Bhubaneswar, May 8 (IANS): The Odisha government has extended the working time in factories from 8 hours to 12 hours a day to ensure that production is not affected due to availability of lesser workforce in view of COVID-19 scare, an official said on Friday.
Taking into consideration the representations by certain industries and industry associations, the state has decided to provide certain relaxations for industrial and commercial activities, Information and Public Relations Secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh said.
He said no an adult worker shall be allowed or required to work in a factory for more than 12 hours daily and 72 hours in a week.
The daily working hours of adult factory workers shall be so fixed that no one works for more than six hours before he gets at least half an hour for rest.
The total working hours shall not exceed 13 hours, he said.
No female workers shall be allowed or required to work in a factory between 7 pm and 6 am, unless specifically permitted by the government in this regard.
Additional four hours of overtime wages per day shall be paid as prescribed under Section 59 of the Factories Act subject to an overtime limit of 24 hours per week, said Singh.
Other guidelines under COVID-19 will be observed scrupulously.