Rule 7. Weekly day of rest

(1) Subject to the provisions of this rule, an employee shall be allowed a day of rest every week (hereinafter referred to as "the rest day") which shall ordinarily be Sunday, but the employer may fix any other day of the week as the rest day for any employee or class of employees:

Provided that an employee shall be entitled for the rest day under this sub-rule if he has worked under the same employer for a continuous period of not less than six days:

Provided further that the employee shall be informed of the day fixed as the rest day and of any subsequent change in the rest day before the change is effected, by display of a notice to that effect in the place of employment at the place specified by the Inspector-cum-Facilitator in this behalf.

Explanation.- For the purpose of computation of the continuous period of not less than six days specified in the first proviso to this sub-rule, any day on which an employee is required to attend for work but is given only an allowance for attendance and is not provided with work, a day on which an employee is laid off on payment of compensation under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947)or as the case may be the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 on Industrial Relation and any leave or holiday, with or without pay, granted by the employer to an employee in the period of six days immediately preceding the rest day, shall be deemed to be days on which the employee has worked.

(2) Any such employee shall not be required or allowed to work on the rest day unless he has or will have a substituted rest day for a whole day on one of the five days immediately before or after the rest day:

Provided that no substitution shall be made which will result in the employee working for more than ten days consecutively without a rest day for a whole day.

(3) Where in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this rule, any employee works on a rest day and has been given a substituted rest day on any one of the five days before or after the rest day, the rest day shall, for the purpose of calculating the weekly hours of work, be included in the week in which the substituted rest day occurs.

(4) An employee shall be granted-

(a) for rest day wages calculated at the rate applicable to the next preceding day; and

(b) where he works on the rest day and has been given a substituted rest day, then, he shall be paid wages for the rest day on which he worked, at the overtime rate and wages for the substituted rest day at the rate applicable to the next preceding day:

Provided that where-

(i) the minimum rate of wages of the employee as notified under the Code has been worked out by dividing the minimum monthly rate of wages by twenty-six; or

(ii) the actual daily rate of wages of the employee has been worked out by dividing the monthly rate of wages by twenty-six and such actual daily rate of wages is not less than the notified minimum daily rate of wages of the employee, then, no wages for the rest day shall be payable; and

(iii) the employee works on the rest day and has been given a substituted rest day, then, he shall be paid, only for the rest day on which he worked, an amount equal to the wages payable to him at the overtime rate;

and, if any dispute arises whether the daily rate of wages has been worked out in accordance with the provisions of this proviso, the Director Labour (State) or the Labour Commissioner (State) having territorial jurisdiction may, on application made to him in this behalf, decide the same, after giving an opportunity to the parties concerned to make written representations:

Provided further that in case of an employee governed by a piece-rate system, the wages for the rest day, or the substituted rest day, as the case may be, shall be such as the State Government may, from time to time determine having regard to the minimum rate of wages fixed under the Code, in respect of the employment.

Explanation.- In this sub-rule 'next preceding day' means the last day on which the employee has worked, which precedes the rest day or the substituted rest day, as the case may be; and where the substituted rest day falls on a day immediately after the rest day, the next preceding day means the last day on which the employee has worked, which precedes the rest day.

(5) The provisions of this rule shall not operate to the prejudice of more favourable terms, if any, to which an employee may be, entitled under any other law or under the terms of any award, agreement or contract of service, and in such a case, the employee shall be entitled only to more favourable terms aforesaid.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, 'week' shall mean a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night.