Overtime – Finding The Right Balance

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INTRODUCTION

The majority of the working sector in our country is unaware of all the rights guaranteed under the different Labour laws, especially with respect to ‘Hours of Work’. India mainly has 2 laws that govern and regulate the working hours of employees/workers:

  • The Factories Act – for factory workers
  • The Shops and Establishments Act – for non-factory workers.

In this article, the concept of ‘Overtime’ is discussed in brief as under The Factories Act, 1948 and under Karnataka’s and Tamil Nadu’s Shops and Establishments Act of 1961 and 1947, respectively.

WHAT IS ‘OVERTIME’?

The word ‘Overtime’ refers to the number of hours worked by an employee exceeding the prescribed working hours fixed in a day, week, or month.

Section 14 of the Minimum Wages Act mentions that any worker whose minimum rate of wages is fixed with a fixed wage period, such as by the hour, by the day, or by any other such period, and if a worker works more than that number of hours, it is considered to be Overtime. In case if the number of hours constituting a normal working day exceeds the given limit, then the employer will have to pay him for every hour or for part of an hour for which he has worked in excess at the overtime rate.

Therefore, when a worker or an employee is working in excess or beyond the normal working hours fixed, it is referred to as ‘Overtime’ and such a worker or employee is entitled to remuneration known as Overtime wages.

OVERTIME UNDER THE FACTORIES ACT, 1948

The main purpose of the Factories Act, 1948 is to regulate the working conditions in factories, to regulate health, safety, welfare, and annual leave, and enact special provisions in respect of young persons, women, and children who work in the factories.

As per Section 51 and 54 of the Factories Act, a worker cannot be employed for more than 48 hours in a week or for more than 9 hours in a day.

Thus, any worker who works for more than the prescribed daily or weekly threshold of working hours is eligible for overtime remuneration prescribed at twice the rate of ordinary wages. [Section 59(1)]

In the event that a worker is required or allowed to work beyond the prescribed limit as mentioned above, the following 2 conditions shall be satisfied:

  1. The total number of hours of work, inclusive of the overtime, shall not exceed 60 hours in any week.
  2. The total number of overtime hours worked by any employee shall not exceed 50 hours in any quarter (three continuous months). This period varies from state to state and an exemption can be obtained from the Factories department to increase this threshold to 75 hours.

Furthermore, there is the restriction on double employment wherein a worker cannot work in more than one factory [Section 60].

The Act also specifies that the employees must be provided at least one break for half an hour after 5 hours of work and the entire working period per day, must be calculated in such a way that no working period exceeds 5 hours without an interval.

In R Ananthan v. Avery India 1972(42) FJR 304 (Mad HC), it was held that “An employee working outside the factory premises like field workers, etc. on tour outside headquarters are not entitled to overtime.”

OVERTIME CALCULATION

Overtime wages are paid in two ways – either on a per hour rate or a per piece rate in Factories.

  1. In the per hour or hourly rate, the per hour wage of an employee is calculated, and double the amount is paid for every extra working hour.
  2. In the per piece method, an employee is paid overtime for every extra piece made during the overtime period.

However, the hourly rate is the most prevalent method, which is more accurate and easier for the payment to the employees.

OVERTIME UNDER SHOPS AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS

 

Overtime Under Karnataka Shops And Commercial Establishment Act, 1961

The Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, the legislation enacted by every state in India, is one of the most important regulations drafted not only to protect the rights of the employers as well as employees working in the shops and commercial establishments but also constantly strives to regulate the working conditions of employees uniformly irrespective of the establishments they belong to. The Act mainly regulates aspects relating to working hours, interval(s) for rest, overtime work, opening and closing hours, leaves and holidays, payment of wages, terms of service, maternity leave, and benefits, rules for employment of children, etc.

The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act governs the functioning of shops and commercial establishments in Karnataka. Chapter III of this Act provides for the hours of work, overtime, etc.

As per Section 7(1), an employee shall not be required or allowed to work for more than 9 hours on any given day or 48 hours during any week.

In the event that an employee is required or allowed to work beyond the prescribed limit as mentioned above, the following 2 conditions shall be satisfied:

  1. The total number of hours of work, inclusive of the overtime, shall not exceed 10 hours in any day, except on the days of stock-taking and preparation of accounts.
  2. The total number of overtime hours worked by any employee shall not exceed 50 hours in any quarter (three continuous months).

Thus, when an employee is required or allowed to work overtime, he/she shall be paid remuneration at twice the rate of his normal wages calculated by the hour. [Section 8(1)]

Overtime Under Tamil Nadu Shops And Commercial Establishment Act, 1947

The Tamil Nadu Shops and Commercial Establishment Act similarly governs the functioning of shops and commercial establishments in Tamil Nadu.

Under this Act, an employee shall not be required or allowed to work for more than 8 hours on any day or 48 hours during any week, in any shop or any establishment. Thus, the total number of hours of work, including the overtime, shall not exceed 10 hours in any day or 54 hours in any week. [Section 9(1) & Section 14(1)]

Accordingly, an employee working overtime shall be paid overtime wages at twice the ordinary rate of wages. [Section 31]

PENALTY

  1. Under the Factories Act, any violation of overtime regulations is punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years or with a fine which may extend to Rs. 1,00,000/- (one lakh rupees) or with both, and if the contravention is continued after conviction, with a further fine which may extend to one thousand rupees for each day on which the contravention is so continued.
  2. The penalties under the Shops and Establishments Act depend on the specific laws of the states. But in general, it is very low in comparison with the penalties under the Factories Act.

OVERTIME UNDER THE LABOUR CODES

The government is in the process of implementing 4 labour codes that will subsume 29 labour legislations. The Code on Wages(Wage Code), 2019 and the Occupational Safety Health and Working Conditions(OSH) Code, 2020 both lay down provisions in relation to overtime. Interestingly, the Code on Wages extends the requirement to pay overtime to all employees, including administrative, supervisory, managerial and other staff. The OSH Code, through the draft rules, sets the overtime threshold at 125 hours a quarter, we will have to wait and see how these changes are going to affect the concept of overtime for both Factories and Establishments.

CONCLUSION

The Constitution of India ensures the protection of interests and rights of employees under Article 14-16, 19(1)(c), 23-24, 38, and 41-43A. In pursuance of such rights guaranteed, The Karnataka HC held that the denial of overtime pay to an employee amounts to infringement of Articles 23 and 300-A of the Constitution of India.

Since working overtime can have a significant impact on the employee’s health and can lead to burnout, fatigue, and stress, it is important that employers ensure that the working conditions are in accordance with the regulations drafted and additionally, with the changing environment, existing laws need to be amended from time to time for the benefit of employees.

Coauthored by 

-Nithya Krishnamurthy, Advocate and Associate

-Shruthi Praful, Advocate and Associate

-Felix Mathew, Advocate and Associate

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Archana Madan – POSH Specialist & Advocate

Archana Madan Kohli is an advocate with close to 15 years experience in in-house and law firm roles. At BCP Associates, she specialises in providing various services to clients under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”). Archana is the External Member of the Internal Committee of multiple organizations across sectors and is well versed in handling POSH inquiries. She also handles POSH queries, including drafting and reviewing policies and assisting in setting up Internal Committees.

Archana is also a trainer, delivering specialised sessions for Managers and Senior Management, Employee General Awareness sessions for all employees and Internal Committee training. Apart from English, Archana is fluent in delivering training sessions in Hindi, and Punjabi.

Archana started her career with Bharti Infratel Limited moved on to Wipro Limited, Adecco India Private Limited, Cloudnine Hospitals, Virinchi Limited and Medicover Hospitals in different capacities.

Archana holds a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.) degree from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. She has earned her Post Graduate Diploma in Drafting, Negotiation and Enforcement of Contracts from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad with distinction.

B. Chandrashekar Shetty - Advocate

Mr. Chandrashekar Shetty is a Senior Labour Law Compliance Auditor at BCP Associates and has audited multiple client companies across India. He is also a member of our senior legal advisory practice. Previously he has worked as Deputy Controller, Manager-Industrial Relations and Industrial Relations Officer in KPTCL, Bangalore for more than 30 years. Prior to this, he has dealt with Legal, Personnel and IR matters including Wage Settlements, Grievance Machinery, Manpower Study and Social Security Compliances for about 10 years. He is a Faculty member of Labour Law, HRD Centre, KPTCL Bangalore.

Mr. Shetty holds a B.Com. and L.L.B. degree, Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration, Diploma in Public Relations from Bangalore University and PG Diploma in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management from Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan. He is enrolled as Advocate in Karnataka Bar Council and is a Govt. Arbitrator of Chit Funds in Karnataka.

S Venugopal Rao

S Venugopal Rao is an experienced labour law and service matters expert and is a member of the senior advisory team at BCP Associates. Having joined the chambers of Mr. B C Prabhakar in 2012, he is knowledgeable and well versed in multiple employment and labour law topics.

S Venugopal Rao holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science from Karnataka University, Dharwar and Bachelor of Law from Bangalore University. He enrolled as advocate in Karantaka State Bar Council in 1976. He joined the chamber of Sri. Kolachalam Srinivasa Rao a leading civil advocate. After practicing for 6 years at Ballari, he joined Orient Paper Mills, Orissa (of G P Birla Group). He was designated as Manager (Law) under the Factories Act in 1995. In 1999, he joined Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills Rajahmundry as Manager Legal and was subsequently elevated as Dy. General Manager (Legal). As Factory Manager & Legal Head, he oversaw compliance of Factories Act and Rules there under towards safety, health and welfare, including compliance under Pollutions and Environmental laws and Explosives Act, etc. Additionally, he is well acquainted with Environment Management System ISO 14001: 2004, Occupations, Health and Safety Series 18000:1999. As Legal head in APPM he has briefed and appeared along with Senior Advocate before Appellate Authority constituted under Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act. He retired from the services of Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills in 2011.

As legal head he has handled important cases both in Labour and Civil and has experience in drafting and vetting Contracts, Agreements, Lease Agreement, Conveyance Deeds, , Affidavits and scrutiny of several legal and other documents, Preparing and settling Petitions, Appeals, Plaints, Written Statements, Rejoinders, Affidavits and Written Arguments etc. for submission/pleadings for various legal proceedings.

C K Devappa Gowda - Advocate

C.K. Devappa Gowda (CKD) is an Advocate and Labour Law expert. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from the University of Mysore and a Degree in Bachelor of Law from Bengaluru respectively. He also holds a Diploma in Social Service Administration from the National Institute of Social Science, Bengaluru. After completing his studies, he had enrolled as a Advocate and initially practiced in the Civil Code attached to the office of BCP. He then worked as Personnel Officer in Chemicals and Textile Manufacturing Industries for 5 years. Thereafter took up employment in one of the largest Public Sector Bank. He has worked in different parts of the country and has extensive experience in the cross country IR domain. The significant part of his service was at corporate level overseeing and implementing HR policies and practices and management of IR. He has been a member of personnel committee of Indian Bank Association.

After retirement from service, Mr. Gowda has been working with Mr. BC Prabhakar’s firm for the last 12 years. He has expertise in all areas of people management, drafting of documents relating to service matter including the settlements under the ID Act. He has dealt with all employment laws including appearance before the Courts, Tribunal and Authorities under the different Labour Laws. Mr. Gowda is one of the senior Labour Law experts at BCP Associates.

Srijatha Ghosh - POSH Specialist & Advocate

Srijata Ghosh serves as external member on the Internal Committee of several Companies across various sectors. She handles all kinds of POSH related matters including investigations and inquiries. She provides Training on Sexual Harassment across all verticals for Managers and Senior Management, General Awareness for all employees and Internal Committee members on the legislation (The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act, 2013). She also formulates Policies for Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace (“POSH”) and advises Companies on setting up of their Internal Committees. Srijata is involved in providing Legal Advisory services on POSH and other labour law matters for various clients.

In her previous experience, she has extensively dealt with End-to-End Contract Management, Due Diligence, POSH Compliances, Legal Advisory, etc. Srijata worked with Companies like Accenture India Private Limited, Quess Corp., Capgemini Business Services (India) Limited and Pramata Knowledge Solutions Private Limited. Srijata has handled varied legal issues including drafting, vetting and negotiation of contracts, drafting policies of various organizations. She has resolved issues relating to employment laws and has worked closely with the HR teams. She has provided legal advisory services to senior management. She was also associated with Kolkata High Court in counselling clients with legal matters such as Property, Due Diligence etc. Srijata has worked in an LPO Service Firm, Manthan Legal Services Private Limited for Legal Research, depositions, medical summaries, demand drafting etc.

Srijata completed her B.A.LL.B from M. S. Ramaiah College of Law, Bangalore University in 2009. Srijata is a member of the Karnataka Bar Council since 2010. She is also a member of the Gender Sensitivity Sub Committee of Karnataka Employer Association (KEA).

Caroline Lobo - POSH Specialist & Advocate

Caroline Lobo has been with BCP Associates for the past 2+ years. She has been handling matters and Inquiries related to the POSH Act including conducting inquiries and trainings/awareness programmes for Senior Management, employees as well as members of the Internal Committee on the POSH Legislation (The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“Act”) to address Workplace Harassment of Women. She is a member of the Internal Committee for many varied companies and organisations and has reviewed and scrutinized numerous hearings and inquiries on matters relating to sexual harassment at workplace.

She has also handled matters relating to employer-employee related Enquiries, wherein she has reviewed and conducted hearings and enquired into the matters and has guided the Internal Committee and provided guidance in providing recommendations to the management. She is also a Member of the Gender Sensitivity Sub-committee of Karnataka Employer Association (KEA).

Prior to joining BCP Associates, Caroline has has a wide range of experience in corporate, commercial and contract law, mergers and acquisition and has undertaken drafting, vetting, negotiating and finalizing legal and commercial transactions. She started her career in litigation then moved onto the Corporate sector. In the span of 13 years, she has worked at Chambers of Advocate Jayashree Murali, Krishnamurthy and Co. Legal Consultants, Colt Technology Services and Oracle India Pvt. Ltd. She always had a keen interest in Women and Child related issues. She has worked with Child Welfare Committee and NGOS’s. In addition, she has worked with Swasthi Health Resource and Centre, where she was the External member to the Internal Committee (IC). She worked closely with the committee in strategizing, planning, reviewing and implementing the assigned tasks, which included building material to raise awareness against sexual harassment at workplace. Further, she has been involved in conducting inquiries into matters related to sexual harassment at workplace.

Caroline earned her Law degree from University Law College, Bangalore, from where she graduated in the year 2005.

Manoj Kumar – Senior Associate

At BCP Associates, Manoj Kumar is involved in managing and conducting labour law compliance audits of principal employer and contractors. He is also involved in client co-ordination and conducting labour law training programs for vendors. He has conducted on-ground labour law audit for factories. Manoj also provides support in advising vendor clients on labour law queries. He completed B.A., LL.B. from BMS College of Law, Bangalore in 2016.

Rashmitha Venkatachalam Das - POSH Specialist & Advocate

Rashmitha Venkatachalam Das is an advocate with more than 15 years’ varied experience including both law firm and in-house roles. As an expert on BCP Associates’ POSH team, she specialises in providing a broad range of services under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”). Currently, Rashmitha is the External Member of the Internal Committee of multiple organizations across sectors and has deep expertise in handling POSH inquiries. She also supports these organisations on a regular basis with queries related to sexual harassment, including drafting and reviewing POSH policies and assisting in setting up Internal Committees.

Rashmitha is also a seasoned POSH trainer, having delivered a multitude of specialised sessions for Managers and Senior Management, Employee General Awareness sessions, and focused training for Internal Committee members. In addition to English, she is fluent in Hindi and Kannada, ensuring meaningful training sessions and effective inquiries.

Having started her career at law firm of Krishnamurthy and Co, Rashmitha moved to in-house roles with Biocon Limited, Columbia Asia Hospitals Private Limited and Adecco India Private Limited. 

Rashmitha holds an LL.M. in Labour and Employment Laws from University Law College, Bangalore, graduating in the year 2018 with Two Gold Medals. She is also a Rank Holder at the University. She obtained her BA, LL.B. degree from Bangalore Institute of Legal Studies, Bangalore University in 2009. Rashmitha is registered with the Karnataka Bar Council since 2009 and is also a member of the Gender Sensitivity Sub Committee of Karnataka Employer Association (KEA), an industry association of employers with over 700 members.

Manisha Vidyadhar – Senior Associate

At BCP Associates, Manisha Vidyadhar is involved in managing and conducting labour law compliance audits of principal employer and contractors. She is also involved in client co-ordination and conducting labour law training programs for vendors. She has conducted on-ground labour law audit for factories. Manisha also provides support in advising vendor clients on labour law queries.  She completed B.A., LL.B. from BMS College of Law, Bangalore in 2016.

Amrutha Ananth – Principal Associate

At BCP Associates, Amrutha is a part of the Legal Advisory practice, Legal Audit practice and Labour Code Alignment Programme (LCAP). Amrutha specialises in Labour and Employment Laws and compliance having advised some of India’s leading companies for some of their most complex labour law matters.

Amrutha has more than seven years of experience in labour and employment law and has conducted several audits for both, principal employer and contractor for various leading IT/ITES companies, manufacturing sectors like pharma, automobile, construction and start-ups.

She is actively involved in drafting and reviewing employment contracts, HR policies, Employee Handbook, show cause notice, etc. for various organizations spread across diverse sectors. As a part of the Labour Code Alignment Program, she assists companies in review and alignment of their existing wage and employment policy with the provisions of the Labour Codes.

Sunil Arya – Principle Associate

At BCP Associates, Sunil Arya is part of the labour and employment law advisory and HR Policy practice and is actively involved in drafting and reviewing of employment contracts, opinions, HR policies, employee handbook, show cause notice, etc. for various clients spread across diverse sectors. He conducts training on labour and employment laws. Sunil is also involved in labour law compliance audits of principal employer and contractors and has conducted on-ground labour law audit for factories. In addition, he is engaged in knowledge creation and management of the firm and keenly writes on developments in labour and employment laws.

Prior to joining BCP Associates, Sunil has 10 years of post-qualification experience in diversified portfolios of advisory, drafting, policy analysis and dispute in the domains of contracts, general civil matters, employment law, competition law and construction arbitration matters. Sunil started his career as a Law Researcher in Delhi High Court. He moved on to be part of regulatory analysis team of CIRC, a unit of CUTS International. In addition, Sunil has been part of legal team of Jindal India Thermal Power Limited. He has also taught competition law, tax law and investment law at VIPS, Delhi.

Sunil holds LL.M. from The Indian Law Institute, Delhi. He is First Rank Holder in his thesis. He completed B.A, L.L.B. (Hons.) from I.P. University, Delhi. He also holds First Rank in P.G. Diploma in Competition Policy and Laws from The National Law University, Delhi.

Chandrakala K A – Principle Associate

At BCP Associates, Chandrakala has 12+ years of experience in conducting and managing labour law compliance audits of principal employer and contractors. She is also involved in co-ordination with many clients. She has conducted on-ground labour law audit for factories. She also provides support in advising vendors on labour law queries. Chandrakala is actively involved in research and providing valuable inputs to the firm pertaining to updation in labour law audit function.

Chandrakala started her career in litigation in chamber of Sri. Ashok where she was involved in drafting, pleading and appearance before Karnataka High Courts and lower courts on the criminal side.

Chandrakala completed B.A in Arts from Kuvempu University, Shimoga in 2003 and LL.B. from Mangalore University in 2006.