Night Shift Allowance: Are We Legally Required to Pay and What Happens If We Don't?

Dear all,

Should we compulsorily pay night shift allowance to the employees working night shifts? In which law is it specified, and what is the compensation percentage or rate to be paid to the employee? What are the statutory requirements to be provided to the employee during the night shift? What legal problems may an employer face if they do not pay night shift allowance?

There is no law that specifies a night shift allowance. However, it is customary to compensate for the hardship that one can face during the night shift, an allowance will be paid on each day of the shift. Where the bargaining agents are present, they would influence the management to pay for this hardship as an allowance.

Dear Mars, to my knowledge, night shift allowance is not statutory. However, it has become conventional either to provide some refreshments by the employer or to pay a fixed amount in lieu thereof in view of the physiological negative impact likely to occur due to working at night. Medical research has proved that continuous sleepless night work certainly affects "the circadian rhythm" of our body. Therefore, legal or not, night shift allowance would be essential from the point of view of the health of such employees who are frequently required to work during nights. The internal economies accrued to the employers through continuous operations would also justify this head of allowance.

As rightly mentioned by both senior members, there is no mandatory requirement of night shift allowance. Nowadays, in almost all cities, you will find call centers/BPO/KPO, etc., that work only at night as per the timing of their foreign counterparts. They are paid high salaries compared to other market rates.

Legally, we do not need to pay any night shift allowance. It is given to motivate the employees for better production.

Thank you.