Employee Welfare, Health, Safety and Working Conditions
Employee Welfare, Health, Safety and Working Conditions
This domain tests statutory welfare, workplace health and safety duties, and limits on working hours under the Factories Act 1948.
Core rules
- Health provisions include cleanliness, ventilation, dust and fume control, lighting, drinking water, latrines and overcrowding limits.
- Safety provisions include fencing of machinery, hoists and lifts, pressure plants, fire precautions and dangerous fumes.
- Welfare provisions include washing facilities, sitting arrangements, first aid, canteens (250 or more workers), shelters and rest rooms (150 or more), and creches (30 or more women workers).
- Working time: maximum 48 hours a week and 9 hours a day for adult workers; rest interval after five hours; overtime at double the ordinary rate.
- Annual leave with wages for adults is one day for every 20 days worked.
Worked example
A factory employs 260 workers, including 35 women. It must provide a canteen, shelters or rest rooms, and a creche. If an adult worker puts in 48 normal hours and 6 overtime hours in a week, the 6 hours are overtime and must be paid at twice the ordinary rate. The employer cannot simply treat overtime as part of the normal 48-hour week.
Traps
Do not mix welfare with safety. Do not ignore worker thresholds for canteen, shelters and creches. Do not apply the 48-hour weekly limit without the daily and rest-interval rules. Overtime is not compulsory unpaid help.