Section 61 Factories Act 1948 - Notice of Periods of Work for Adults
Section 61 of the Factories Act, 1948 required factories to display and maintain a notice showing the periods during which adult workers could be required to work. It also regulated how working groups, shifts and relays were to be arranged.
What Section 61 required
Under the former Factories Act framework, the manager had to fix working periods in advance and display a notice showing when adult workers could be required to work. The schedule had to be consistent with the Act's restrictions on weekly hours, weekly holidays, daily hours, rest intervals, spread-over and overlapping shifts.
- If all adult workers followed the same working periods, the manager could fix one common schedule.
- If working periods differed, adult workers had to be classified into groups according to the nature of their work.
- For shift work, the manager had to fix the working periods of each relay or prepare a shift scheme where relays changed periodically.
- The State Government could prescribe the form and manner of maintaining the notice.
- A new factory had to send the prescribed notice to the Inspector before work began.
- Changes in the system of work affecting the notice had to be notified before implementation, subject to the conditions stated in sub-section (10).
Historical text of Section 61
Section 61 - Notice of periods of work for adults
(1) There shall be displayed and correctly maintained in every factory in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 108, a notice of periods of work for adults, showing clearly for every day the periods during which adult workers may be required to work.
(2) The periods shown in the notice required by sub-section (1) shall be fixed beforehand in accordance with the following provisions of this section, and shall be such that workers working for those periods would not be working in contravention of any of the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55, 56 and 58.
(3) Where all the adult workers in a factory are required to work during the same periods, the manager of the factory shall fix those periods for such workers generally.
(4) Where all the adult workers in a factory are not required to work during the same periods, the manager of the factory shall classify them into groups according to the nature of their work indicating the number of workers in each group.
(5) For each group which is not required to work on a system of shifts, the manager of the factory shall fix the periods during which the group may be required to work.
(6) Where any group is required to work on a system of shifts and the relays are not to be subject to predetermined periodical changes of shifts, the manager of the factory shall fix the periods during which each relay of the group may be required to work.
(7) Where any group is to work on a system of shifts and the relays are to be subject to predetermined periodical changes of shifts, the manager of the factory shall draw up a scheme of shifts whereunder the periods during which any relay of the group may be required to work and the relay which will be working at any time of the day shall be known for any day.
(8) The State Government may prescribe forms of the notice required by sub-section (1) and the manner in which it shall be maintained.
(9) In the case of a factory beginning work after the commencement of this Act, a copy of the notice referred to in sub-section (1) shall be sent in duplicate to the Inspector before the day on which work is begun in the factory.
(10) Any proposed change in the system of work in any factory which will necessitate a change in the notice referred to in sub-section (1) shall be notified to the Inspector in duplicate before the change is made, and except with the previous sanction of the Inspector, no such change shall be made until one week has elapsed since the last change.
Historical amendment note: In sub-section (2), the reference to sections 55, 56 and 58 reflects the amendment that substituted the earlier wording referring to sections 55 and 56.
Current law under the OSHWC Code 2020
The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 now provides the central statutory framework for occupational safety, health and working conditions. Section 25 deals with daily and weekly working hours and provides, among other things, an eight-hour daily limit for workers, subject to the detailed provisions of the Code and notifications by the appropriate Government.
Section 33 of the OSHWC Code requires an employer to maintain prescribed registers containing particulars that include normal working hours, rest days, overtime and attendance, and to display prescribed notices at the workplace. These provisions should be read with the applicable Central or State rules and notifications for the establishment concerned.
Official legal sources
Use the official sources below to verify the current statutory text, commencement notification and historical Factories Act provision.
Last reviewed: 26 September 2026. This article is intended for legal information and historical reference. State-specific rules and establishment-specific notifications may affect compliance requirements.