Is It Legal to Have Contract Workers on 12-Hour Shifts Post-Covid Shift Changes?

We seek your valuable opinion on the following issues:

After the Covid-19 lockdown, our factory has converted the regular 3 shifts into 2 shifts, and contract laborers are working for 12 hours per day. Is it permissible as per the present Factories Act?

Regards,
Ganapathy V

The Logic of Converting Three Shifts into Two Shifts

What is the logic of converting three shifts into two shifts? You could have explained that. Prima facie, I can say that the arrangement is not allowed under the Factories Act; however, the legal experts of this forum will give the right answer to your query. Nevertheless, as a training professional who conducts training programs on subjects related to Quality and Production Management, I can say that if you stretch the workers beyond eight hours, there is a risk of higher job errors during the extended hours. When workers are tired, their concentration level drops. Therefore, a higher number of quality non-compliances arising out of workers' slackness could increase the "Cost of Poor Quality." Why does your management want to increase this cost?

Consequences of Quality Non-Compliances

Additionally, what if the quality non-compliances escape the attention of QC and get detected at the customer's end? It could dissatisfy the customer, and what will be the cost of "Customer Dissatisfaction"? The cost of damage to the reputation of the company cannot be quantified.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

You can always change shift timings by giving due notice and reasons and following the procedure laid down in the FA/Rules. However, asking the contract workers to work for 12 hours at a stretch amounts to violations of the provisions of the FA/Rules. The prescribed maximum work hours are 8, excluding a lunch/dinner recess of half an hour.

Regards, Vinayak Nagarkar
HR and Employee Relations Consultant

Working Hours Under the Factories Act

Under Section 51 of the Factories Act, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week. As per Section 54 of the Factories Act, no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day. According to Section 56, the period of work of an adult worker in a factory shall be so arranged that, inclusive of his intervals for rest under Section 55, they shall not spread over more than ten and a half hours in any day. As per Section 59, where a worker works in a factory for more than nine hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, he shall, in respect of overtime work, be entitled to wages at the rate twice his ordinary rate of wages. Ordinary rates of wages mean basic wage plus such allowances, including the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through concessional sale to workers of food grains and other articles as the worker is for the time being entitled to, but does not include a bonus.

Opposition to Extended Working Hours

In view of the above provisions, the worker or union can oppose twelve hours of working. However, factually, no worker, particularly contract laborers, has the courage to oppose as they may lose their job, and other workers are ready to work for twelve hours. The safety officer, if brave enough to oppose management, may also speak against twelve hours of working. The workers can keep a record of twelve hours with them, duly signed by the site in-charge, and claim overtime after completing the work by approaching the labor department or factory inspector or any trade union that is willing to help workers without any vested interests.

Balancing Paperwork and Reality in Workforce Management

We have to pay attention to both aspects—both in paper form and in reality.

When it comes to paperwork, it is not constitutional. However, in reality, most companies apply it because the production of any company is not fixed during the Covid period. So, in such a time, it is more sensible to work with fewer workers than fixed workers. Fixed workers will have to be paid their full salary even if the work is less or more. On the other hand, there will be less salary for those workers, but when production increases, their salary will increase through overtime. Another benefit is that all the workers will have more money in their hands, and there will be no shortage of workers due to lower salaries.