Under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, while the statutory daily working-hour limit remains eight hours, the "spread over" of a worker's presence at the workplace - inclusive of rest intervals - shall not ordinarily exceed:

Under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, while the statutory limit on actual working hours remains fixed at eight hours a day, the "spread over" - meaning the total period during which a worker may be required to be present at the workplace, inclusive of rest intervals - shall not ordinarily exceed twelve hours in a day. This means a worker may be scheduled across a twelve-hour window (for instance, with breaks for meals and rest interspersed), while still being required to work no more than eight actual hours within that window, subject to overtime rules for any additional hours worked. This spread-over concept, carried forward with modification from provisions under the Factories Act, 1948, ensures reasonable limits on the total duration a worker's day can be structured around, even where actual working time itself remains capped.