Amendment under the Factories Act by the Government of Karnataka

Earlier the Karnataka Legislative Assembly passed the Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2023 (“Bill”) dated February 22, 2023, proposing certain amendments to provisions under the Factories Act, 1948 (“Act”) which recently received the presidential assent on July 10, 2023.  As a result, the Government of Karnataka vide its notification No. DPAL 04 SHASANA 2023 (“Notification”) dated August 07, 2023, accepted certain changes proposed under the Bill including but not limited to daily hours, intervals for rest, spread over, extra wages for overtime, etc., in its application to the State of Karnataka. Moreover, the Government of Karnataka substituted the existing provision pertaining to restriction on employment of women with a new provision allowing women to work in any factory between the hours of 7:00 PM to 6:00 AM, subject to a certain set of conditions.  Key Developments The following are some of the key provisions amended under the Act: Daily hours of work: Earlier the daily maximum working hours of an adult worker was 9 (nine) hours which now stands extended to 12 (twelve) hours inclusive of intervals for rest, subject to the consent of the worker for such work, and the remaining days shall be paid holidays for the worker for the said week.  Extra wages for overtime: Earlier, a worker was entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages for working beyond 9 (nine) hours a day or for more than 48 (forty-eight) hours a week which has now been categorized as follows: A worker shall be entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages where a worker works in any factory: 

• for more than nine hours in any day or more than forty-eight hours in any week, working for six days in any week; 
• for more than ten hours on any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, working for five days in any week; and 
• for more than eleven and a half hours in any day working for four days in any week or working on paid holidays. 

Earlier, the total number of hours of overtime work in any quarter was capped at 125 (one hundred and twenty-five) hours which now stands increased to 144 (one hundred and forty-four) hours, subject to the worker’s consent for such work.  Spread over: The spread over time for an adult worker shall not stands increased from the previous 10.5 (ten point five) hours to 12 (twelve) hours inclusive of intervals for rest in respect of any group or class or description of factories on such conditions as it may deem expedient.  Interval for rest: Earlier every worker received a mandatory half an hour's rest for every 5 (five) hours of work, which now stands increased to 6 (six) hours without an interval.  The following are some of the conditions stipulated by the Government of Karnataka pertaining to restriction on employment of women: Restriction on employment of women: Earlier, no woman worker was allowed to work in any factory except between the hours of 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM however, the Government of Karnataka has uplifted this obstacle thereby, allowing women to work in any factory between the hours of 7:00 PM to 6:00 AM subject to certain set of conditions mentioned herein below which casts an obligation on the employer: 

• Obtain written consent from woman workers who are interested to work in night shifts; 
• Provide sufficient women security during the night shift at entry and exit points; 
• During night shift not less than one third of strength of the supervisor shift-in-charge or foreman or other supervisory staff shall be women; 
• Prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment and provide procedures for resolution or prosecution of acts of sexual harassment; 
• Maintaining a complaint redressal mechanism ensuring time-bound treatment of complaints; 

• Provide sufficient rest rooms to female workers to arrive in advance and also leave after the working hours; 
• Employing women workers in a batch of at least 10 (ten); 
• Provide transportation facility to women workers from their residence and back along with security guards (including female security guard) and ensure that the transportation vehicle is equipped with CCTV camera and GPS; 
• The details of the women employees such as the mobile no., email id, and address shall not be disclosed to unauthorized persons; and 
• Provide 12 (twelve) consecutive hours of rest or gap between the shifts.