(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, no person shall be employed about the business of an establishment for more than forty-eight hours in any one week and nice hours in any one-day.
(2) On occasion of seasonal or exceptional pressure of work a person employed in an establishment may be employed about the business of the establishment in excess of the working hour specified in sub-section (1);
Provided that—
(a) the total number of overtime hours worked by an employee does not exceed fifty within a period of any one quarter; and
(b) the person-employed overtime shall be paid remuneration at twice the rate of his normal wages calculated by the hour.
Explanation. – ‘Normal Wages’ for the purposes of proviso (b) means basic wages plus such allowances including the cash equivalent of the advantages accruing through the Concessional sale to workers of foodgrains and other articles as the worker is for the time being entitled to, but does not include bonus.
(3) No employer shall, on any day or in any week, employ about the business of the establishment any person who has been previously employed on that day or in that week in another establishment or a factory for a longer period than shall, together with the time during which he has been previously employed on that day or in that week in such other establishment or factory exceed the number of hours permitted by this Act.
(4) In any proceedings against the employer of the establishment for a contravention of the provisions of sub-section (3) it shall be a defence to prove that the employer did not know and could not with reasonable diligence ascertain that the person was previously employed by the employer of the other establishment or factory.
(5) No person shall work about the business of an establishment of two or more establishments or an establishment and a factory in excess of the period during which may be lawfully employed under this Act;