BHUBANESWAR: With many companies facing sustainability threat due to operational restrictions and labour shortage in the face of Covid-19 lockdown, the FICCI Odisha Council on Thursday requested the State Government to relax the norms on working hours under Factories Act, 1948 for the firms.
Chairman of the Council Monica Nayyar Patnaik urged Labour and ESI department Secretary Anu Garg to bring relaxation to the rule of eight hours of work per day and allow a 12-hour shift. Employees should be paid for the additional four hours work in proportion to the existing wages to help companies and factories in ensuring continued sustainability and avoid job loss in the long term, she added.
She said Rajasthan and Gujarat governments have already issued notification in this regard allowing 12-hour shift and such move should be taken in Odisha at the earliest for the larger benefit.This apart, Patnaik suggested that one hour rest be given to the labourers in between the working hours and female workers be exempted from work during the night shifts from 7 pm to 7 am.
The move will also restrict movement of people from home to workplace and vice versa. It will allow factories to explore the possibility of accommodation facilities within the factory campus or at a nearby locality for at least the workers of one shift.