Attendance and shifts · verified August 2026

What is Weekly off?

Also called rest day, weekly holiday.

Definition

A weekly off is the statutory day of rest an employee is entitled to in each week. It is a requirement rather than a benefit an employer grants, and working through it triggers obligations.

How it works

The weekly off is one of the oldest protections in Indian labour law, and the associated rules cover not only that a day of rest is given but how far apart the days may fall and what happens when somebody is required to work on theirs.

What it means in India

Section 52 of the Factories Act 1948 governs weekly holidays for factories, including the conditions for substituting a different day and the limit on consecutive working days. State Shops and Establishments Acts carry their own weekly off provisions for shops and commercial establishments, with the day, the substitution rules and the pay consequences differing between states.

What people get wrong

Rotating the weekly off without observing the limit on consecutive working days between rests.
Paying for the day worked without granting the substituted holiday where the applicable act requires one.

Terms this one depends on

Compensatory off. Compensatory off is a substitute day of rest granted to an employee who worked on their weekly off or on a holiday, given instead of, or sometimes alongside, extra pay.Shift roster. A shift roster is the published schedule of who works which shift on which day. It is what turns a shift pattern into something staff can plan around and a supervisor can be held to.Overtime. Overtime is work beyond the statutory daily or weekly limit, and in India the central labour statutes that prescribe an overtime rate set it at twice the ordinary rate of wages.

More on attendance and shifts

Attendance register Muster roll Biometric attendance Geofencing Proxy attendance Night shift allowance

Where this shows up in practice

Almost everything on this page ends up as a line on a payslip or a figure in a register. Shiftelio keeps attendance, leave, salary structure and the statutory deductions in one place, so the number in the letter and the number in the payslip come from the same record.

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This entry was written and checked in August 2026 for Indian employers. It is general information, not legal or tax advice. Statutory thresholds, contribution rates and slab tables are revised from time to time, and several of the rules described here come from state legislation that genuinely differs between states, so check the position that applies to your own establishment before acting. If you believe anything here is inaccurate, write to support@shiftelio.com and we will correct it.