywhere, your question compels me to read between the lines. May I presume that, being a canteen diner, you are referring to the situation of poor and slow service in the canteen that costs your actual lunch break while your shift-in-charge has some uncompromising and strict time sense? If the actual problem is so, better make a representation to the canteen manager and the HR as well.