Compliances of Charitable Trusts under Labour Laws

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The Government may by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint any Commissioner for Workmen's Compensation Act or other officer with experience as a Judge of a Civil Court or as a Stipendiary Magistrate to be the authority to hear and decide all claims arising out of delayed payment or non-payment of earned wages of an employee employed in any establishment.
(2) Application for any such claim may be made to the authority appointed under sub-section (1) by the employee himself or any Official of a registered trade union authorized in writing to act on his behalf or any legal practitioner or the Chief Inspector for a direction under sub-section (3):

Provided that every such application should be presented within one year from the date the claim for such wages has become payable under this Act:

Provided further that an application may be admitted after the said period of one year when the applicant satisfies the authority that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within such period.
(3) When any application under sub-section (2) is entertained, the authority shall hear the applicant and the employer, or give them an opportunity of being heard and after such further enquiry, if any, as it may consider necessary may without prejudice to any other penalty to which employer may be liable under this Act, direct the payment to the employee of the amount due to him together with the payment of such compensation as the authority may think fit, not exceeding half the amount so due or Rs. 100, whichever is less.
(4) If the authority hearing any application under this section is satisfied that it was either malicious or vexatious, it may direct that a penalty not exceeding hundred rupees be paid to the employer by the person presenting the application.
(5) Any amount directed to be paid under this section may be recovered:

(a) if the authority is a magistrate, by the authority as if it was a fine imposed by the authority as a magistrate, or
(b) if the authority is not a magistrate, by any magistrate to whom the authority makes application in this behalf, as if it were a fine imposed by such magistrate.
(6) Every direction of the authority under this section shall be final.
(7)
Every authority appointed under sub-section (1) shall have all powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) for the purpose of taking evidence and of enforcing the attendance of witnesses and compelling the production of documents, and every such authority shall be deemed to be a civil court for all the purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXXV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898).




Comments
Jurisdiction of the Authority

If an employee works for extra hours voluntarily and without any direction by the management, the claim for overtime will not be admissible; Bhandari Builders Pvt. Ltd. v. M.K. Seth, 1988 (15) DRJ 77 (SN).



22.
Leave

(1)

Every person employed in an establishment shall be entitled :

(a) after every twelve months', continuous employment, to privilege leave for a total period of not less than fifteen days;

(b) in every year, to sickness or casual leave for a total period of not less than twelve days;

Provided that

(i)

an employee who has completed a period of four months in continuous employment, shall be entitled to not less than five days privilege leave for every such completed period; and

(ii) an employee who has completed a period of one month in continuous employment, shall be entitled to not less than one day's casual leave for every month.

Provided further that a watchman or caretaker who has completed a period of twelve months in continuous employment and to whom the provisions of Section 8, 10, 11, 13 and 17 do not apply by virtue of an exemption granted under Section 4, shall be entitled to not less than thirty days' privilege leave.
(1A)
(i)

Privilege leave to which an employee is entitled under clause (a) of sub-section (1) or under any such law, contract, custom or usage, award, settlement or agreement as is referred to in section 3, or any part of such leave, if not availed of by such employee, shall be added to the privilege leave in respect of any succeeding period to which he is so entitled, so however, the total period of such privilege leave which may be accumulated by such employee shall not at anyone time exceed three times the period of privilege leave to which he is entitled after every twelve months' employment under that clause or under such law, contract, custom or usage, award, settlement or agreement.

(ii) Leave admissible under clause (b) of sub-section (1) shall not be accumulated].
(2) If an employee entitled to leave under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of this section is discharged by his employer before he has been allowed the leave, or if, having applied for and having been refused the leave, he quits his employment before he has been allowed the leave, the employer shall pay him full wages for the period of leave due to him.





23.
Wages during Leave

Every employee shall be paid for the period of his leave 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 but inclusive of dearness allowance.





24.
Contracting Out

Any contract or agreement, whether made before or after the commencement of the Delhi Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 1970, whereby an employee relinquishes any right conferred by this Act, shall be null and void in so far as it purports to deprive him of such right.



Comments
Under section 24 no contract or agreement can be made by an employee with his employer by which he purports to relinquish any right conferred on him by this Act and if such a contract or agreement is made, it would be null and void. In other words, this section makes a contract or agreement under which an employee relinquishes any right conferred by this Act, null and void to the extent it purports to deprive him of the right. A workman will not be legally bound by the contents of the receipt for full and final settlement executed by him if he is waiving any legal dues; Bhandari Builders Pvt. Ltd. v. M.K. Seth, 1988 (15) DRJ 77 (SN).



25
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 cleaned at such times and by such methods as may be prescribed. These methods may include lime washing, colour washing, painting and disinfecting.




26.
Lighting and ventilation

(1)

The premises of every establishment shall be kept sufficiently lighted and ventilated during all working hours.
(2) Suitable arrangements shall be made for supply of drinking water to the employees.




27.
Power to enforce cleanliness, etc.



If it appears to an Inspector that the premises of any establishment within his jurisdiction are not sufficiently lighted, cleaned 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 date specified in the order.
The Government may prescribe standards in respect of any of these matters.

Advocate Siddhant Sharma LawRato