Section 58 Factories Act 1948 - Prohibition of Overlapping Shifts
Section 58 of the Factories Act, 1948 prohibited a shift arrangement in which more than one relay of workers performed work of the same kind at the same time. The provision also permitted specified exemptions by written order.
What Section 58 of the Factories Act meant
The object of Section 58 was to regulate overlapping shift systems in factories. In simple terms, a factory could not ordinarily arrange shifts so that two or more separate relays of workers were simultaneously engaged in work of the same kind.
Text of Section 58 - Prohibition of overlapping shifts
58. Prohibition of overlapping shifts.
(1) Work shall not be carried on in any factory 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.
(2) The State Government or, subject to the control of the State Government, the Chief Inspector could, by written order and for reasons specified in the order, exempt, on conditions considered expedient, any factory or class or description of factories, any department or section of a factory, or any category or description of workers from sub-section (1).
Sub-section (2) was substituted by Act 25 of 1954, section 12, with effect from 7 May 1954.
Meaning of important expressions
Overlapping shifts
An overlapping shift arrangement exists for this provision when separate relays of workers are scheduled so that more than one relay is engaged in work of the same kind at the same time. The restriction concerns the arrangement of the shift system, not merely the fact that a factory operates more than one shift.
Relay of workers
In the context of Section 58, a relay refers to a group or set of workers assigned to a particular shift. The statutory restriction applied where more than one such relay performed work of the same kind simultaneously.
Exemption by written order
Section 58(2) allowed an exemption only through the competent authority contemplated by the provision. The order had to be in writing, state reasons, and could impose conditions. The exemption could apply to a factory, a class or description of factories, a department or section, or a category or description of workers.
Current law: Section 29 of the OSHWC Code 2020
Section 29 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 now addresses prohibition of overlapping shifts. Its core rule is substantially similar: work cannot be carried on in an establishment through shifts arranged so that more than one relay of workers is engaged in work of the same kind at the same time.
The exemption power is now expressed in terms of the appropriate Government or, subject to its control, the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator. A written order with specified reasons may exempt an establishment or class of establishments, a department or section, or a category or description of workers, subject to conditions. The exemption provision does not apply to mines.
Section 58 and related working-hours provisions
Section 58 formed part of Chapter VI of the Factories Act, 1948 dealing with working hours of adults. It should therefore be read in its historical context with the provisions on weekly hours, weekly holidays, compensatory holidays, daily hours, rest intervals, spread-over, night shifts, overtime wages and double employment.
- Section 51 - Weekly hours
- Section 52 - Weekly holidays
- Section 53 - Compensatory holidays
- Section 54 - Daily hours
- Section 55 - Intervals for rest
- Section 56 - Spread over
- Section 57 - Night shifts
- Section 59 - Extra wages for overtime
- Section 60 - Restriction on double employment
Official legal resources
For the current statutory position, consult the official India Code portal and the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Users dealing with a particular establishment should also check applicable Central or State rules, notifications, exemptions and orders.