Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2019

The Preliminary Draft Rules under Section 67 of the Code on Wages, 2019

F. No S-32017/01/2019 – WC
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment

Shram Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi
Date: 01st November, 2019

NOTE

Subject: The Preliminary Draft Rules under Section 67 of the Code on Wages, 2019- reg.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has prepared a preliminary draft rule under Section 67 of the Code on Wages, 2019.

2. The draft Central rule is hereby placed on the Ministry’s website for inviting inputs/ comments/ suggestions of various stakeholders including general public.

3. It has been decided to receive the inputs/ comments/ suggestions within a period of one month from the date of its upload on the website and the same may be addressed to Rajiv Ranian(raiiv.rania76@eov.inV Deputy Director, and Bikash Kumar Malick (malick.bikash@gov.inL Assistant Director, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India.

(Bikash Kumar Malick)
Assistant Director

[TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETE OF INDIA,
EXTRAORDINARY, PART ii, SECTION 3, SUB-SECTION (ii)]

Government of India
Ministry of Labour and Employment

Notification

New Delhi, the , 2019

S.O (E).- The following draft rules, which the Central Government proposes to make in exercise of the powers conferred under section 67 of the Code on Wages, 2019 read with section 24 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897) and in supersession of the rules made by the Central Government under the enactments repealed by the said Code, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession are hereby notified, as required by sub-section (1) of section 67, for information of all persons likely to be affected thereby and the notice is hereby given that the said draft notification will be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of forty five days from the date on which the copies of the Official Gazette in which this notification is published are made available to the public;

Objections and suggestions, if any, may be addressed to Rajiv Ranjan, , (Email ID: raiiv.ranja76@gov.in). Deputy Director, and Shri Bikash Kumar Malick (malick.bikash@gov.in), Assistant Director, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi- 110001;

Objections and suggestions, which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft notification before expiry of the period specified above, will be considered by the Central Government.

CHAPTER I – PRELIMINARY

1. Short title, extent and commencement.- (1) These rules may be called the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2019.

(2) They extend to the whole of India.

(3) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definitions.- In these rules, unless the subject or context otherwise requires, —
(a) “authority” means the authority appointed by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 45;

(b) “appellate authority” means the appellate authority appointed by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 49;

(d) “Board” means the Central Advisory Board constituted by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 42;

(e) “Chairperson” means the chairperson of the Board;

(f) “Code” means the Code on Wages, 2019 (29 of 2019);

(g) “committee” means a committee appointed by the Central Government under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 8;

(h) “day” means a period of 24 hours beginning at mid-night;

(i) “Form” means a form appended to these rules;

(j) “highly skilled occupation” means an occupation which calls in its performance a specific level of perfection and required competence acquired through intensive technical or professional training or practical occupational experience for a considerable period and also requires of an employee to assume full responsibility for his judgement or decision involved in the execution of such occupation;

(k) “Inspector-cum-Facilitator” means a person appointed by the Central Government, by notification under sub-section (1) of section 51;

(l) “member” means a member of the Board and includes its Chairperson;

(m) “metropolitan city” means a compact area having a population of forty lakhs or more comprised in one or more districts;

(n) “non-metropolitan city” means a compact area having a population of more than ten lakhs but less than forty lakhs, comprised in one or more districts;

(o) “population” means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published;

(p) “registered trade union” means a trade union registered under The Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926);

(q) “rural area” means the area which is not the metropolitan or non-metropolitan area;

(r) “Schedule” means the schedule to these rules;

(s) “section” means a section of the Code;

(t) “semi-skilled occupation” means an occupation which in its performance requires the application of skill gained by the experience on job which is capable of being applied under the supervision or guidance of a skilled employee and includes supervision over the unskilled occupation;

(u) “skilled occupation” means an occupation which involves skill and competence in its performance through experience on the job or through training as an apprentice in a technical or vocational institute and the performance of which calls for initiating and judgement;

(v) “unskilled occupation” means an occupation which in its performance requires the application of simply the operating experience and involves no further skills;

(w) all other words and expressions used herein in these rules and not defined shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them under the Code.

CHAPTER II – Minimum Wages

3. Manner of calculating the minimum rate of wages. – (1) For the purposes of sub-section (5) of section 6, the minimum rate of wages shall be fixed on the day basis keeping in view the following criteria , namely:-

(i) the standard working class family which includes a spouse and two children apart from the earning worker; an equivalent of three adult consumption units;

(ii) a net intake of 2700 calories per day per consumption unit;

(iii) 66 meters cloth per year per standard working class family;

(iv) housing rent expenditure to constitute 10 per cent. of food and clothing expenditure;

(v) fuel, electricity and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20 percent of minimum wage; and

(vi) expenditure for children education, medical requirement, recreation and expenditure on contingencies to constitute 25 percent of minimum wages;

The provisions of the rule 3 are based on the criteria declared in the judgment of Workmen represented by Secretary vs. Management of Reptakos Brett.and co. ltd. and Anr., 1992 AIR 504 pronounced by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and of the recommendations of the 15th Indian Labour Conference (ILC).

(2) When the rate of wages for a day is fixed, then, such amount shall be divided by eight for fixing the rate of wages for an hour and multiplied by twenty six for fixing the rate of wages for a month and in such division and multiplication the factors of one-half and more than one-half shall be rounded as next figure and the factors less than one-half shall be ignored.

4. Norms for fixation of minimum rate of wages.- (1) While fixing the minimum rate of wages under section 6, the Central Government shall divide the concern geographical area into three categories, that is to say the metropolitan area, non-metropolitan area and the rural area.

(2) The Central Government shall constitute a technical committee under clause (a) of sub-section

(1) of section 8 for the purpose of advising the Central Government in respect of skill categorization, which shall consist of the following members, namely:-

(i) Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) Chairperson;

(ii) Joint Secretary to the Government of India dealing with the wages member;

(iii) a representative from the Government of India, Ministry dealing with skill development;

(iv) Director General of employment, Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment member;

(v) two technical experts in wage determination as nominated by Central Government member; and

(vi) the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, Member Secretary of such technical committee.

(3) The Central Government shall, on the advice of the technical committee referred to in sub-rule (2) , categorize the occupations of the employees into four categories that is to say unskilled, semi¬skilled, skilled and highly skilled by modifying, deleting or adding any entry in the categorization of such occupation specified in Schedule E.

(4) The technical committee referred in sub-rule (2) shall while advising the Central Government under sub-rule (3) take into account, to the possible extent, the national classification of occupation or national skills qualification frame work or other similar frame work for the time being formulated to identify occupations.

5. Time Interval for revision of dearness allowance.- Endeavour shall be made so that the cost of living allowance and the cash value of the concession in respect of essential commodities at concession rate shall be computed once before 1st April and 1st October in every year to revise the dearness allowance payable to the employees on the minimum wages.

6. Number of Hours of work which shall constitute a normal working day.—(1) The number of hours which shall constitute a normal working day under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13, shall be nine hours.

(2) The working day of an employee shall be so arranged that inclusive of the intervals of rest, if any, it shall not spread over more than twelve hours on any day.

(3) The provisions of sub-rules (1) and (2) shall, in the case of an employee employed in agricultural employment, be subject to such modifications as may, from time to time, be determined by the Central Government.

(4) Nothing in this rule shall be deemed to affect the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948).

7. Weekly day of rest.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this rule, an employee shall be allowed a day of rest every week (hereinafter referred to as “the rest day”) which shall ordinarily be Sunday, but the employer may fix any other day of the week as the rest day for any employee or class of employees:
Provided that an employee shall be entitled for the rest day under this sub-rule if he has worked under the same employer for a continuous period of not less than six days:
Provided further that the employee shall be informed of the day fixed as the rest day and of any subsequent change in the rest day before the change is effected, by display of a notice to that effect in the place of employment at the place specified by the Inspector-cum-Facilitator in this behalf.
Explanation.- For the purpose of computation of the continuous period of not less than six days specified in the first proviso to this sub-rule, any day on which an employee is required to attend for work but is given only an allowance for attendance and is not provided with work, a day on which an employee is laid off on payment of compensation under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), and any leave or holiday, with or without pay, granted by the employer to an employee in the period of six days immediately preceding the rest day, shall be deemed to be days on which the employee has worked.

(2) Any such employee shall not be required or allowed to work on the rest day unless he has or will have a substituted rest day for a whole day on one of the five days immediately before or after the rest day:
Provided that no substitution shall be made which will result in the employee working for more than ten days consecutively without a rest day for a whole day.

(3) Where in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this rule, any employee works on a rest day and has been given a substituted rest day on any one of the five days before or after the rest day, the rest day shall, for the purpose of calculating the weekly hours of work, be included in the week in which the substituted rest day occurs.

(4) An employee shall be granted-

(a) for rest day wages calculated at the rate applicable to the next preceding day; and

(b) where he works on the rest day and has been given a substituted rest day, then, he shall be paid wages for the rest day on which he worked, at the overtime rate and wages for the substituted rest day at the rate applicable to the next preceding day:
Provided that where-

(i) the minimum rate of wages of the employee as notified under the Code has been worked out by dividing the minimum monthly rate of wages by twenty- six; or

(ii) the actual daily rate of wages of the employee has been worked out by dividing the monthly rate of wages by twenty-six and such actual daily rate of wages is not less than the notified minimum daily rate of wages of the employee, then, no wages for the rest day shall be payable; and

(iii) the employee works on the rest day and has been given a substituted rest day, then, he shall be paid, only for the rest day on which he worked, an amount equal to the wages payable to him at the overtime rate;
and, if any dispute arises whether the daily rate of wages has been worked out in accordance with the provisions of this proviso, the Chief Labour Commissioner(Central) or the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having territorial jurisdiction may, on application made to him in this behalf, decide the same, after giving an opportunity to the parties concerned to make written representations:
Provided further that in case of an employee governed by a piece-rate system, the wages for the rest day, or the substituted rest day, as the case may be, shall be such as the Central Government may, from time to time determine having regard to the minimum rate of wages fixed under the Code, in respect of the employment.

Explanation.- In this sub-rule ‘next preceding day’ means the last day on which the employee has worked, which precedes the rest day or the substituted rest day, as the case may be; and where the substituted rest day falls on a day immediately after the rest day, the next preceding day means the last day on which the employee has worked, which precedes the rest day.

(5) The provisions of this rule shall not operate to the prejudice of more favourable terms, if any, to which an employee may be, entitled under any other law or under the terms of any award, agreement or contract of service, and in such a case, the employee shall be entitled only to more favourable terms aforesaid.

Explanation.- For the purposes of this rule, ‘week’ shall mean a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night.

8. Night shifts.— Where an employee in an employment works on a shift which extends beyond midnight, then, –

(a) a holiday for the whole day for the purposes of rule 7 shall, in this case means a period of twenty-four consecutive hours beginning from the time when his shift ends; and

(b) the following day in such a case shall be deemed to be the period of twenty-four hours beginning from the time when such shift ends, and the hours after midnight during which such employee was engaged in work shall be counted towards the previous day.

9. The extent and conditions for the purposes of sub-section (2) of section 13.- In case of employees-

(a) engaged in any emergency which could not have been foreseen or prevented;

(b) engaged in work of the nature of preparatory or complementary work which must necessarily be carried on outside the limits laid down for the general working in the employment concerned;

(d) engaged in any work which for technical reasons has to be completed before the duty is over; and

(e) engaged in a work which could not be carried on except at times dependent on the irregular action of natural forces; the provisions of rules 6, 7 and 8 shall apply subject to the condition that –

(i) the spread over of the hours of work of the employee shall not exceed 16 hours in any day; and

(ii) the actual hours of work excluding the intervals of rest and the periods of inaction during which the employee may be on duty but is not called upon to display either physical activity or sustained attendance shall not exceed 9 hours in any day.

10. Longer wage period.- The longer wage period for the purposes of minimum rate of wages under section 14 shall be by the month.

CHAPTER III – Floor Wages

11. Manner of fixing floor wage.—(1) The Board shall be consulted by the Central Government for the purposes of fixation of basic rate of floor wage under sub-section (1) of section 9 taking into account minimum living standards taking into account an equivalent of three adult consumption units including worker of the family comprising of food, clothing, housing and any other factors considered appropriate by the Central Government from time to time.

(2) The advice of the Board obtained in consultation under sub-rule (1) shall be circulated by the Central Government to all State Governments for consultation with them.

(3) The advice of the Board referred to in sub-rule (2) and the views of the State Governments received in consultation referred to in that sub-rule shall be considered before fixing the floor wage under sub-rule (1).

(4) The Central Government may revise the basic rate of floor wage fixed under sub-rule (1) ordinarily at an interval not exceeding five years and undertake adjustment for variations in the cost of living periodically in consultation with the Board.

12. Manner of consultation with State Governments.— The Central Government shall obtain the advice of the Board and consult such State Governments as it think necessary before fixing the floor wage under rule 11.

CHAPTER IV – Payment of Wages

13. Recovery under sub-section (4) of section 18.- Where the total deductions authorized under sub-section (2) of section 18 exceed fifty per cent. of the wages of an employee, the excess shall be carried forward and recovered from the wages of succeeding wage period or wage periods, as the case may be, in such installments so that the recovery in any month shall not exceed the fifty per cent. of the wages of the employee in that month.

14. The authority under sub-section (1) of section 19.- The Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction over the place of work of the employee concerned shall be the authority for the purposes of sub-section (1) of section 19.

15. The manner of exhibiting the notice under sub-section (2) of section 19.- A notice referred to in sub-section (2) of section 19 shall be displayed at the conspicuous place in the premises of the work place in which the employment is carried on, so that every concerned employee would be able easily to read the contents of the notice and a copy of the notice shall be sent to the Inspector-cum- Facilitator having jurisdiction.

16. The procedure under sub-section (3) of section 19.- The employer shall give an intimation in writing for obtaining the approval of the imposition of fine to the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) referred to in rule 15 who shall, before granting or refusing the approval, give opportunity of being heard to the employee and the employer concerned.

17. Intimation of deduction.- (1)Where an employer makes any deduction in pursuance of the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 20, he shall make intimation of such deduction to the Inspector- cum-Facilitator having jurisdiction within 10 days from the date of such deduction explaining therein the reason of such deduction.

(2) The Inspector-cum-Facilitator shall, after receiving intimation under sub-rule (1), examine such intimation and if he finds that the explanation given therein is in contravention of any provision of the Code or the rules made there under, he shall initiate appropriate action under the Code against the employer.

18. Procedure for deduction under sub-section (2) of section 21.- Any employer desiring to make deduction for damages or loss under sub-section (1) of section 21 from the wages of an employee shall,-

(i) explain to the employee personally and also in writing the damage or loss of goods expressly entrusted to the employee for custody or for loss of money for which he is required to account and how such damages or loss is directly attributable to the neglect or default of the employee; and

(ii) thereafter, give the employee an opportunity to offer any explanation and deduction for any damages or loss, if made, shall be intimated to the employee within fifteen days from the date of such deduction.

19. Conditions regarding recovery of advance under section 23.- The recovery, as the case may be of,-

(i) advances of money given to an employee after the employment begins under clause (b) of section 23; or

(ii) advances of wages to an employee not already earned under clause (c) of section 23,
shall be made by the employer from the wages of the concerned employee in installments determined by the employer, so as any or all installments in a wage period shall not exceed fifty per cent. of the wages of the employee in that wage period and the particulars of such recovery shall be recorded in the register maintained in Form-I.

20. Deduction under section 24.- Deductions for recovery of loans granted for house building or other purposes approved by the Central Government, and the interest due in respect thereof shall be, subject to any direction made or circular issued by the Central Government from time to time regulating the extent to which such loans may be granted and the rate of interest shall be payable thereon.

CHAPTER V – Payment of Bonus

21. Calculation of set on or set off for the sixth accounting year.- For the sixth accounting year, set on or set off, as the case may be, shall be made by the Central Government under clause (i) of sub¬section (7) of section 26, in the manner illustrated in Schedule A, taking into account the excess or deficiency, if any, as the case may be, of the allocable surplus set on or set off in respect of the fifth and sixth account years.

22. Calculation of set on or set off for the seventh accounting year.- For the seventh accounting year, set on or set off, as the case may be, shall be made by the Central Government under clause (ii) of sub-section (7) of section 26, in the manner illustrated in Schedule A, taking into account the excess or deficiency, if any, as the case may be, of the allocable surplus set on or set off in respect of the fifth, sixth and seventh account years.

23. Computation of gross profits under clause (a) of section 32.- The gross profits derived by an employer from an establishment in respect of the accounting year shall in the case of banking company, be calculated in the manner specified in Schedule B.

24. Computation of gross profits under clause (b) of section 32.- The gross profits derived by an employer from an establishment in respect of the accounting year in a case other than banking company, be calculated in the manner specified in Schedule C.

25. Deduction of further sums under clause (c) of section 34.- The further sums as are specified in respect of the employer in Schedule D shall be deducted from the gross profit as prior charges under clause (c) of section 34.

26. Manner of carrying forward under sub-section (1) of section 36.- Where for any accounting year, the allocable surplus exceeds the amount of maximum bonus payable to the employees in the establishment under section 26, then, the excess shall, subject to a limit of twenty per cent. of the total salary or wage of the employees employed in the establishment in that accounting year, be carried forward for being set on in the succeeding accounting year and so on up to and inclusive of the fourth accounting year to be utilised for the purpose of payment of bonus in such manner illustrated in Schedule A.

27. Manner of carrying forward under sub-section (2) of section 36.- Where for any accounting year, there is no available surplus or the allocable surplus in respect of that year falls short of the amount of minimum bonus payable to the employees in the establishment under section 26, and there is no amount or sufficient amount carried forward and set on under rule 29 which could be utilized for the purpose of payment of the minimum bonus, then, such minimum amount or the deficiency, as the case may be, shall be carried forward for being set off in the succeeding accounting year and so on up to and inclusive of the fourth accounting year in such manner illustrated in Schedule A.

CHAPTER VI – Central Advisory Board

A. The procedure of Central Advisory Board under sub-section (10) of section 42

28. Constitution of the Board.- (1) The Board shall consist of the persons to be nominated by the Central Government representing employers and employees as specified in clauses (a) and (b) of sub-section (1) of section 42 and the independent persons and representatives of the State Governments as specified in clauses (c) and (d) of that sub-section.

(2) The persons representing employers as referred to in clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 42 shall be twelve and the persons representing employees referred to in clause (b) of that sub-section shall also be twelve.

(3) The independent persons specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 42 to be nominated by the Central Government shall consist of the following, namely:-

(i) the Chairperson;
(ii) three Members of Parliament;
(iii) three members each of whom, shall be a professional in the field of wages and labour related issues;
(iv) one member who is or has been a presiding officer of an Industrial Tribunal constituted by the Central Government under section 7A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947); and
(v) two members, each of whom shall be the Chairperson of such State Advisory Board referred to in sub-section (4) of section 42, to the extent possible, has been taken in rotation from the States.

(3) The five representatives of the State Governments referred to in clause (d) of section 42 shall each be the Principal Secretary or Secretary or Commissioner of the State Labour Department of such States as the Central Government may determine from time to time on rotation basis.

(4) The Central Government shall, while nominating the members of the Board, take into account that the independent members under sub-rule (2) shall not exceed One-third of the total members of the Board and One-third of the members of the Board shall be women.

29. Additional function of the Board.- In addition to the functions specified in sub-section (3) of section 42, the Board on reference by the Central Government advise that Government on the issue relating to the fixation of minimum wages in respect of-

(i) working journalists as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,1955 (45 of 1955); and

(ii) sales promotion employees as defined in clause (d) of section 2 of the Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976 (11 of 1976).

30. Meeting of the Board. – The Chairperson may, subject to the provision of rule 32, call a meeting of the Board, at any time he thinks fit:
Provided that on requisition in writing from not less than one half of the members, the Chairperson shall call a meeting within thirty days from the date of the receipt of such requisition.

31. Notice of meetings. – The Chairperson shall fix the date, time and place of every meeting and a notice in writing containing the aforesaid particulars along with a list of business to be conducted at the meeting shall be sent to each member by registered post and electronically at least fifteen days before the date fixed for such meeting:

Provided that in the case of an emergent meeting, notice of seven days only may be given to every member.

32. Function of Chairperson. – The Chairperson shall-

(i) preside at the meetings of the Board:
Provided that in the absence of the Chairperson at any meeting, the members shall elect from amongst themselves by a majority of votes, a member who shall preside at such meeting;

(ii) decide agenda of each meeting of the Board;

(iii) where in the meeting of the Board, if any issue has to be decided by voting, conduct the voting and count or cause to be counted the secret voting in the meeting.

33. Quorum. – No business shall be transacted at any meeting unless at least one-third of the members and at least one representative member each of both the employers and an employee are present:

Provided that, if at any meeting less than one-third of the members are present, the Chairperson may adjourn the meeting to a date not later than seven days from the date of the original meeting and it shall thereupon be lawful to dispose of the business at such adjourned meeting irrespective of the number of members present: Provided further that the date, time and place of such adjourned meeting shall be intimated to all the members electronically or by a Registered post.
34. Disposal of business of the Board. – All business of the Board shall be considered at a meeting of the Board, and shall be decided by a majority of the votes of members present and voting and in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson shall have a casting vote: Provided that the Chairperson may, if he thinks fit, direct that any matter shall be decided by the circulation of necessary papers and by securing written opinion of the members: Provided further that no decision on any matter under the preceding proviso shall be taken, unless supported by not less than two-thirds majority of the members.

35. Method of voting.- Voting in the Board shall ordinarily be by show of hands, but if any member asks for voting by ballot, or if the Chairperson so decides, the voting shall be by secret ballot and shall be held in such manner as the Chairperson may decide.

36. Proceedings of the meetings.- (1) The proceedings of each meeting of the Board showing inter alia the names of the members present there at shall be forwarded to each member and to the Central Government as soon after the meeting as possible, and in any case, not less than seven days before the next meeting.

(2) The proceedings of each meeting of the Board shall be confirmed with such modification, if any, as may be considered necessary at the next meeting.

37. Summoning of witnesses and production of documents.- (1) The Chairperson may summon any person to appear as a witness if required in the course of the discharge of his duty and require any person to produce any document.

(2) Every person who is summoned and appears as a witness before the Board shall be entitled to an allowance for expenses by him in accordance with the scale for the time being in force for payment of such allowance to witnesses appearing before a civil court.

38. Appointment of the committees.- The Central Government may constitute as many committee under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 8 as it considers necessary for the purposes specified in that clause.

B. The Terms of office of members of the Board under sub-section (1) of section 42

39. Term of office of members of the Board.- (1) The term of office of the chairperson or a member, as the case may be, shall be normally two years commencing from the date of his nomination under sub-section (1) of section 42: Provided that such chairperson or a member shall, notwithstanding the expiry of the said period of two years, continue to hold office until his successor is nominated.

(2) An independent member of the Board nominated to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office for the remaining period of the term of office of the member in whose place he is nominated.

(3) The other members of the Board shall hold office during the pleasure of the Central Government.

40. Travelling allowance.- A member of the Board, shall be entitled to draw travelling and halting allowance for any journey performed by him in connection with his duties as such member at the rates and subject to the conditions applicable to a government servant of the Group A of the Central Government.

41. Officers and Staff.- The Central Government may provide a Secretary not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India, other officers and staff to the Board, as it may think necessary for the function of the Board.

42. Eligibility for re-nomination of the members of the Board.- An outgoing member shall be eligible for re-nomination for the membership of the Board not more than two terms.

43. Resignation of the Chairperson and other members of the Board.- (1) A member of the Board, other than the Chairperson, may, by giving notice in writing to the Chairperson, resign his membership and the Chairperson may resign by a letter addressed to the Central Government.

(2) A resignation shall take effect from the date of communication of its acceptance or on the expiry of 30 days from the date of resignation, whichever is earlier.

(3) When a vacancy occurs or is likely to occur in the membership of the Board, the Chairperson shall submit a report to the Central Government immediately and the Central Government shall, then, take steps to fill the vacancy in accordance with the provisions of the Code.

44. Cessation of membership.- If a member of the Board, fails to attend three consecutive meetings, he shall, subject to the provisions of sub-rule (2), cease to be a member thereof.

45. Disqualification.- (1) A person shall be disqualified for being nominated as, and for being a member of the Board-

(i) if he is declared to be of unsound mind by a competent court; or

(ii) if he is an un-discharged insolvent; or

(iii) if before or after the commencement of the Code, he has been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude.

(2) If any question arises whether a disqualification has been incurred under sub-rule (1), the decision of the Central Government thereon shall be final.

CHAPTER VII – PAYMENT OF DUES, CLAIMS, etc.

46. Deposit of the undisbursed dues under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 44.- (1) Where any amounts payable to an employee under this Code remains undisbursed because either no nomination has been made by such employee or for any other reason, such amounts could not be paid to the nominee of employee until the expiry of six months from the date the amount had become payable, all such amounts shall be deposited by the employer with the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction before the expiry of the fifteenth day after the last day of the said period of six months.

(2) The amounts referred to in sub-rule (1) shall be deposited by the employer with The Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) ) having jurisdiction through bank transfer or through a crossed demand draft obtained from any scheduled bank in India drawn in favour of such Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central).

47. Manner of dealing with the undisbursed dues under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 44.

— (1) The amount referred to in sub rule (1) of rule 46 (hereinafter in this rule referred to as the amount) deposited with the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction shall

remain with him and be invested in the Central or State Government Securities or deposited as a fixed deposit in a scheduled bank.

(2) The Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction will exhibit, as soon as maybe possible, a notice containing such particulars regarding the amount as the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) considers sufficient for information at least for fifteen days on the notice board and also publish such notice in any two newspapers being circulating in the language commonly understood in the area in which undisbursed wages were earned.

(3) Subject to the provision of sub-rule (4), the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction shall release the amount to the nominee or to that person who has claimed such amount, as the case may be in whose favour such Deputy Labour Commissioner (Central) has decided, after giving the opportunity of being heard, the amount to be paid.

(4) If the undisbursed amount remains unclaimed for a period of seven years, the same shall be dealt in the manner as directed by the Central Government from time to time in this behalf.

CHAPTER VIII – THE FORM, REGISTER AND WAGE SLIP

48. The form of a single application. – A single application, may be filed under sub-section (5) of section 45 in Form-II along with documents specified in such Form.

49. Appeal.- Any person aggrieved by an order passed by the authority under sub-section (2) of section 45 may prefer an appeal under sub-section (1) of section 49 in Form III, along with documents specified in such Form, to the appellate authority having jurisdiction.

50. Form of register, etc.- (1) All fines and all realization thereof referred to in sub-section (8) of section 19 shall be recorded in a register to be kept by the employer in Form – I appended to these rules, electronically or otherwise and the authority referred to in said sub-section (8) shall be the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction.

(2) All deductions and all realization referred to in sub-section (3) of section 21 shall be recorded in a register to be kept by the employer in Form- I appended to these rules, electronically or otherwise.

(3) Every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies shall maintain a register under sub-section (1) of section 50 in Form I, electronically or otherwise.

51. Wage slip.- Every employer shall issue wage slips, electronically or otherwise to the employees in Form V under sub-section (3) of section 50 on or before payment of wages.

52. Manner of holding enquiry under sub-section (1) of section 53.- (1) When a complaint is filed before the officer appointed under sub-section (1) of section 53 (hereinafter in this rule referred to as the officer) in respect of the offences referred to in said sub-section either by an officer authorized for such purpose by the Central Government or by an employee aggrieved or a registered trade union registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926 or an Inspector-cum-Facilitator, the officer shall after considering such evidences as produced before him by the complainant, is of the opinion that an offence has been committed issue summons to the offender on the address specified in the complaint fixing a date for his appearance .

(2) If the offender to whom the summons has been issued under sub rule (1) appears or is produced before the officer, he shall explain the offender the offence complained against him and if the offender pleads guilty, the officer shall impose penalty on him in accordance with the provisions of the Code and when the offender does not plead guilty, the officer shall take evidence of the witnesses produced by the complainant on oath and provide opportunity of cross examination of the witnesses so produced . The officer shall record the statement of the witnesses on oath and in cross examination in writing and take the documentary evidence on record.

(3) The officer shall, after the complainant’s evidence is complete, provide opportunity of defence to the accused person and the witnesses produced by the accused shall be cross examined after their statements on oath by the complainant and documentary evidence in defence shall be taken on record by the officer.

(4) The officer shall after hearing the parties and considering the evidences both oral and documentary decide the complaint in accordance with the provisions of the Code.

53. The manner of imposing fine under sub-section (1) of section 56.- (1) An accused person desirous of making composition of offence under sub-section (1) of section 56 may make an application in Form VI to the Gazetted Officer notified under said sub-section (1).

(2) The Gazetted Officer referred to in sub-rule (1), shall, on receipt of such application, hold a meeting with the accused person to satisfy himself as to whether the offence is compoundable or not under the Code and if the offence is compoundable and the accused person agrees for the composition, compromise the offence for a sum of fifty per cent. of the maximum fine provided for such offence under the Code, to be paid by the accused within the time specified in the order of composition issued by such officer.

(3) Where the offence has been compromised under sub-rule (2) after the institution of the prosecution, then, the officer shall send a copy of such order made by him for intimation to the officer referred to in sub-section (1) for needful action under sub-section (6) of section 56.

CHAPTER IX – MISCELLANEOUS

54. Timely Payment of Wages.- Where the employees are employed in an establishment through contractor, then, the company or firm or association of any other person who is the proprietor of the establishment shall pay to the contractor the amount payable to him or it, as the case may be, before the date of payment of wages so that payment of wages to the employees shall be made positively in accordance with the provisions of Section 17.
Explanation.- For the purpose of this rule, the expression “firm” shall have the meaning as assigned to it in the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (9 of 1932).

55. Technical Committee for working Journalist.- The Central Government may, for the purpose of fixing minimum wages under the code for the working journalist as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955 (45 of 1955), appoint a technical advisory committee under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 8 to recommend the Central Government in respect of such fixation.

56. Responsibility for payment of minimum bonus.- Where in an establishment, the employees are employed through contractor and the contractor fails to pay minimum bonus to them under section 26, then, the company or firm or association or other person as referred to in the proviso to section 43 shall be responsible for such payment of the minimum bonus.

57. Inspection scheme.- (1) For the purposes of the Code and these rules, there shall be formulated an inspection scheme by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) with the approval of the Central Government.

(2) In the inspection scheme referred to in sub-rule (1), apart from other structural facts, a number shall be specified in the scheme for each Inspector-cum-Facilitators and establishments.

[F.No ]

(Vibha Bhalla)
Joint Secretary to the Government of India

Source: https://labour.gov.in/