Working Time Rules: India
India: standard working hours, overtime, rest, annual leave, and record-keeping rules - a practical overview, not legal advice.
Statutory working time
The OSHWC Code 2020 took effect on 21 November 2025. Check the applicable implementing rules, sector and state before setting hours: the transition retains relevant existing rules. The editable calendar is not a compliance assessment.
Overtime
Under the Factories Act, work beyond 9 hours in a day or 48 in a week is overtime at twice the ordinary rate of wages, which means basic wages plus allowances but not bonus and not overtime pay itself. Shops and commercial establishments are governed by state-specific laws that vary.
Rest periods
No stretch of work may exceed five hours without an interval for rest of at least half an hour, and a state exemption can stretch that to six at most. The weekly holiday falls on the first day of the week, and may be moved to a day within the three before or after it on notice to the Inspector, but never so that a worker goes more than ten days running without a whole day off.
Record-keeping
The factory manager keeps a register of adult workers naming each worker, the nature of their work, their group, and the shift relay they are allotted to, available to the Inspector at all times during working hours.
What to check before you rely on this
- The current statutory limits, reference periods, and any opt-outs.
- Sector or collective-agreement rules that may override the defaults.
- How overtime is authorised, recorded, and compensated.
- What working-time records you must keep and for how long.