Dear Readers,
Construction Industry is the major employment creator for the (manpower) workforce. It is directly linked with country growth and infrastructures development. To meet the project schedule, extended working hours are the integral part of construction activities.
If work time exceeds the fixed hours, employees be entitled to overtime payment rules for such hours or part of hour. This is paid at a higher rate than regular working hours. Also an Employee can work different work shifts according to their working hours, if available. But, the essential point is that employee need to be productive and complete their tasks then only overtime will be considered.There are several laws in India which govern the maximum overtime hours allowed in India and also provide for an overtime calculation formula in India. Based on the industry one works for, the overtime payment rules vary. Some workplace may be governed by the central laws while the other might be a subject of state laws. Knowing employee rights may empower the working class.
In Construction Industry practice 11 hours daily work time inclusive of overtime and excluding lunch break. a person is entitled to be paid overtime wages twice his ordinary rate of wages in case he/ she is required to work for more than 9 hours a day or more than 48 hours in a week. The wages mentioned here is equivalent to the basic wages along with allowances, but does not include any bonus or other overtime wages. In case a worker is paid on a ‘piece rate’ basis, time rate will be calculated on the basis of previous month and the amount of overtime wages will be calculated accordingly. In any case, the overtime payment rules do not regard the gross salary. But if there is no statutory obligation and the employer wishes to reward the hard-working employees voluntarily, overtime payment rules in India do not restrict the same. In such a case, whether overtime is paid on basic or gross in India is the employer’s choice.
