Goa proposes amendments to factories act on work hours and overtime

Introduction

The Goa Legislative Assembly has recently introduced the Factories (Goa Amendment) Bill, 2025, marking a significant development in the state’s labour law landscape. This Bill seeks to amend the Factories Act, 1948 as applicable in Goa, with a focus on providing employers greater flexibility in managing work hours and overtime.

The proposed changes are centred around two main provisions. Firstly, the daily working hour limit under Section 54 is proposed to be increased from nine hours to ten hours, allowing industries to adjust daily schedules in line with operational needs. Secondly, the overtime ceiling under Section 65(3)(iv) is proposed to rise from 125 hours to 144 hours per quarter, offering companies additional leeway to accommodate fluctuating workloads, seasonal demand spikes, and production surges without violating statutory limits.

Impact on Employers and Industries

For employers, particularly those in sectors with variable or seasonal production cycles such as manufacturing, tourism-linked industries, and agro-based units, these amendments provide a clear operational advantage. Companies can now better align workforce deployment with demand fluctuations, reduce the pressure of strict statutory caps, and optimize productivity without breaching daily or quarterly limits.

The amendments signal a thoughtful attempt to balance the needs of businesses with the welfare of employees, reflecting Goa’s broader ease of doing business agenda.

Safeguards and Compliance Requirements

However, these changes do not remove existing labour protections. Weekly maximum working hours and mandatory rest intervals remain unchanged, ensuring that employees’ basic rights and well-being are safeguarded.

Employers will need to maintain accurate tracking of work hours and overtime, ensuring that all extra hours are compensated at the legally prescribed rates. Transparent overtime management and meticulous documentation will be essential to avoid disputes, inspections, or penalties, making compliance discipline more important than ever.

Strategic Implications

From a strategic perspective, the amendments offer a dual advantage: they enhance operational flexibility for industries while maintaining essential safeguards for workers. By permitting longer daily work hours and a higher quarterly overtime limit, Goa is positioning itself as a more industry-friendly destination without compromising on statutory protections. For businesses, this represents an opportunity to achieve operational efficiency, but it requires careful planning, diligent record-keeping, and strict adherence to labour laws to fully capitalize on the proposed benefits.