64Power to make exempting rules

(1) The State Government may make rules defining the persons who hold positions of supervision or management or are employed in a confidential position in a factory ¹[or empowering the Chief Inspector to declare any person, other than a person defined by such rules, as a person holding position of supervision or management or employed in a confidential position in a factory if, in the opinion of the Chief Inspector, such person holds such position or is so employed], and the provisions of this Chapter, other than the provisions of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 66 and of the proviso to that sub-section, shall not apply to any person so defined ¹[or declared]:

¹[Provided that any person so defined or declared shall, where the ordinary rate of wages of such person ²[does not exceed the wage limit specified in sub-section (6) of section 1 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936), as amended from time to time], be entitled to extra wages in respect of overtime work under section 59.]

(2) The State Government may make rules in respect of adult workers in factories providing for the exemption, to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed--

(a) of workers engaged on urgent repairs, from the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55 and 56;

(b) of workers engaged in work in the nature of preparatory or complementary work which must necessarily be carried on outside the limits laid down for the general working of the factory, from the provisions of sections 51, 54, 55 and 56;

(c) of workers engaged in work which is necessarily so intermittent that the intervals during which they do not work while on duty ordinarily amount to more than the intervals for rest required by or under section 55, from the provisions of sections 51, 54, 55 and 56;

(d) of workers engaged in any work which for technical reasons must be carried on continuously ⁴*** from the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55 and 56;

(e) of workers engaged in making or supplying articles of prime necessity which must be made or supplied every day, from the provisions of ⁵[section 51 and section 52];

(f) of workers engaged in a manufacturing process which cannot be carried on except during fixed seasons, from the provisions of ⁵[section 51, section 52 and section 54];

(g) of workers engaged in a manufacturing process which cannot be carried on except at times dependent on the irregular action of natural forces, from the provisions of sections 52 and 55;

(h) of workers engaged in engine-rooms or boiler-houses or in attending to power-plant or transmission machinery, from the provisions of ⁵[section 51 and section 52];

⁶[(i) of workers engaged in the printing of newspapers, who are held up on account of the breakdown of machinery, from the provisions of sections 51, 54 and 56.

Explanation.--In this clause the expression "newspapers" has the meaning assigned to it in the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 (25 of 1867);

(j) of workers engaged in the loading or unloading of railway wagons, ⁷[or lorries or truck] from the provisions of sections 51, 52, 54, 55 and 56];

⁷[(k) of workers engaged in any work, which is notified by the State Government in the Official Gazette as a work of national importance, from the provisions of section 51, section 52, section 54, section 55 and section 56.]

(3) Rules made under sub-section (2) providing for any exemption may also provide for any consequential exemption from the provisions of section 61 which the State Government may deem to be expedient, subject to such conditions as it may prescribe.

⁸[(4) In making rules under this section, the State Government shall not exceed, except in respect of exemption under clause (a) of sub-section (2), the following limits of work inclusive of overtime:--

(i) the total number of hours of work in any day shall not exceed ten;

(ii) the spread over, inclusive of intervals for rest, shall not exceed twelve hours in any one day:

Provided that the State Government may, in respect of any or all of the categories of workers referred to in clause (d) of sub-section (2), make rules prescribing the circumstances in which, and the conditions subject to which, the restrictions imposed by clause (i) and clause (ii) shall not apply in order to enable a shift worker to work the whole or part of a subsequent shift in the absence of a worker who has failed to report for duty;

⁷[(iii) the total number of hours of work in a week, including overtime, shall not exceed sixty;]

⁹[(iv)] the total number of hours of overtime shall not exceed fifty for any one quarter.

Explanation.--"Quarter" means a period of three consecutive months beginning on the 1st of January, the 1st of April, the 1st of July or the 1st of October.]

(5) Rules made under this section shall remain in force for not more than ¹⁰[five years].