Are Security Guards Entitled to Weekly Rest? How to Manage Their Shifts Effectively

Hello everyone, I'm working in a company in Haryana State. We have 5 security guards. All the guards do their duty in shifts of 8 hours every day. We are not providing a weekly off to any one of the guards. Another worker's duty hours are 9, including half an hour lunchtime and two 15-minute tea breaks. Now, the question is, are they also eligible for a weekly rest? If yes, how can they manage their duty shift (8 hours or 9 hours)? Please suggest briefly.

Weekly Day Off Entitlement

Every employee is entitled to a weekly day off. This rule applies to both factories and offices/shops/establishments. Not providing a weekly day off is an offense under the law and can also result in criminal prosecution if an accident occurs due to overwork, fatigue, or exploitation of labor.

Managing Workload Effectively

To manage the workload effectively, a simple solution would be to hire an additional security guard. This way, there will be a sufficient number of staff members present on any given day, even when one of the guards is on their weekly day off.

Security Guard Employment and Rest Policy

I would like to know whether your security guards are deployed through a contractor or are employed under the direct payroll of your company. In both cases, security guards are supposed to avail adequate rest.

If they are your direct employees, you need to allow them to avail one day off weekly for every six days of continuous work. If they are deployed through a contractor, you need to pay 1/6th of reliever charges (based on their monthly salary) and ask them to deploy additional guard(s) on Sunday.

Naveen, you do not need a deployment format. Based on your business requirements, decide which days you cannot give anyone leave. On the remaining days, just assign a weekly off to one of your guards. That is enough. Just try to follow the weekly off dates as strictly as possible. Changes there invite chaos and problems.