BIHAR INDUSTRIAL ESTABLISHMENTS
(NATIONAL AND FESTIVAL HOLIDAYS AND CASUAL LEAVE) RULES, 1979
PREAMBLE
Rule - 1. Short title, extent and commencement.--
(1)
These Rules may be called the Bihar
Industrial Establishments (National and Festival Holidays and Casual Leave)
Rules, 1979.
(2)
These Rules shall extend to the whole of the
State of Bihar.
(3)
Save as otherwise expressly provided else
were these Rules shall come into force at once.
Rule - 2. Definitions.--
In these Rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the
subject or context-
(a)
'Act' means the Bihar Industrial
Establishment (National and Festival Holidays and Casual Leave) Act, 1971
(Bihar Act XVII of 1977);
(b)
"Inspector" means an inspector
appointed under Section 7 of the Act;
(c)
"Section" means a Section of the
Act.
Rule - 3. National and Festival Holidays.--
(1)
No employee shall be required to work in any
industrial establishment, to which the Act applies, on a National Holiday as provided
under sub-section (1-a) of Section 3 and on 1st May of each calendar year
unless a notice has been served by the management at least 48 hours in advance
on such workers requiring them to work on that day. A copy of such notice shall
also be displayed on the Notice Board of the establishment.
Each such industrial establishment shall also maintain a
register of the employees required to work on the National Holiday or on 1st
May in Form 1.
(1)
Each employer of an industrial establishment
shall at the beginning of each calendar year or within 60 days from the date of
commencement of work in the case of new industrial establishment, display a
notice asking his employees to indicate their choice in respect of 4 festival
holidays out of the list of festival holidays mentioned in the schedule under
sub-section (1)(b) of Section 3 of the Act.
(2)
Every employee shall be allowed to avail of
the festival holidays according to his choice indicated under sub-rule (2)
unless the management for reasons to be notified 3 days in advance of the
beginning of the festival requires as particular worker or a group of workers
to work on a particular festival day.
Holidays in industrial establishments-Grant and fixation of
In the present case, the festival holidays have not been
identified or specified in the settlement. They have to be selected and
declared as holidays with notice to employees every year. It is only three
National holidays that have been specified therein in addition to Vishwakarama
Puja day for the factory staff and factory general staff. Now, the Statute
prescribes the same three National holidays, besides International Labour Day
and four festival holidays. But these 8 holidays are not to the exclusion of or
in addition to the total number of holidays agreed upon under the settlement.
Indeed, it could not be so, since three National holidays are common both in
the settlement and Statute. The total number of 14 holidays under the
settlement as against 8 holidays under the Statute remains undisturbed by
Section 13 of the Act since it is more favourable to the employees than the
rights and privileges conferred by the Act. When thus being the position, the
management would be entitled to adjust the International Labour Day as a paid
holiday within the 14 days allowed under the settlement. The demand of the
employees that it should be in addition to 14 days has no support either under
the settlement or by the terminology of the Statute. Indian Oxygen Ltd. vs.
State of Bihar, 1991 (1) BLJ 193 (SC).
Rule - 4. Casual leave.--
(1)
An employee may apply in writing to the
employer at any time not less than forty-eight hours before the date on which
he wishes his leave to begin, to take all the casual leave or any portion
thereof admissible to him during the calendar year.
(2)
If a worker wants to avail himself of the
casual leave due to him to cover a period of illness he shall be granted such
leave even if the application for leave is not made within the time specified
in sub-rule (1).
(3)
An application for leave which does not
contravene the provisions of sub-rule (1), shall not be refused unless it is
necessary to do so due to urgent nature of work being performed by the
employee.
(4)
In case leave has been refused the employee
will be allowed to avail the leave before the end of the calendar year:
Provided that no employee shall be entitled to casual
leave in continuation to annual leave with wages granted under Section 79 of
the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948) and Section 30 of the Plantation Labour
Act, 1951 (69 of 1951).
(5)
Workmen who have not completed continuous
service of one year as defined in Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act,
1947 shall be allowed casual leave proportion to the number of days worked by
them during the year.
Rule - 5. Maintenance of registers of casual leave and festival holidays.--
(1)
A register of festival holidays shall be
maintained by the employer in Form No. 2 and it shall be made available by him
for inspection by the Inspector.
(2)
A Register of casual leave shall be maintained
by the employer in Form No. 3 and shall be made available by him for the
inspection by the employees and Inspector.
Rule - 6. Information required by the Inspector.--
The employer of an industrial establishment shall furnish
any such information that an Inspector may require for the purpose of
satisfying himself whether any provision of the Act or Rules made there under
has been complied with or whether any order of Inspector has been duly carried
out.
Rule - 7. Maintenance of Inspection Book.--
The employer of every industrial establishment shall
maintain a bound inspection book and shall produce it when required by the
Inspector.