Background
The Gujarat Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2025 regulate working hours by prescribing daily and weekly limits, rest intervals, and payment of overtime at mandated rates. Employees earn annual leave based on days worked, with provisions for carry-forward and advance payment of leave wages. Employers must maintain accurate records of hours and leave to ensure compliance. These measures promote fair scheduling, protect worker well-being, and align the state’s practices with the central OSHWC Code.
Applicability
The Gujarat Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2025, when read with the OSH Code, apply to:
Compliance Requirements under the Rules in Accordance with the Code
1. Daily and weekly working hours for a worker in an establishment in Gujarat (Section 25 (1), Rule 24)
Workers cannot work:
i) The working hours in a day may be modified such that the total number of working hours in a week shall be so fixed and followed
ii) Hours of work for persons working in a mine shall be such as notified by CG in any day. Work to be carried in shifts and spread over shall be as notified by CG and person to be present in mine only during work.
iii) For motor transport workers, daily limit of 8 hours in a day shall include time spent in work done during the running time of the transport vehicle; time spent in subsidiary work & period of mere attendance at terminals of less than fifteen minutes.
2. Working hours of Adolescent in Gujarat (Section 25 (4))
The working hours of an adolescent worker shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
3. Weekly hours of work for an establishment in Gujarat (Section 26(1))
No worker shall be allowed to work in an establishment for more than six days in any one week. Provided that in any motor transport undertaking, an employer may, in order to prevent any dislocation of a motor transport service, require a worker to work on any day of weekly holiday which is not a holiday so arranged that the worker does not work for more than ten days consecutively without a holiday for a whole day intervening.
4. Weekly holidays for factories in Gujarat (Section 26, Rule 24 (A) (1))
(1) No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory on the first day of the week, unless— (a) they have or will have a full-day holiday on one of the three days immediately before or after the said day; and (b) the factory manager has, before the said day or substituted day— (i) submitted a notice to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator of the intention to require work on the said day and the substituted holiday, and (ii) displayed a notice of the same in the factory. Further no substitution shall cause any worker to work more than ten consecutive days without a full-day holiday. (2) Notices under sub-rule (1) may be cancelled by submitting and displaying a cancellation notice no later than the day before the said day or substituted holiday, whichever is earlier. (3) If a worker works on the said day and has had a holiday within the three days prior, the said day shall be counted as part of the preceding week for weekly hour calculations.
5. Display of Notice showing weekly day of rest in Gujarat (Section 26(2), Rule 54 of Central OSH Rules)
A notice displaying the weekly day of rest must be posted conspicuously outside every establishment office. If the rest day varies for different employees, the notice must specify the rest day for each relay, or set of persons or individual.
6. Compensatory holidays & display of Notice for factories in Gujarat (Section 26, Rule 24 (A) (2))
1)Except for workers engaged in technically continuous work, compensatory holidays must be spaced so that no more than two are given in a week.
2) The factory manager must display a notice, before the end of the month in which holidays are lost, listing workers granted compensatory holidays in the following month, along with dates, at the site where work period notices are displayed. Any changes must be made at least 3 days before the revised holiday date.
3)Compensatory holidays due must be granted before a worker is discharged or dismissed and cannot count toward the notice period. 4) U/s 26(3), if a worker misses weekly holidays, they must receive equal compensatory holidays within the same month or within the next two months.
7. Form 10: Register of Compensatory Holidays by a Factory in Gujarat (Section 26, Rule 24 (A) (2) (4) (a))
Manager must maintain a Register of Compensatory Holidays in Form 10.
8. Extra wages for overtime in Factories established in Gujarat (Section 27, Rule 25 (A))
Workers exceeding 8 hours/day or 48 hours/week must be paid overtime at twice their ordinary wage. Ordinary wage includes basic pay and allowances but excludes bonuses.
For piece-rate workers, overtime is paid at the daily average of earnings from the previous month or the current week if no similar work was done before. Under Rule56 of OSH Central rules:
1)A worker shall be required to work overtime by employer subject to consent of such worker for such work
2)In calculating overtime on any day, a fraction of an hour between 15 to 30 min shall be counted as 30 min and in case of more than 30 min it shall be rounded and shall be counted as an hour on actual basis
3) In calculating wages or earnings in the case of a worker paid by month, the daily wages shall be 1/26th of his monthly wages; and in case of any other worker it shall be the daily wages or earnings as the case may be
4)Spread over for workers shall exceed 12 hours in any one day under the specified works and circumstances in factories, dock works, mines, building or other construction. Provided that no worker shall be allowed to work overtime exceeding 125 hours in any quarter of a year
9. Form 11: Overtime Register for exempted workers in Gujarat (Section 27, Rule 25(a)(5)(b))
The Manager of every factory –
(a) which is exempted under section 128 of the Code, or
(b) in which workers are exempted under section 25(b) shall keep a muster roll in Form 11 showing the normal piece work rate of pay, or the rate of pay per hour, of all the exempted workers in the factory
10. Issuing Overtime Slips in Factories established in Gujarat (Section 27,33, Rule 25 (A) (6),34)
Any work done by a worker beyond the normal specified periods of work shall be entered in the overtime slips in duplicate indicating therein, the actual period of overtime worked by him. A copy of such overtime slip duly signed by the manager or by a person duly authorized by in that behalf, shall be given to the worker immediately after completion of the overtime work. If the Chief Inspector-cum-facilitator of Factories is satisfied that because of the nature of work carried out in the factory, it is not possible to issue daily slips to the workers he may permit issue of weekly slips to the workers.
11. Extra wages for overtime in Building and other construction work in Gujarat (Section 27, Rule 25 (B))
In calculating overtime on any day, a fraction of an hour between 15 to 30 minutes shall be counted as 30 minutes and in case of more than 30 minutes it shall be rounded and shall be counted as an hour on actual basis. In calculating the wages or earnings in the case of a worker paid by the month, the daily wages shall be 1/26th of his monthly wages; and in the case of any other worker it shall be the daily wages or earnings as the case may be.
12. Night Shifts in Gujarat (Section 28)
When a worker’s shift extends beyond midnight: a) For section 26, weekly holiday means a period of 24 consecutive hours starting when their shift ends b) Following day is considered to be 24 hours beginning when their shift ends, with hours worked after midnight counted as part of the previous day
13. Prohibition of overlapping shifts in Gujarat (Section 29, Rule 26)
Work shall not be carried on in any establishment by means of a system of shifts so arranged that more than one relay of workers is engaged in work of the same kind at the same time
14. Restriction on Double Employment in Factories/mines in Gujarat (Section 30, Rule 27)
No worker shall be required or allowed to work in a mine or factory if he has already been working in any other such similar establishment within the preceding twelve hours, save in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.
Inspector-cum-Facilitator may permit an adult worker to be employed in more than one factory on the same day if the worker does not exceed 48 hours of work per week and receives weekly holidays as per rule 24. A note under the initials of the Inspector-cum-Facilitator shall be made in the remarks column of a Register of such workers permitted to work in more than one factory.
15. Form 12: Notice of period of work for adult workers in Gujarat (Section 31, Rule 28)
A notice of periods of work for adults, in Form 12, shall be displayed at conspicuous places on a notice board or electronic board in every establishment/factory/building or other construction work. The notice, clearly indicating daily work periods, shall also be sent in duplicate by registered post or electronically to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator before commencement of work.
16. Annual leave with wages, etc in Gujarat (Section 32)
Every worker is entitled to leave with wages if he has worked 180 days or more in calendar year(incl. layoff/maternity/ annual leave, but no leave is earned for these periods). Entitlement is 1 day of leave for every 20 days of work for adults & every 15 days for adolescents/underground mine workers
Other Conditions to be met are:
1)Holidays are excluded from period of leave taken
2)A worker whose service begins after January 1st is entitled to leave with wages as specified if they have worked for 1/4th of total days in remainder of calendar year
3)If a worker is discharged/dismissed/quits/retires/dies during calendar year, they or their heir/nominee are entitled to wages for leave they were eligible for before event, even if they haven’t met required work period. Payment must be made within 2working days if worker is discharged, dismissed, or quits, and within two months if worker retires or dies. Such a worker is entitled to encashment of leave at the end of calendar year
4) If a worker doesn’t use all leave in a calendar year, unused leave will be carried over to next year, with max.30 days. If a worker’s leave request is denied, they can carry forward refused leave without any limit. If total carried-over leave exceeds 30 days, worker can encash the excess leave
Penalties & Punishments
General Penalty u/s 94: For contravention, the employer or the principal employer of the establishment, as the case may be, shall be liable to penalty which shall not be less than two lakhs rupees but which may extend up to three lakh rupees, and if the contravention is continued after the conviction, then, with further penalty which may extend to two thousand rupees for each day till such contravention continues.
U/s 97: Contravention of any provision restricting or regulating the employment of workers including women shall be liable to penalty which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees but which may extend to one lakh rupees
U/s 99: Any person who, without reasonable excuse the burden of proving which shall lies upon him, omits to make or furnish in the prescribed form or manner or at, or within, the prescribed time any plan, section, return, notice, register, record or report required by or under any provision of this Code to be made or furnished, he shall be liable to penalty which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees.
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