Gentleman,
First, we have to understand the concept of "Compressed Shift" for engaging employees on 12-hour shifts working at a stretch.
As per the Factories Act, employees working more than 9 hours excluding periods of rest and intervals are eligible for overtime. On the other hand, if the total working hours in a week exceed 48 hours, even then, they are eligible for overtime if they fall under the definition of Workmen under the Factories Act.
If employees are outside the purview of the Factories Act and the definition of workmen as described under relevant labor laws, they can be compensated with compensatory time off for the extra time spent on work.
If you are thinking of introducing 12-hour working shifts, employees must not engage in manual or physically taxing work for a stretch of 12 hours. It is practically hazardous for the health of workers to work for more than 8 hours, exceeding ILO resolutions and norms.
However, you may arrange 12-hour shifts as compressed shifts by compensating with an equal number of hours as applicable holidays. For example, if you follow a 5-day working week and 2 days off, the total hours of 12 x 4 = 48 hours are for working, with the remaining three days as compensatory off. You can manage shift rotations accordingly, depending on the number of days you want to schedule as working days, allowing employees to take off days under the so-called "compressed shift." This practice is common in the Oil & Gas industry, particularly for offshore jobs on rigsites, where wages are paid on an hourly basis. These are high-end jobs with critical and specialized tasks, and the working environment is challenging. Shift rotations like 70:21, 35:35 are employed in such scenarios.
Applying this principle to low-paid Indian workers would be a heinous crime against humanity because they are not eligible for even 10% of the salaries offered for such compressed shifts in the Oil & Gas sector. This demanding working schedule is primarily handled by Europeans.
For those unfamiliar with how to measure compensable and non-compensable activities during shifts, the following norms are internationally recognized and accepted:
Compensable work chart
What time must employees be paid for? Use the chart below for a quick reference.
Time spent during working hours
Compensable:
- Coffee and snack breaks
- Fire drills
- Grievance adjustment during times when employees are required to be on premises
- Meal periods if employees are not relieved of duties, not free to leave posts, or if the period is too short to be useful (less than 1/2 hour)
- Meal periods of 24-hour on-call employees
- Medical attention on plant premises or if directed outside by the employer
- Meetings to discuss daily operations problems
- Rest periods of 20 minutes or less
- Retail sales product meetings sponsored by the employer
- Show-up time if employees are required to remain on premises before being sent home
- Sleeping time if the tour of duty is less than 24 hours
- Stand-by time - remaining at post during lunch periods or temporary shutdown
- Suggestion systems
- Walking to the production area after donning required work gear
- Travel:
o from job site to job site
o from work site to outlying job
o to customers
o from preliminary instructional meeting to work site
- Waiting:
o by homeworkers to deliver or obtain work
o by truck drivers guarding while loading
o for work after reporting at a required time
o while on duty
o to take off protective work gear at the end of the day
Noncompensable:
- Absence for illness, holiday, or vacation
- Meal periods of 1/2 hour or longer if relieved of all duties and free to leave post (can be confined to plant premises)
- Medical attention by employee's choice of outside doctor
- Shutdown for regular maintenance
- Sleeping time up to eight hours if tour of duty is 24 hours or longer, with an agreement to exclude sleep time, facilities for sleeping are provided, at least five hours of sleep are possible during the scheduled period, and interruptions to perform duties are counted as hours worked
- Union meetings concerning solely internal union affairs
- Voting time (unless required by state law)
- Waiting after relieved of duty for a specified period allowing the employee to engage in personal activity
Time spent before, after, or between regular work hours
Compensable:
- Arranging or putting merchandise away
- Bank employees waiting for an audit to finish
- Changing clothes, showering, or washing if required by the nature of the work (e.g., jobs with chemicals requiring bathing for worker health)
- Clearing the cash register or totaling receipts
- Discussing work problems at shift change
- Distributing work to workbenches
- Equipment maintenance before or after a shift
- Getting the plant ready for operation
- Homework under contract with the employer
- Make-ready work, preparatory work necessary for the principal activity
- On-call time if the employee must stay on or near premises, restricting liberty or not using time as desired
- Photography and fingerprinting for identification purposes
- Physical exam required for continued service
- Suggestions developed pursuant to an assignment
- Travel time to a customer for an after-hour emergency
Noncompensable:
- Changing clothes, washing, or showering for employee convenience
- Homework of which the employer has no knowledge
- Meal periods while on out-of-town business
- Medical attention by a company doctor, even if the injury occurred at work
- Obtaining equipment from lockers where not recommended or required
- On-call time when only a phone number or similar contact device is required for the employee to come and go as desired
- Opening the plant and turning on lights and heat
- Pre-employment tests
- Retail sales meetings sponsored by a manufacturer if attendance is voluntary
- Reporting early to relieve the prior shift promptly
- Time between a whistle and the start of work
- Trade school attendance
- Training programs sponsored by the employer outside regular work hours, with voluntary attendance, no productive work during attendance, and not directly related to the employee's present job.
In summary, it is essential to ensure fair compensation for employees' time and activities during shifts, as outlined in the international norms.
Regards,
Sawant