Under Section 16 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, which of the following correctly states the mandatory provision regarding working hours, overtime, and the overtime wage rate?

Solution

Section 16 of the OSH Code, 2020 provides that no worker shall be required or allowed to work in any establishment for more than 8 hours in any day and more than 48 hours in any week, maintaining the standard working hours benchmark from the old Factories Act, 1948. Any work beyond these limits constitutes overtime, for which the worker must be paid at twice the ordinary rate of wages this double-rate overtime requirement is carried forward from the earlier law. Critically, the OSH Code caps total overtime at 125 hours per quarter, providing workers a statutory outer limit on how much overtime an employer can demand in any given three-month period. The Code also provides that women workers are entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code, including night shifts but only with their consent and subject to adequate safety conditions including transportation being provided by the employer. Further, under Section 24, every establishment employing 500 or more workers must constitute a Safety Committee comprising equal numbers of representatives of employer and workers a key structural safeguard for occupational health.