OVERTIME ISSUE IN A FACTORY

Provisions regarding over time in Factories Act are as follows

59. Extra wages for overtime

(1) Where a worker works in a factory for more than nine hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, he shall, in respect of overtime work, be entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of wages.

(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1), "ordinary rate of wages" means the basic wages plus such allowances, including the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to workers of food grains and other articles, as the worker for the time being entitled to, but does not include a bonus and wages for overtime work.

(3) Where any workers in a factory are paid on a piece-rate basis, the time-rate shall be deemed to be equivalent to the daily average of their full-time earnings for the days on which they actually worked on the same or identical job during the month immediately preceding the calendar months during which the overtime work was done, and such time-rates shall be deemed to be the ordinary rates of wages of those workers :

• Provided that in the case of a worker who has not worked in the immediately preceding the calendar month on the same identical job, the time-rate shall be deemed to be equivalent to the daily average of the earning of the worker forthe days on which he actually worked in the week in which the overtime work was done.

Explanation: For the purposes of this sub-section in computing the earnings for the days on which the worker actually worked such allowances, including the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to workers of food grains and other articles, as the worker is for the time being entitled to, shall be included but any bonus or wages for overtime work payable in relation to the period with reference to which the earnings are being computed shall be excluded.

[(4) The cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to a worker or food grains and other articles shall be computed as often as may be prescribed on the basis of the maximum quantity of food grains and otherarticles admissible to a standard family.

Explanation 1: "Standard family" means a family consisting of the worker, his or her spouse and two children below the age of fourteen years requiring in all three adult consumption units.

Explanation 2: "Adult consumption unit" means the consumption units of a male above the age of fourteen years, and the consumption unit of a female above the age of fourteen years and that of a child below the age of fourteen years shall be calculated at the rates of 0.8 and 0.6, respectively of one adult consumption unit.

(5) The State Government may make rules prescribing -

1. the manner in which the cash equivalent of the advantage accruing through the concessional sale to a worker of food grains and other articles shall be computed; and

the registers that shall be maintained in a factory for the purpose of securing compliance with the provisions of this section.

From the above provisions, it is evident that the same are applicable to “Workers” as defined in the Act. The definition of “Worker in the Act is as follows:-

(l)  "worker" means  a person employed, directly or by or through any  agency (including  a contractor)  with  or   without  the   knowledge  of  the  principal  employer, whether for  remuneration or not, in any manufacturing  process, or  in cleaning  any part  of the machinery or  premises used  for a  manufacturing process,  or in any other kind  of work  incidental to,  or connected with,  the  manufacturing  process,  or  the  subject  of  the manufacturing  process  but  does  not  include  any  member of the armed forces of the Union;

This definition of worker does no not make any distinction between management staff and non management staff. If any person is engaged in manufacturing process, he is entitled for overtime wages irrespective of the fact, whether he is in management cadre or not.

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Happy new year