Continuous service under labour law includes paid holidays and weekly rests when counting 240 days for retrenchment protection.

For computing continuous service under Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, the phrase "actually worked under the employer" is not limited to days of physical labour. It includes Sundays, paid weekly rests, and other paid holidays where the workman remained in employment and received wages under contract or by operation of law. The Explanation to Section 25-B(2) is clarificatory and cannot be used to narrow the main provision. This construction preserves the protective purpose of Section 25-F, under which completion of 240 days supports retrenchment protection.

---

---

Issues: Whether Sundays and other paid holidays are to be included while reckoning the days on which a workman has "actually worked under the employer" for the purpose of continuous service under Section 25-F read with Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act.

Analysis: Section 25-F grants protection against retrenchment to a workman who has completed continuous service for not less than one year, and Section 25-B deems such service to exist where the workman has actually worked for 240 days in the relevant period. The expression "actually worked under the employer" was held not to be confined to days of physical labour alone, but to include days during which the workman remained in employment and was paid wages under contract or by force of law, including paid weekly rests and holidays. The Explanation to Section 25-B(2) was treated as clarificatory and not as limiting the scope of the main provision. A narrow construction would defeat the protective object of the section.

Conclusion: Sundays and paid holidays are to be counted towards the 240 days required for deemed continuous service, and the workman satisfied the statutory condition for retrenchment protection.

Ratio Decidendi: For computing "continuous service" under Section 25-B, the phrase "actually worked under the employer" includes paid holidays and other days in which the workman remained in employment and received wages, because the Explanation is clarificatory and cannot narrow the main provision.

---