67. Prohibition of employment of young children.—No child who has not completed his fourteenth
year shall be required or allowed to work in any factory.
68. Non-adult workers to carry tokens.—A child who has completed his fourteenth year or an
adolescent shall not be required or allowed to work in any factory unless—
(a) a certificate of fitness granted with reference to him under section 69 is in the custody of the
manager of the factory, and
(b) such child or adolescent carries while he is at work a token giving a reference to such
certificate.
69. Certificates of fitness.—(1) A certifying surgeon shall, on the application of any young person
or his parent or guardian accompanied by a document signed by the manager of a factory that such person
will be employed therein if certified to be fit for work in a factory, or on the application of the manager of
the factory in which any young person wishes to work, examine such person and ascertain his fitness for
work in a factory.
(2) The certifying surgeon, after examination, may grant to such young person, in the prescribed
form, or may renew—
(a) a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as a child, if he is satisfied that the young person
has completed his fourteenth year, that he has attained the prescribed physical standards and that he is
fit for such work;
(b) a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult, if he is satisfied that the young person
has completed his fifteenth year, and is fit for a full day's work in a factory:
Provided that unless the certifying surgeon has personal knowledge of the place where the young
person proposes to work and of the manufacturing process in which he will be employed, he shall not
grant or renew a certificate under this sub-section until he has examined such place.
(3) A certificate of fitness granted or renewed under sub-section (2)—
(a) shall be valid only for a period of twelve months from the date thereof:
(b) may be made subject to conditions in regard to the nature of the work in which the young
person may be employed, or requiring re-examination of the young person before the expiry of the
period of twelve months.
(4) A certifying surgeon shall revoke any certificate granted or renewed under sub-section (2) if in his
opinion the holder of it is no longer fit to work in the capacity stated therein in a factory.
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(5) Where a certifying surgeon refuses to grant or renew a certificate or a certificate of the kind
requested or revokes a certificate, he shall, if so requested by any person who could have applied for the
certificate or the renewal thereof, state his reasons in writing for so doing.
(6) Where a certificate under this section with reference to any young person is granted or renewed
subject to such conditions as are referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (3), the young person shall not be
required or allowed to work in any factory except in accordance with those conditions.
(7) Any fee payable for a certificate under this section shall be paid by the occupier and shall not be
recoverable from the young person, his parents or guardian.
70. Effect of certificate of fitness granted to adolescent.—(1) An adolescent who has been granted
a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 69,
and who while at work in a factory carries a token giving reference to the certificate, shall be deemed to
be an adult for all the purposes of Chapter VI and VIII.
1*** * *
2
[(1A) No female adolescent or a male adolescent who has not attained the age of seventeen years but
who has been granted a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult, shall be required or allowed
to work in any factory except between 6 A.M. and 7 P.M.:
Provided that the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazelle, in respect of any
factory or group or class or description of factories,—
(i) vary the limits laid down in this sub-section so, however, that no such section shall authorise
the employment of any female adolescent between 10 P.M. and 5 A.M.
(ii) grant exemption from the provisions of this sub-section in case of serious emergency where
national interest is involved.]
(2) An adolescent who has not been granted a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult
under the aforesaid clause (b) shall, notwithstanding his age, be deemed to be a child for all the purposes
of this Act.
71. Working hours for children.—(1) No child shall be employed or permitted to work, in any
factory—
(a) for more than four and a half hours in any day;
3
[(b) during the night.
Explanation.—For the purpose of this sub-section “night” shall mean a period of at least twelve
consecutive hours which shall include the interval between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M.]
(2) The period of work of all children employed in a factory shall be limited to two shifts which shall
not overlap or spread over more than five hours each; and each child shall be employed in only one of the
relays which shall not, except with the previous permission in writing of the Chief Inspector, be changed
more frequently than once in a period of thirty days.
(3) The provisions of section 52 shall apply also to child workers and no exemption from the
provisions of that section may be granted in respect of any child.
(4) No child shall be required or allowed to work in any factory on any day on which he has already
been working in another factory.
4
[(5) No female child shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between 8 A.M.
and 7 P.M.]
72. Notice of periods of work for children.—(1) There shall be displayed and correctly maintained
in every factory in which children are employed, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of
1. The proviso and the Explanation omitted by Act 20 of 1987, s. 22 (w.e.f. 1-12-1987).
2. Ins. by Act 20 of 1957, s. 22 (w.e.f. 1-12-1987).
3. Subs. by Act 25 of 1954, s. 19, for clause (b) (w.e.f. 7-5-1954).
4. Ins. by Act 20 of 1957, s. 23 (w.e.f. 1-12-1987).
40
section 108 a notice of periods of work for children, showing clearly for every day the periods during
which children may be required or allowed to work.
(2) The periods shown in the notice required by sub-section (1) shall be fixed beforehand in
accordance with the method laid down for adult workers in section 61, and shall be such that children
working for those periods would not be working in contravention of any of the provisions of section 71.
(3) The provisions of sub-sections (8), (9) and (10) of section 61 shall apply also to the notice
required by sub-section (1) of this section.
73. Register of child workers.—(1) The manager of every factory in which children are employed
shall maintain a register of child workers, to be available to the Inspector at all times during working
hours or when any work is being carried on in a factory, showing—
(a) the name of each child worker in the factory,
(b) the nature of his work,
(c) the group, if any, in which he is included,
(d) where his group works on shifts, the relay to which he is allotted, and
(e) the number of his certificate of fitness granted under section 69.
1
[(1A) No child worker shall be required or allowed to work in any factory unless his name and other
particulars have been entered in the register of child workers.]
(2) The State Government may prescribe the form of the register of child workers, the manner in
which it shall be maintained and the period for which it shall be preserved.
74. Hours of work to correspond with notice under section 72 and register under section 73.—
No child worker shall be employed in any factory otherwise than in accordance with the notice of periods
of work for children displayed in the factory and the entries made beforehand against his name in the
register of child workers of the factory.
75. Power to require medical examination.—Where an Inspector is of opinion—
(a) that any person working in a factory without a certificate of fitness is a young person, or
(b) that a young person working in a factory with a certificate of fitness is no longer fit to work in
the capacity stated therein,
he may serve on the manager of the factory a notice requiring that such person or young person, as the
case may be, shall be examined by a certifying surgeon, and such person or young person shall not, if the
Inspector so directs, be employed, or permitted to work, in any factory until he has been so examined and
has been granted a certificate of fitness or a fresh certificate of fitness, as the case may be, under
section 69, or has been certified by the certifying surgeon examining him not to be a young person.
76. Power to make rules.—The State Government may make rules—
(a) prescribing the forms of certificates of fitness to be granted under section 69, providing for
the grant of duplicates in the event of toss of the original certificates, and fixing the fees which may
be charged for such certificates and renewals thereof and such duplicates;
(b) prescribing the physical standards to be attained by children and adolescents working in
factories;
(c) regulating the procedure of certifying surgeons under this Chapter;
(d) specifying other duties which certifying surgeons may be required to perform in connection
with the employment of young persons in factories, and fixing the fees which may be charged for
such duties and the persons by whom they shall be payable.
1. Ins. by Act 94 of 1976, s. 30 (w.e.f. 26-10-1976).
41
77. Certain other provisions of law not barred.—The provisions of this Chapter shall be in
addition to, and not in derogation of, the provisions of the Employment of Children
Act, 1938 (26 of 1938).