Section 57 Factories Act: Night Shifts and Current Law

Section 57 of the Factories Act, 1948 dealt with the legal treatment of a factory shift extending beyond midnight. The corresponding current provision is Section 28 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.

Current legal position: The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025. For current compliance, night shifts should therefore be read primarily under Section 28 of that Code and the applicable rules, notifications and State requirements.

What did Section 57 of the Factories Act, 1948 provide?

Section 57 was titled Night shifts. It applied where a worker in a factory worked on a shift extending beyond midnight. Its purpose was to determine how the worker's holiday and working day were to be calculated when the shift crossed midnight.

Section 57 - Night shifts

Where a worker in a factory works on a shift which extends beyond midnight:

(a) for the purposes of Sections 52 and 53, a holiday for a whole day meant a period of twenty-four consecutive hours beginning when the worker's shift ended; and

(b) the following day was deemed to be the period of twenty-four hours beginning when that shift ended, while the hours worked after midnight were counted in the previous day.

Meaning of Section 57 in simple terms

A night shift can begin on one calendar date and finish on the next. Section 57 prevented midnight from artificially splitting one continuous shift into two separate working days for the purposes covered by the provision.

The worker's twenty-four-hour holiday period began when the night shift ended.
The worker's next legal working day began from the end of that shift for the purpose stated in the section.
Hours worked after midnight as part of that shift were attributed to the previous day.

Example: If a worker's shift ran from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., the hours worked from midnight to 6:00 a.m. were treated, for Section 57 purposes, as hours of the previous day. A whole-day holiday linked to the provision began when the shift ended, rather than automatically at midnight.

Current law: Section 28 of the OSHWC Code, 2020

The present corresponding provision is Section 28 - Night shifts of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. It applies where a worker in an establishment works on a shift extending beyond midnight.

Section 28 - Night shifts

(a) For the purposes of Section 26, a weekly holiday for a whole day is a period of twenty-four consecutive hours beginning when the worker's shift ends.

(b) The following day is treated as the period of twenty-four hours beginning when the shift ends, and hours worked after midnight are counted in the previous day.

The core rule is therefore substantially carried forward: crossing midnight does not, by itself, divide the night shift into separate working days for the statutory calculation described in Section 28.

Sections referred to in the old and current provisions

Sections 52 and 53 of the Factories Act, 1948: Section 52 dealt with weekly holidays, while Section 53 dealt with compensatory holidays. Section 57 prescribed how a whole-day holiday was to be understood for a worker whose shift extended beyond midnight.

Section 26 of the OSHWC Code, 2020: This is the current provision concerning weekly and compensatory holidays. Section 28 expressly uses Section 26 when defining a whole-day weekly holiday for a worker on a shift extending beyond midnight.

Night work by women

Night-shift accounting under Section 28 should be distinguished from the separate rules governing employment of women. Under the OSHWC Code, women may work in establishments and may work before 6:00 a.m. and beyond 7:00 p.m. with their consent, subject to prescribed conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours. Employers should also check the rules and notifications applicable to their establishment and jurisdiction.

Why the midnight rule matters

The rule creates a clear statutory method for identifying the worker's day and weekly holiday when work continues across midnight. This is relevant to working-time records, weekly rest and connected compliance. Overtime and other entitlements must be determined under the applicable provisions of the current Code and rules rather than from Section 28 alone.

Historical-law note: Section 57 of the Factories Act, 1948 remains important for understanding liabilities, disputes, records and events arising while that enactment governed the relevant period. For present-day compliance after 21 November 2025, consult the OSHWC Code, 2020 and the applicable rules and notifications.

Official legal resources

For authoritative and updated material, refer to the Ministry of Labour and Employment's official text of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, the Ministry's OSH Code resource page, and the official archived text of the Factories Act, 1948.

This article provides general legal information. Applicability may depend on the establishment, appropriate Government, State rules, notifications and the period to which a dispute relates.