Section 59
Rest day
Every employee shall be allowed in each week a rest day of one whole day as may be determined from time to time by the employer, and where an employee is allowed more than one rest day in a week the last of such rest days shall be the rest day for the purposes of this Part:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply during the period in which the employee is on maternity leave as provided under section 37, or on sick leave as provided under section 60f, or during the period of temporary disablement under the Workmen’s
Compensation Act 1952 [Act 273], or under the Employees’ Social
Security Act 1969.
(1a)
Notwithstanding subsection (1) and interpretation of the expression “day” in subsection 2(1), in the case of an employee engaged in shift work any continuous period of not less than thirty hours shall constitute a rest day.
(1b)
Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Director General, on a written application by an employer and subject to any conditions he may deem fit to impose, may permit the employer to grant the rest day for each week on any day of the month in which the rest days fall and the day so granted shall be deemed to be the employee’s rest day for the purposes of this section.
(2)
The employer shall prepare a roster before the commencement of the month in which the rest days fall informing the employee of the days appointed to be his rest days therein, and where the same day in each week has been appointed as the rest day for all employees in the place of employment, the employer may, in lieu of preparing a roster, display a notice at a conspicuous place in the place of employment informing the employee of the fixed rest day so appointed.
(3)
Every such roster and every particular recorded therein shall be preserved and shall be made available for inspection for a period not exceeding six years from the last day of the month in respect of which the roster was prepared or cause to be prepared.
(4)
Any employer who contravenes any of the provisions of this section commits an offence.
WJW23/0686 Act 265.indd 50 04/10/2023 5:25 PM
Employment 51