Factories Act 1961

99 Employment of male young persons in shifts in certain industries

(1) In the industries and processes to which this section applies male young persons who have attained the age of sixteen may be employed on a system of shifts outside the hours specified in this Part of this Act as the beginning and the end of the period of employment of such persons, if the employment is on work which is by reason of the nature of the process required to be carried on continuously day and night and the conditions specified in subsection (3) of this section and such other conditions as the Minister may for the purpose of safeguarding the welfare and interests of those persons by regulations direct are complied with.

(2) The period of employment for any such shift may end on Sunday morning not later than six o'clock or begin on Sunday evening not earlier than ten o'clock, and where the young persons are employed on a system of four shifts with turns of not more than eight hours for each shift, they may be employed in such shifts between six o'clock in the morning and ten o'clock in the evening on Sundays.

(3) The conditions to be complied with in any employment authorised by this section shall include the following:—

(a) the number of turns worked by any young person shall not exceed six in any week;

(b) the interval between successive turns of any young person shall not be less than fourteen hours; and

(c) no young person shall, in two consecutive weeks, be employed between midnight and six o'clock in the morning;

but the Minister may by regulations modify the conditions contained in this subsection as respects young persons employed on a system of four shifts and young persons employed in the manufacture of glass.

(4) A young person who is taken into employment in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section in any factory and has been examined by the appointed factory doctor and certified by him as fit for the employment in accordance with regulations under section one hundred and eighteen of this Act shall be re-examined at such intervals not exceeding six months as may be prescribed by the regulations.

(5) Male young persons who have attained the age of sixteen may, in the industries and processes to which this section applies, be employed on weekdays between six o'clock in the morning and ten o'clock in the evening on a system of shifts, subject to the conditions specified in subsection (3) of this section and such other conditions as the Minister may, for the purpose of safeguarding their welfare and interests, by regulations direct.

(6) The hours worked by young persons employed in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section may exceed forty-eight in any week, but shall not exceed fifty-six in any week nor one hundred and forty-four in any period of three weeks.

(7) The provisions of this Part of this Act with respect to the overtime employment of women and young persons shall not apply to any young persons employed in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this section.

(8) The industries and processes to which this section applies are—

• the smelting of iron ore ;

• the manufacture of wrought iron, steel or tin-plate ;

• processes in which reverberatory or regenerative furnaces, necessarily kept in operation day and night in order to avoid waste of material and fuel, are used in connection with the smelting of ores, metal rolling, forges, or the manufacture of metal tubes or rods, or in connection with such other classes of work as may be specified by regulations of the Minister;

• the galvanising of sheet metal or wire (except the pickling process);

• the manufacture of paper;

• the manufacture of glass.