Hours of Work & terms applicable to under the Employment Act Part IV (Part 1)

Hi, today I will be covering some of the terms that are applicable to employees covered under Part IV of the Employment Act. Before diving in, we need to understand some of the definitions first.

Firstly, for employees that are covered under Part IV, their work hours are regulated and he/she is entitled for breaks, overtime (OT) pay and rest days.

So who are applicable to Part IV? Basically, a workman who earns a basic not more than $4500 per month or a non-workman who is covered under the Employment Act and earning a basic of less than $2600 per month.

With that in mind, it is time to understand the terms and definition of the terms spelled out in the Employment Act:

1. Week - A continuous period of 7 days commencing at midnight on a Sunday (Monday to Sunday).

2. Hours of Work - the period during which employee is to carry out duties assigned to him/her. This does not include any intervals allowed for rest, meal-break or tea-break.

3. Break times - employees shall not be required to work for more than 6 consecutive hours without a break. If nature of work requires consecutive work for up to 8 hours, breaks must be provided for meals and last for at least 45 minutes.

4. Normal hours of work - these are contractually agreed working hours spelt out in the contract of service where both employee and employer have agreed to.

5. Maximum hours of work - employee shall not be allowed to work more than 12 hours a day. There are exceptions to this, and these are special circumstances such as:

   1. Accident or threat of accident

   2. Work essential to national security or defense

   3. Urgent work to be done to plants and machineries

   4. An interruption of work that was impossible to foresee

6. Working more than 12 hours per day - employers must apply for overtime extension, up to maximum of 14 hours.

7. Maximum hours of OT - an employee can work up to 72 hours of OT per month. If there is need to work more than 72 hours of OT, employers may apply for exemption. Work on rest days and public holidays is not counted in the limit, except for work done beyond usual working hours on those days.

8. Rest days - employers should determine the rest days in advance and inform the employee before the start of the month. Employers cannot compel the employee to work on the rest day unless there are exception circumstances. Employers must provide at least 1 rest day per week and it is not a paid day. In case of shift workers, the rest day can be a continuous period of 30 hours.
   

That's it for Part 1. I will be explaining the rest of the terms in the next part. Feel free to comment and share any thoughts!