Factories Act, 1948

Section 66. Further restriction on employment of women. –

(1) The provisions of this Chapter shall, in their application to women in factories, be supplemented by the following further restrictions, namely:-

(a) no exemption from the provisions of section 54 may be granted in respect of any woman;

(b) no woman shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between the hours 6 A.M. and 7 P.M.;

Provided that the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, in respect of any factory or group or class or description of factories, vary the limits laid down in clause (b), but so that no such variation shall authorise the employment of any woman between the hours of 10 P.M. and 5 A.M..

(c) there shall be no change of shifts except after a weekly holiday or any other holiday.

(2) The State Government may make rules providing for the exemption from the restrictions set out in sub-section (1), to such extent and subject to such conditions as it may prescribe, of women working in fish-curing or fish- canning factories, where the employment of women beyond the hours specified in the said restrictions, is necessary to prevent damage to, or deterioration in any raw material.

(3) The rules made under sub-section (2) shall remain in force for not more than three years at a time.

Section 67. Prohibition of employment of young children. –

No child who has not completed his fourteenth year shall be required or allowed to work in any factory.

Section 68. Non-adult workers to carry tokens. –

A child who has completed his fourteenth year or an adolescent shall not be required or allowed to work in any factory, unless –

(a) a certificate of fitness granted with reference to him under section 69, is in the custody of manager of the factory, and

(b) such child or adolescent carries while he is at work, a token giving a reference to such certificate.

Section 69. Certificate of fitness. –

A certifying surgeon shall, on the application of any young person or his parent or guardian accompanied by a document signed by the manager of a factory that such person will be employed therein if certified to be fit for work in a factory, or on the application of the manager of the factory, in which any young person wishes to work, examine such person and ascertain his fitness for work in a factory.

(2) The certifying surgeon, after examination, may grant to such young person, in the prescribed form, or may renew-

(a) certificate of fitness to work in a factory as a child, if he is satisfied that the young person has completed his fourteenth year, that he has attained the prescribed physical standards and that he is fit for such work;

(b) a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult, if he is satisfied that the young person has completed his fifteenth year and is fit for a full day’s work in a factory:

Provided that unless the certifying surgeon has personal knowledge of the place where the young person proposes to work and of the manufacturing process in which he will be employed, he shall not grant or renew a certificate under this sub-section until he has examined such place.

(3) A certificate of fitness granted or renewed under sub-section (2)-

(a) shall be valid only for a period of twelve months from the date thereof:

(b) may be made subject to conditions in regard to the nature of the work in which the young person may be employed, or requiring reexamination of the young person before the expiry of the period of twelve months.

(4) A certifying surgeon shall revoke any certificate granted or renewed under sub-section (2) if in his opinion the holder of it is no longer fit to work in the capacity stated therein in a factory.

(5) Where a certifying surgeon refuses to grant or renew a certificate or a certificate of the kind requested or revokes a certificate, he shall, if so requested by any person who could have applied for the certificate or the renewal thereof, state his reasons in writing for so doing.

(6) Where a certificate under this section with reference to any young person is granted or renewed subject to such conditions as are referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (3), the young person shall not be required or allowed to work in any factory except in accordance with those conditions.

(7) Any fee payable for a certificate under this section shall be paid by the occupier and shall not be recoverable from the young person, his parents or guardian.

Section 70. Effect of certificate of fitness granted to adolescent. –

(1) An adolescent, who has been granted certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 69, and who while at work in a factory carries a taken giving reference to the certificate, shall be deemed to be an adult for all the purposes of Chapters VI and VIII;

(1A) No female adolescent or a male adolescent who has not attained the age of seventeen years but who has been granted a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult, shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between 6 A.M. and 7 P.M.

Provided that the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, in respect of any factory or group or class or description of factories,-

(i) vary the limits laid down in this sub-section so, however, that no such section shall authorize the employment of any female, adolescent between 10 P.M. and 5 A.M.

(ii) grant exemption from the provisions of this sub-section in case of serious emergency where national interest is involved. (2) An adolescent who has not been granted a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult under the aforesaid clause (b) shall, notwithstanding his age, be deemed to be a child for all the purposes of this Act.

Factories Act, 1948
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