Factories Act Confusion: Is Overtime Prohibited During Outstation Duty?

Dear All, I wanted to understand under which section of the Factories Act it states "NO overtime while on Outstation duty."

Hi, In case of outstation duty, the employee on outstation duty will be eligible for travel allowance/deputation allowance apart from salary. Normally, when an employee is deputed to another location (whether factory or corporate office), those employees will be eligible for travel allowance on a grade or designation basis, and overtime payment will not be applicable. While the worker level will be eligible as per grade entitlement, senior-level employees can claim on an actual expenses basis.

An employee on tour is on duty for the entire duration. This entitles the employee to certain additional remuneration known by various names like Traveling Allowance, Dearness Allowance for tours, Tour Allowance, etc., besides the regular salary. While on tour, the duty hours are not fixed; it may not be for 8 hours; it can be more or less.

Many organizations follow the rule that the special allowance for a tour of less than 6 hours is paid 1/4 of the allowance for the whole day, more than 6 hours is paid at 1/2 the amount, and more than 12 hours is paid for the whole day. If it is a long-duration assignment, normally the 8-hour work rule is followed, but for a tour of a couple of days, the aim is to finish the job as quickly as possible and return to the headquarters.

If the overtime rule is to be applied, then there could be controversy and confusion galore on the travel time and the personal time spent while on such an assignment.