The Factories Act, 1948 (“Principal Act”) has been proposed to be amended in its applicability to the State of Haryana  by way of the Factories (Haryana Amendment) Bill, 2018 (“Amendment Bill”).

The Factories (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2018 (“Amendment Bill”) is dated 28^th August, 2018.

Background

Small scale industries can now be relieved from complying various provisions under the Factories Act. The women workers have been allowed working during night shift provided they are given adequate safety and security measures. A new Fourth Schedule has been proposed to be added which will provide relief to many factory owner/occupier from facing several litigations due to first time offences.

The implications of the Amendment Act are provided below:

1. The proposed amendment has been made to provide relief to the Small scale industries. Small scale industries employing less than 20 numbers of workers engaged in manufacturing process and 40 number of workers without the aid of power will not have to comply with the provisions of the factories Act, 1948. Since these small scale industries were not able to work efficiently due to constraints under the labour law, the exemption under the definition has been provided.
2. The proposed amendments increases the threshold of number of overtime working hours of the workers in factories. This increase has been proposed so that the factories may achieve their targets and fulfill the orders within specified time frame.
3. The amendment that is proposed aims at delivering equal rights for women working at night unless they are provided adequate safety and security measures. As per the bill, adequate measures will be required to be provided by the factory owner/occupier to women employees working between hours of 7 pm to 6 am.
4. The amendments proposes reduced litigations and provides assistance to the factories who have committed first time offences. Hence, the Fourth Schedule has been introduced to provide relief to factories from going to the court. The Statement of object and reasons have stated that this amendment has been proposed to achieve ease of doing business.

Source: Haryana E-Gazette

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