Working Hours explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Rules 6 to 10 of the Code on Wages (Bihar) Rules, 2026 say what counts as a normal working day, when work becomes overtime, how the weekly rest day is given and paid, how a shift running past midnight is treated, and what the longer wage period is. These are the rules a payroll head in Bihar needs when building a duty roster and an overtime sheet.
The rules are the Code on Wages (Bihar) Rules, 2026, as notified on 30 June 2026 and published in the Bihar Gazette (Extraordinary) No. Patna 696 of 1 July 2026. Rule 6 caps work at forty-eight hours in a week and treats work beyond the daily limit for the week pattern as overtime. Rule 6(12) bars overtime for more than seven days at a stretch and caps it at one hundred and forty-four hours in a quarter, with the employee's written consent. Rule 10 fixes the longer wage period as the month.
Later amendments and State notifications under these rules should be checked in the State Gazette. Rule 1(3) says the rules come into force "from the date of publication in official Gazette". A payroll compliance audit is the quickest way to test an existing roster against them.
The normal working day (rule 6)
Rule 6(1) provides that no employee shall be required or allowed to work in an establishment for more than forty-eight hours in a week. The daily limit that triggers overtime depends on how many days the establishment works:
| Working week | Overtime begins after (exclusive of interval of rest) | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Daily basis (worker on daily basis) | Eight hours in a day | 6(2) |
| Six days | Eight hours in a day, or forty-eight hours in a week | 6(3) |
| Five days | Nine and half hours in a day, or forty-eight hours in a week | 6(4) |
| Four days | Eleven and a half hours in a day, or forty-eight hours in a week | 6(5) |
Rule 6(6) requires the period of work to be arranged so that, inclusive of the interval for rest, it does not spread over more than twelve hours in a day. Rule 6(7) allows flexibility in working hours with the consent of the negotiating union or negotiating council, or with the consent of the employee or worker where there is none. Rule 6(8) provides that no one may work more than five hours in a six-day week, or six hours in a week of fewer than six days, continuously before an interval for rest of at least half an hour. For agricultural employment, sub-rules (1) to (7) are subject to modifications the State Government determines from time to time (rule 6(9)).
The Central rule on the same subject is explained in our post on rules 4 and 5 of the Central Rules, covering hours of work. The Bihar text prints the five-day and four-day limits and the twelve-hour spread-over in rule 6 itself.
Short days, closure days and overtime (rule 6(10) to (12))
Where an employed person has worked for less than a normal working day, wages proportionate to the hours worked are paid. If the person worked more than three quarters of a normal working day, he is deemed to have worked the full day, subject to the proviso in section 10 of the Code. A second proviso says that where a worker is engaged on a monthly basis and the establishment is closed for a national or festive holiday, Labour Day, or for reasons personal to the employer, the worker is paid wages for twenty-six days in the month, except for any day on which the worker is unwilling to work.
Rule 6(11) says an employee is not entitled to wages for a full normal day under section 10 if he is not entitled to such wage under any other labour law in force.
Rule 6(12) is the overtime guardrail. No employee or worker may be allowed to work overtime for more than seven days at a stretch. The total hours of overtime in any quarter shall not exceed one hundred and forty-four hours. And overtime is worked only on the written consent of the employee or worker. The rules give no separate rate here; the Code governs the overtime rate, and rule 7(4) uses the phrase "overtime rate" when it deals with work on a rest day.
The weekly day of rest (rule 7)
Under rule 7(1), an employee is allowed one day of rest or more every week. In a six-day week it is ordinarily Sunday; in a week of fewer than six days it includes Saturday and Sunday; the employer may fix other days for any employee or class. The remaining days of the week are paid rest days. The employee must have worked under the same employer for a continuous period of not less than six days (or the stipulated number of working days in a shorter week) to be entitled. The employee must be told of the rest days, and of any change before it is made, by a notice at a conspicuous place in the place of employment.
For counting the continuous period, three kinds of day are deemed to be days worked: a day of attendance with an allowance but no work provided, a day of lay-off with compensation under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, and any leave or holiday, with or without pay, granted in the period.
Work on a rest day needs a substituted rest day for a whole day on one of the working days in the week immediately before or after the rest day (rule 7(2)). No substitution may result in more than ten days of consecutive work without a whole-day rest. Under rule 7(4), rest-day wages are calculated at the rate for the next preceding day, and an employee who works on the rest day and is given a substituted rest day is paid for the rest day worked at the overtime rate and for the substituted rest day at the rate applicable to the next preceding day. The proviso removes the rest-day payment where the minimum daily rate, or the actual daily rate, has been worked out by dividing the monthly rate by twenty-six; in that case the rest-day worker gets only the overtime-rate amount for the day worked. A dispute on whether the daily rate was worked out properly is decided by the Assistant Labour Commissioner having jurisdiction after written representations. For piece-rate employees, the State Government determines the rest-day wages. Rule 7(5) preserves more favourable terms under any other law, award, agreement or contract.
A "week" for this rule means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night.
The Central position is in our post on rule 6 of the Central Rules, the weekly day of rest.
Night shifts, special categories and the longer wage period (rules 8 to 10)
Rule 8 deals with a shift that extends beyond midnight. A whole-day rest means twenty-four consecutive hours beginning from the time the shift ends, and the hours after midnight are counted towards the previous day.
Rule 9 covers employees engaged in an emergency that could not have been foreseen or prevented, in preparatory or complementary work that must be carried on outside the general limits, in essentially intermittent employment, in work that for technical reasons must be completed before the duty is over, and in work dependent on the irregular action of natural forces. For them, rules 6, 7 and 8 apply subject to two conditions: the spread-over shall not exceed 16 hours in any day, and actual hours of work, excluding rest intervals and periods of inaction while on duty but not required to perform physical activity, shall not exceed eight hours in any day.
Rule 10 says the longer wage period for minimum wages under section 14 shall be by the month. See also rules 7 to 9 of the Central Rules on night shifts and the longer wage period.
A worked example
Bihar Agro Pack Ltd runs a packing unit in Muzaffarpur on a six-day week. A worker finishes an eight-hour shift and is asked to stay for two more hours. Under rule 6(3) those two hours are overtime, and under rule 6(12) the company needs the worker's written consent. The company must also track that the worker has not done overtime for more than seven days at a stretch and that quarterly overtime stays within one hundred and forty-four hours. If the worker is called on the rest day, the company must give a substituted rest day within the week before or after and pay as rule 7(4) says. Wages are kept in the register in Form IV, covered in our article on registers, wage slip and forms.
Need help with Bihar payroll and overtime rules?
A payroll that mixes old shift practices with the new rule 6 limits can leave overtime unrecorded or unconsented. Our payroll compliance audit can test your roster, overtime sheet and rest-day payments against the Bihar text.
Key takeaways
- Rule 6 caps work at forty-eight hours in a week; the daily trigger for overtime differs for six-, five- and four-day weeks.
- Overtime needs written consent, cannot run beyond seven days at a stretch and is capped at one hundred and forty-four hours in a quarter (rule 6(12)).
- Rule 7 requires a notified weekly rest day and a substituted rest day when an employee works on it, within the periods printed.
- Rule 8 counts after-midnight hours to the previous day; rule 9 allows a sixteen-hour spread-over for listed categories.
- Rule 10 fixes the longer wage period as the month.
Read next
- Code on Wages (Bihar) Rules, 2026: the notification, commencement and calculation of minimum wages
- Code on Wages (Bihar) Rules, 2026: payment of wages, deductions, fines and advances
- OSH (Bihar) Rules, 2026: working hours, weekly holidays, compensatory leave and overtime
- Rule 6 of the Central Rules: weekly day of rest
Disclaimer: Based on the State or Union territory rules named above, as notified under the Labour Codes and consulted on 4 October 2026. Later amendments, State notifications, fees and forms should be checked in the State Gazette and on the State labour department website. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.