No young person shall be required to work in any establishment before 6a.m. and after 7 p.m.
19. Daily and weekly hours of work for young persons-- Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no young person shall be required or allowed to work in any establishment for more than seven hours in any day and forty- two hours in any week nor shall such person be allowed to work overtime.
CHAPTER V HEALTH AND SAFETY
20. Cleanliness-- The premises of every establishment shall be kept clean and free from effluvia arising from any drain or privy or other nuisance and shall be cleansed at such times and by such methods as may be prescribed; and these methods may include lime washing, colour washing, painting, varnishing, disinfecting and deodorising.
21. Ventilation-- The premises of every establishment shall be ventilated in accordance with such standards and by such methods as may be prescribed.
22. Lighting-- (1) The premises of every establishment shall be sufficiently lighted during all working hours.
(2) If it appears to an Inspector that the premises of any establishment within his jurisdiction is not sufficiently lighted or ventilated, he may serve on the employer an order in writing specifying the measures which, in his opinion, should be adopted and requiring them to be carried out before a specified date.
23. Precautions against fire-- In every establishment, such precautions against fire shall be taken as may be prescribed.
24. Appeal-- Against any order of the Inspector under this Chapter, an appeal shall lie to such authority and within such time as may be prescribed; and the decision of the appellate authority shall be final.
10
CHAPTER VI HOLIDAYS WITH WAGES
25. Holidays and sick leave-- (1) Every person employed in any establishment shall be entitled, after twelve months’ continuous service, to holidays with wages for a period of 12 days, in the subsequent period of twelve months:
Provided that such holidays with wages may be accumulated up to a maximum of 1[forty- five days].
Explanation— For the purposes of this sub-section any continuous period of service preceding the date on which this Act applies to any establishment shall also count, subject to a maximum period of twelve months.
(2) Every person employed in any establishment shall also be entitled during his first twelve months of continuous service after the commencement of this Act, and during every subsequent twelve months of such service, (a) to leave with wages for a period not exceeding 12 days, on the ground of any sickness incurred or accident sustained by him and (b) to casual leave with wages for a period not exceeding 12 days on any reasonable ground.
(3) If a person entitled to any holidays under sub-section (1) is discharged by his employer before he has been allowed the holidays, or if having applied for and been refused the holidays, he quits his employment before he has been allowed the holidays, the employer shall pay him the amount payable, under this Act in respect of the holidays.
(4) If a person entitled to any leave under sub- section (2) is discharged by his employer when he is sick or suffering from the result of an accident, the employer shall pay him the amount payable under this Act in respect of the period of the leave to which he was entitled at the time of his discharge, in addition to the amount, if any payable to him under sub-section (3).
(5) A person employed shall be deemed to have completed a period of twelve months’ continuous service within the meaning of this section, not withstanding any interruption in service during those twelve months brought about (i) by sickness, accident, or authorised leave (including authorised holidays) not exceeding ninety days in the aggregate for all three; or (ii) by a lock-out; (iii) by a strike which is not an illegal strike; or (iv) by intermittent periods of involuntary unemployment not exceeding thirty days in the aggregate and authorized leave shall be deemed not to include any weekly holiday or halfholiday allowed under this Act which occurs at the beginning or end of an interruption brought about by the leave.
Subs. vide G.O. Ms. No. 162, Labour and Employment (K2), dated 14th November, 2018 11
(6) A person employed in a hostel attached to a school or college or in an establishment maintained in a boarding school in connection with the boarding and lodging of pupils and resident masters shall be allowed the privileges referred to in sub- sections (1) to (5), reduced however proportionately to the period for which he was employed continuously in the previous year or to the period for which he will be employed continuously in the current year, as the case may be; and all references to periods of holidays or of leave in sub-sections
(1) and (2) shall be construed accordingly, fractions of less than one day being disregarded.
(7) The 1[State] Government shall have power to issue directions as to the manner in which the provisions of sub-section (6) shall be carried into effect in all or any class of cases or in any particular case.
26. Pay during annual holidays-- Every person employed shall, for the holidays or the period of leave allowed under sub- section (1) or (2) of section 25, be paid at a rate equivalent to the daily average of his wages for the days on which he actually worked during the preceding three months exclusive of any earnings in respect of overtime.
27. Power to increase the number of holidays-- Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 25, the 1[State] Government may, by notification, increase the total number of annual holidays and the maximum number of days up to which such holidays may be accumulated in respect of any establishment or class of establishments.
28. Power of Inspector to act for person employed-- Any Inspector may institute proceedings on behalf of any person employed to recover any sum required to be paid under this Chapter by an employer which he has not paid.
CHAPTER VII WAGES
29. Responsibility for payment of wages-- Every employer shall be responsible for the payment to persons employed by him of all wages and sums required to be paid under this act.
30. Fixation of wage period-- 1) Every employer shall fix periods (in this Act referred to as wage periods) in respect of which such wages shall be payable.
2) No wage period shall exceed one month.
31. Wages for overtime work-- Where any person employed in any establishment is required to work overtime, he shall be entitled, in respect of such overtime work, to wages at twice the ordinary rate of wages.
Explanation—For the purpose of this section, the expression “ordinary rate of wages” shall mean such rate of wages as may be calculated in the manner prescribed.
1 Subs. for “Provincial” by the Adaptation Order of 1950 12
32. Time of payment of wages-- 1) The wages of every person employed shall be paid before the expiry of the fifth day after the last day of the wage period in respect of which the wages are payable.
2) Where the employment of any person is terminated by or on behalf of the employer, the wages earned by such person shall be paid before the expiry of the second working day from the day on which his employment is terminated.
3) The 1[State] Government may, by general or special order, exempt an employer from the operation of this section in respect of the wages of any person employed or class of persons employed, to such extent and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order.
4) All payments of wages shall be made on a working day.
33. Wages to be paid in current coin or currency notes-- All wages shall be paid in current coin or currency notes or in both.
34. Deductions which may be made from wages-- 1) The wages of a person employed shall be paid to him without deductions of any kind except those authorised by or under this Act.
Explanation—Every payment made by a person employed to the employer shall, for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to be a deduction from wages.
2) Deduction from the wages of a person employed shall be made only in accordance with the provisions of this Act, and may be of the following kinds only, namely:
(a) fines;
(b) deductions for absence from duty;
(c) deductions for damage to, or loss of, goods expressly entrusted to the employed person for custody, or for loss of money for which he is required to account, where such damage or loss is directly attributable to his neglect or default;
(d) deductions for house accommodation supplied by the employer;
(e) deductions for such amenities and services supplied by the employer as the 1[State] Government may, by general or special order, authorise;
(f) deductions for recovery of advances or for adjustment of overpayments of wages;
(g) deductions of income-tax payable by the employed person;
(h) deductions required to be made by order of a Court or other authority competent to make such order;
1 Subs. for “Provincial” by the Adaptation Order of 1950 13
(i) deductions for subscription to, and for repayment of advances from, any provident fund to which the Provident Funds Act, 1952 applies or any recognized provident fund as defined in section 58A of the Indian Income Tax Act 1922, or any provident fund approved in this behalf by the 1[State] Government during the continuance of such approval;
(j) deductions for payments to co-operative societies approved in this behalf by the 1[State] Government or to a scheme of insurance maintained by the Indian Post Office or by any insurance company approved in this behalf by the 1[State] Government;
(k) deductions made with the written authorisation of the employed person in furtherance of any savings scheme approved by the 1[State] Government for the purchase of securities of the Central or 1[State] Government.
35. Fines—(1) No fine shall be imposed on any person employed save in respect of such acts and omissions on his part as the employer, with the previous approval of the 1[State] Government or of the prescribed authority, may have specified by notice under sub-section (2).
(2) A notice specifying such acts and omissions shall be exhibited in the prescribed manner on the premises in which the employment is carried on.
(3) No fine shall be imposed on any person employed until he has been given an opportunity of showing cause against the fine, or otherwise than in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed for the imposition of fines.
(4) The total amount of fine which may be imposed in any one wage period on any person employed shall not exceed an amount equal to half an anna in the rupee of the wages payable to him in respect of that wage period.
(5) No fine shall be imposed on any person employed who has not completed fifteenth year.
(6) No fine imposed on any person employed shall be recovered from him after the expiry of sixty days from the day on which it was imposed.
(7) Every fine shall be deemed to have been imposed on the day of the act or omission in respect of which it was imposed.
(8) All fines and realizations thereof shall be recorded in a register to be kept by the employer in such form as may be prescribed; and all such realization shall be applied only to such purposes beneficial to the persons employed in the establishment as are approved by the prescribed authority.
Explanation—When the persons employed are part only of a staff employed under the same management, all such realizations may be credited to a common fund maintained for the staff as a whole, provided that the fund shall be applied only to such purposes as are approved by the prescribed authority.
1 Subs. for “Provincial” by the Adaptation Order of 1950 14
36. Deductions for absence from duty—(1) Deductions may be under clause
(b) of sub-section (2) of section 34 only on account of the absence of an employed person from the place or places where, by the terms of his employment, he is required to work, such absence being for the whole or any part of the period during which he is so required to work.
(2) The amount of such deduction shall in no case bear to the wages payable to the employed person in respect of the wage period for which the deduction is made, a larger proportion than the period for which he was absent bears to the total period, within such wage period during which by the terms of his employment, he was required to work:
Provided that, subject to any rules made in this behalf by the 1[State] Government, if ten or more employed persons acting in concert absent themselves without due notice (that is to say, without giving the notice which is required under the terms of their contract of employment) and without reasonable cause such deduction from any such person may include such amount not exceeding his wages for eight days as may by any such terms be due to the employer in lieu of due notice.
Explanation—For the purposes of this section, an employed person shall be deemed to be absent from the place where he is required to work, if, although present in such place, he refuses, in pursuance of a stay-in-strike or for any other cause which is not reasonable in the circumstances, to carry out his work.