Chapter II HOURS OF WORK

Daily and Weekly Hours.-No employee in any establishment shall be required or allowed to work for more than eight hours in any day and forty-eight hours in any week:

Provided that the total number of hours of work including overtime, shall not exceed ten hours in any day except on days of stock taking and preparation of accounts and the total number of hours of overtime shall not exceed fifty for any quarter.

Extra wages for overtime work.-Where an employee, works in any establishment for more than eight hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week he shall in respect of such overtime work be entitled to wages at the rate of twice the ordinary rate of wages.

Explanation.-For the purpose of this section “ordinary rate of wages” means the basic wages plus such allowances, including the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the supply of meals and the concessional sale to employees of foodgrains and other articles, as the employee is for the time being entitled to, but does not include bonus.

Intervals for rest.- The period of work of an employee in an establishment each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed four hours and that no such person shall work for more than four hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least one hour.

Spread over.-The period of work of an employee in an establishment shall be so fixed that, inclusive of his interval for rest, they shall not spread over more than ten and a half hours in any day.

Opening and closing hours.-(1) No establishment shall on any day be opened earlier than and closed later than such hour as may be fixed by a general or special order of the Government made under sub-section (2):

Provided that any customer who was being served or was waiting to be served in any establishment at the hour fixed for its closing may be served during the quarter of an hour immediately following such hour.

1. (2) The Government may, by general or special order, fix the time at which any establishment or class of establishments shall be opened or closed in any local area.

Closing of shops and grant of weekly holidays.-(1) Every shop shall remain entirely closed on one day of the week which day shall be specified by the shop-keeper in a notice permanently exhibited in a conspicuous place in the shop; and the day so specified shall not be altered by the shop-keeper more often than once in three months.

1. (2) Every person employed in a shop or a commercial establishment shall be allowed in each week a holiday of one whole day: Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to any person whose total period of employment in the week including any days spend on authorized leave, is less than six days, or entitle a person who has been allowed a whole holiday on the day on which the shop has remained closed in pursuance of sub-section
2. (1) to an additional holiday.
3. (3) No deduction shall be made from the wages of any employee in an establishment on account of any day on which a holiday has been allowed in accordance with this section; and if such person is employed on the basis that he would not ordinarily receive wages for such day, he shall nonetheless be paid for such day the wages he would have drawn had the holiday not been allowed on that day.