Working Hours and Overtime — Uttar Pradesh

Working hours and overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. for most white-collar workers in Uttar Pradesh are governed by the UP Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1962 (UP Dookan Aur Vanijya Adhishthan Adhiniyam, 1962) and the Rules, 1963 made under it. For manufacturing workers, the Factories Act, 1948 applies. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 is the recovery route when overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. wages are not paid in the same wage period.

Standard hours under the 1962 Act: no employee may be required to work more than 9 hours in any day or 48 hours in any week. The total spread-over (from the first moment of duty to the last, including every break) cannot exceed 12 hours in a day. A rest interval of at least 30 minutes must be given after 5 hours of continuous work. Every employee is entitled to one weekly off of at least 24 consecutive hours; establishments not in Schedule II must close one day a week plus prescribed public holidays, and choosing a different close day requires District Magistrate approval. Employers must register the establishment within 3 months of commencement and display the registration certificate.

OvertimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. threshold and rate. OvertimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. is triggered the moment work crosses 9 hours in a day or 48 hours in a week, whichever happens first. It must be paid at twice the ordinary rate of wages under both the UP Shops Act and §59 of the Factories Act, 1948. "Ordinary wages" generally means basic plus dearness allowance, but not variable pay, commissions or other allowances; a common employer error is computing overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. on basic alone and dropping DA, which reduces the entitlement. Compensatory off is not a lawful substitute for monetary overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules.. Under Rule 4 of the UP Shops Rules, 1963, the employer must report overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. to the Inspector within 24 hours, so inspection records can be cross-checked against payroll.

Factory workers. The Factories Act caps normal overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. at 50 hours in any quarter, extendable to 75 hours on exceptional workloads with Labour Commissioner approval, at a flat 2x ordinary wages. Worked example: Ravi, a Kanpur factory worker earning Rs. 450/day (Rs. 56.25/hour over 8 hours), puts in 20 extra hours across February and March beyond the 48-hour weekly threshold. Those 20 hours must be paid at Rs. 112.50/hour (2x) = Rs. 2,250. If the employer paid only Rs. 56.25/hour, the shortfall of Rs. 1,125 is recoverable as a wage claim under the Payment of Wages Act if filed within 12 months of the due date.

IT/ITeS sector exemption (26 September 2024 – 26 September 2026). A two-year UP government notification exempts IT and ITeS establishments from the standard daily-hour and spread-over provisions. Even under the exemption, the maximum total hours including breaks is 12 hours per day, the 30-minute rest after 5 hours continues to apply, weekly off must still be given, the overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. rate remains 2x, and the quarterly overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. cap is raised to 125 hours. Tourism hubs such as Agra and Varanasi may also apply to the Labour Department for seasonal hour extensions during peak periods.

BFSI worked example: a back-office employee in Lucknow works Monday to Friday at 10 hours a day = 50 hours/week. The first 48 hours are paid at ordinary wages; the remaining 2 hours are overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. at twice the rate. The 12-hour daily spread-over cap still binds. And because daily hours crossed 9, overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. is also owed for the excess on each day, independent of whether the weekly total was eventually crossed.