Punjab Government issues clarification regarding working hours

Mohali News: The Punjab government has clarified that the letter issued recently in accordance with the Factories Act 1948 pertaining to the working hours has been misinterpreted.

Divulging further details in this regard, the official spokesperson said that after this matter came to the notice of the department, the labour department has clarified that it has been stated in point number 1 of the letter that a maximum of 12 hours of work can be done from a worker during a working day. He said the point, quoted as “(i) Total number of hours of work in any day shall not exceed 12.”, has been misinterpreted as the twelve working hours, which is wrong and incorrect.

The spokesperson clarified that working hours remain the same at 8 hours per day, excluding rest intervals. Section 51 of The Factories Act, 1948, specifies weekly hours, stating that no adult worker should exceed 48 hours of work in any week. If a worker surpasses 48 hours, overtime pay is mandated as per Section 59 of the Factories Act, 1948: Extra wages for overtime.- (1) Where a worker works in a factory for more than nine hours on any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, he/she shall, in respect to overtime work, be entitled to wages at the rate of twice their ordinary rate of wages.”

The spokesperson further noted that, as per the Factories Act and Rules, no worker is permitted to work overtime for more than seven consecutive days. The total number of work hours in any week, including overtime, should not exceed 60, and in any quarter, the total overtime for any worker should not exceed 115 hours.