- (1.) THE petitioner company is a factory, within the meaning of the Factories Act, 1948. The service conditions of the workmen, employed in the factory of the petitioner company, are governed by a set of Standing Orders, certified under the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 from which three relevant clauses are set out below:-"clause 3. Acceptance of Standing Orders. All workmen engaged in the factory are subject to the following conditions of service and shall be deemed to have accepted them on accepting employment. Clause 8. Manner of Notification of Periods of Hours of Work. The periods of hours of work for a worker shall be displayed at the Time-keeper's office and shall be as the management from time to time decide, after notifying the workers or the Union of the proposed change and considering the objections, if any, preferred by the workers or the Union. Clause 9. Manner of Notification of Holidays and Pay-Days. Notices specifying (a) those days to be observed as holidays with or without pay, (b) Pay days as required by the Factories Act and Payment of Wages Act shall be displayed at the Time-keeper's Office. "
(2.) THE workmen in the petitioners' factory get their wages calculated on hourly basis for all working days, excepting for those days which are covered by leave or holidays.
(3.) CHAPTER VI of the Factories Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) deals with working hours for adult workmen. Under section 51 of the said Act: "no adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week. " Under section 52 of the said Act: " (1) No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory on the first day of the week (hereinafter referred to as the said day), unless- (a) he has or will have a holiday for a whole day on one of the three days immediately before or after the said day, and (b) the manager of the factory has, before the said day or the substituted day under cl. (a) whichever is earlier,- (1) delivered a notice at the office of Inspector of his intention to require the worker to work on the said day and of the day which is to be substituted, and (ii) displayed a notice to that effect in the factory: Provided that no substitution shall be made which will result in any worker working for more than ten days consecutively without a holiday for a whole day. (2) Notice given under subsection (1) may be cancelled by a notice delivered at the, office of the Inspector and a notice displayed in the factory not later than the day before the said day or the holiday to be cancelled whichever is earlier. (3) Where in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1), any worker works on the said day and has a holiday on one of three days immediately before it, the said day shall, for the purpose of calculating his weekly hours of work, be included in the preceding week. ";