Home  /  OSH Code, 2020  /  Section 25

Section 25: Daily and weekly working hours and overtime

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act No. 37 of 2020) • Official Statutory Text & Plain English Practice Guide

Statutory Mandate
Chapter VI: Hours of Work and Annual Leave with Wages
Competent Labour Forum
Act No. 37 of 2020
Section 24 All 143 Sections of OSH Code, 2020 Section 26

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 25

Section 25 of the OSH Code establishes statutory ceilings on daily and weekly working hours, prescribing a maximum of eight hours per day and forty-eight hours per week, with mandatory overtime compensation for excess hours.

  • Core Legal Standard: Section 25 is the central working-time regulation under the OSH Code.
  • Sub-Section (1): Appropriate: Under sub-section (1), no worker shall be required or allowed to work in an establishment for more than eight hours in any day or more than forty-eight hours in any week, subject to such periods of rest as may be prescribed by the Appropriate Government.
  • Sub-Section (2) Provision: Sub-section (2) provides that the working hours in mines and hazardous establishments may be subject to even stricter limits.

Any work performed beyond the statutory limits of eight hours daily or forty-eight hours weekly triggers the mandatory requirement under Section 27 to pay overtime wages at twice the ordinary rate of wages.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Workmen of The Associated Cement Companies Ltd. v. The Management (1964) 5 SCR 648: The Supreme Court held that statutory regulation of working hours is based on physiological necessities and social justice, designed to prevent physical exhaustion, occupational health breakdown, and economic exploitation of workers.
  • Philips India Ltd. v. Labour Court, Madras (1985) 3 SCC 103: The Supreme Court affirmed that employers cannot unilaterally extend daily working hours without complying with statutory overtime payment mandates.
Legal Commentary:

Section 25 protects workers across both manufacturing and service establishments (including IT/ITES and logistics). An employer who forces employees to work 10 or 12-hour shifts without paying statutory double overtime violates Section 25 and is subject to penal prosecution under Section 102.

Section 24 All 143 Sections of OSH Code, 2020 Section 26