The Tamil Nadu Assembly, on April 21, passed Tamil Nadu Factories (Amendment) Act 2023 amending the Factories Act, 1948, which extends the daily working hours from 8 to 12 hours for factory workers.
Key points
- The act has been amended to provide appropriate wages to the workers as per the hours worked.
- The bill now empowers the state government to exempt any factory or group or group of factories from any or all of the provisions of Sections 51 (weekly hours), 52 (weekly holidays), 54 (daily hours), 55 (intervals of rest), 56 (spread over) or 59 (prohibition of overlapping shifts) of the Factories Act, 1948, which entail rules related to working hour limits. Workers can now choose to work for 12-hour daily shifts and they will be entitled to four-day work week, with three days off.
- The section 127 of the The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 enabled the State government by notification to provide among others flexible working hours including overtime and spread over hours inclusive of rest intervals, subject to such conditions and restrictions and for such period as deemed fit in relation to any factory or class of factories.
- The State government has decided to amend the Factories Act of 1948 (Central Act 63 of 1948) for its application to Tamil Nadu, as the said central code has not been brought into force.
