Govt. of Punjab: Exemption granted to Industries under the Factories Act, 1948

The Government of Punjab keeping in view the exceptional requirement of the industries in the State of Punjab to deal with exceptional pressure of work, issued a notification No. E-517838-943 (“Notification”) dated September 20, 2023, to exempt all the factories from the provisions of Sections 51, 52, 54, and Section 56 of the Factories Act, 1948 (“Act”).

Key Developments:

The exemptions granted by the Government of Punjab under the Act is subject to the following conditions as mentioned hereinbelow:

1. The total number of hours of work in any day shall not exceed 12 (twelve) hours.
2. The total number of hours of work in any week, including overtime, shall not exceed 60 (sixty) hours.
3. The spread over time, inclusive of intervals for rest, shall not exceed 13 (thirteen) hours in any one day.
4. No worker shall be allowed to work overtime for more than 7 (seven) days at a stretch and the total number of hours of overtime work in any quarter shall not exceed 115 (one hundred fifteen) hours.
5. Minimum wages for overtime work will be paid to the workers in accordance with Section 59 of the Act as well as the wage fixed for overtime under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and the Punjab Minimum Wages Rules, 1950.
6. A proper logbook/register shall be maintained of all overtime undertaken by the workers and such logbook/register will be open to inspection by the officers of the Labour Department.

Any lapse in complying with the aforementioned conditions or provisions stipulated under the Act and the subsequent rules will result in taking away this facility of overtime from such defaulters.