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The Factories Act 1948 limits daily and weekly hours for adult workers, requires rest intervals and a weekly holiday, and sets overtime at twice the ordinary rate of wages.
Check before you rely on thisCheck the current daily and weekly hour limits, spread-over, quarterly overtime limits and exemptions under the Factories Act and your state's factory rules, and whether the OSH Code and its state rules now apply to your factory.
01
Chapter VI of the Factories Act deals with working hours of adults. It sets a weekly limit (s.51), a weekly holiday (s.52), a daily limit (s.54), rest intervals (s.55), a maximum spread-over (s.56) and rules on night shifts and overlapping shifts. The Act also covers safety, health, welfare and annual leave with wages.
02
It applies to factories as the Act defines them, by the manufacturing process carried on and the number of workers, with different thresholds where power is used and where it is not. State factory rules add detail and can grant exemptions.
03
Where a worker works beyond the daily or weekly limit, s.59 requires overtime wages at twice the ordinary rate of wages. The ordinary rate is basic wages plus allowances, including the cash value of concessional food grains, but excluding bonus and overtime itself.
State rules and exemptions can limit total overtime hours in a quarter. Payroll needs approved overtime hours from attendance, not estimates.
04
| Term | Provision | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly hours | s.51 | The maximum hours an adult worker may work in a week |
| Weekly holiday | s.52 | A day off each week, with substitution allowed under conditions |
| Daily hours | s.54 | The maximum hours in a day |
| Rest interval | s.55 | A break after a set period of continuous work |
| Spread-over | s.56 | The span of the working day including rest intervals |
| Overtime | s.59 | Twice the ordinary rate of wages for hours beyond the limits |
Watch for itRecords matter as much as rates. The Act requires registers of adult workers and of overtime, in the form state rules prescribe.
05
The four labour codes, passed by Parliament in 2019 and 2020, came into force on 21 November 2025. Final central rules under all four codes were notified on 8 May 2026, and each state frames its own rules, some of which are still in draft. During the transition, the relevant provisions of the earlier Acts and their rules continue to apply, so check which rules govern your establishment in each state.
The Factories Act is among the laws consolidated into the OSH Code. State rules under the Code may set hours and overtime limits differently, so check which regime applies to each factory.
Under s.59 of the Factories Act, yes, for adult workers in factories beyond the daily or weekly limit. Other establishments follow their own law, such as the state Shops and Establishments Act.
Overtime is excluded when testing whether an employee is within the ESI wage limit, but ESI contributions are payable on it.
Only if a substitute holiday is given within the conditions in s.52, or an exemption applies.
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