Is It Legal in India to Split an Employee's 8-Hour Workday Across Multiple Shifts?

Can we allow a worker to work in multiple shifts on any day, but their total working hours will be 8? For example, if we create Shift A (from 6 AM to 11 AM) and Shift B (5 PM to 8 PM) and ask the worker to work in both shifts, is this allowed as per Indian labor laws?

Thank you.

Dear Naveen,

I'd like to request you to carefully go through sections 55 and 56 of the Factories Act, 1948, which deal with working hours per day and the spread over thereof, respectively.

In the illustration given by you, an individual workman is required to work in two shifts, viz., A and B. In shift A, he is required to work for 5 hours continuously, after which he has to work in shift B for 3 hours continuously, thus constituting a total of 8 hours for a day. Well, that's fine because he gets a rest interval of 6 hours. But have you noticed that those 8 hours of work are performed on the same day within a stretch of 14 hours? You know section 56 of the Factories Act, 1948 limits the stretch of spread over to 10 1/2 hours on any single day. Spread over refers to the time period a workman is kept under the disposal of the employer. If your establishment is covered by any other establishment-specific law, the effect would be the same.

Therefore, violation of section 56 or the provision relating to spread over cannot be legally permitted because of the compliance of section 55 or the provision relating to the maximum number of working hours in a day. Any practice under a law should be in compliance with all the corresponding provisions of that law.

Thanks for the clarification, Mr. Umakanthan. One doubt remains: can we change a worker's shift without any notice on the same day, even if the shift duration is less than the normal working hours?

Here, we are assigning two shifts to a worker on the same day, which means we are changing the shift on the same day. As per the upcoming OSH rules (No. 35), a 12-hour notice is required.

Rule 35: Interval Preceding a Change of Shift

According to Rule 35 regarding the interval preceding a change of shift, in the case of changing from night to day shift or vice versa, there should be an interval of not less than twenty-four consecutive hours between the two shifts. For a change from one day shift to another day shift or from one night shift to another night shift, there should be an interval of not less than twelve consecutive hours.

It is important to note that no such interval may be allowed if it coincides with or falls within the interval enjoyed by a working journalist under sub-section (2) of Section 25 of the Code.

You are working in Delhi, so you need to follow the Indian labor laws. In both the Factories Act and the Shop & Establishment Act, there is a provision that shift changes can only be done in a manner that provides a break of at least 24 hours between the two shifts. This is why shift changes are generally done after the weekly offs. What you are trying to do is pretending to change the shift to make him work longer. The courts generally take a dim view of this.

As per OSH and Working Condition Central rules for the Code (yet to be implemented) - Rule 35, as mentioned by the original poster, this should be read in conjunction with Rule 28.

In the instant case, it has been mentioned that the total engagement period, including spread over, is more than 12 hours in a particular day, which is a violation of Rule 28. The interpretation of Rule 35, in my opinion, is not applicable on the same day. It will be applicable for a change of shift on the following day. Actually, a change of any shift does not occur on the same day but the following day. For example, if someone is in the 2 P.M. to 10 P.M. shift one day and the next day is asked to come in for the 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. shift, it is allowable. There is a 12-hour consecutive rest period.

In the new Labor Codes, as well as rules published by the Central Government and a good number of State Governments, there is a lot of confusion that will be slowly resolved after implementation, through court cases, etc.

I totally agree with Mr. Umakanthan M regarding his interpretation of spread over and total working hours.

Regards, S K Bandyopadhyay (WB, Howrah) CEO-USD HR Solutions [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons] [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons] USD HR Solutions – To Strive towards excellence with effort and integrity

One small correction: In my above post, the next day shift timing will be 10 am to 6 pm instead of 8 am to 4 pm, which will fulfill 12 consecutive hours of rest before joining the next shift.

S K Bandyopadhyay (WB, Howrah)
CEO - USD HR Solutions
+91 98310 81531
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]
http://www.usdhrs.in – To strive towards excellence with effort and integrity

Regards, S K Bandyopadh