Gujarat govt brings ordinance to extend factory working hours, allow women on night shifts
The ordinance amends Section 54 of the Factories Act
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A key amendment permits employment of women in night shifts—from 7 pm to 6 am—subject to 16 specified conditions. (Representational Photo)The Gujarat government has promulgated an ordinance amending key provisions of the Factories Act, 1948, allowing an increase in the daily working hours of factory workers from nine to twelve, while capping the weekly working limit at 48 hours. The ordinance also permits employment of women in night shifts under a set of conditions.
The Factories (Gujarat Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, issued on July 1 by the Labour, Skill Development and Employment department, comes into effect while the state Assembly is not in session. It seeks to provide “relaxation to the factories to boost economic activities, attract investment in national importance to new projects and generate employment.”
The ordinance amends Section 54 of the Act to allow the state government to notify an increase in daily working hours up to 12 hours, including rest intervals, subject to a maximum of 48 hours in any week. It clarifies that increased hours is contingent on the written consent of the worker.
The revised Section 54 also allows the state to extend, through notification, the number of continuous working hours without interval from five to six.
Workers will receive overtime wages at twice the ordinary rate. Additionally, the ordinance raises the quarterly cap on overtime hours from the existing 75 to 125, again subject to the worker’s written consent.
Another key amendment permits employment of women in night shifts—from 7 pm to 6 am—subject to 16 specified conditions. These include mandatory preventive measures against sexual harassment, provision of proper lighting and CCTV coverage in and around the workplace, minimum batch size of 10 women workers per shift, deployment of female security personnel, and provision of safe transportation.
The ordinance clarifies that no woman worker shall be compelled to work night shifts and that written consent will be required from those willing to opt for such duty.work night shifts
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