Payment of Wages Act is very important and in which the
instruction and direction of payment and wages to the workmen and employers are
given. The Employer is bound to pay the wage to the employee for the "work
done" by him. The employer also required to follow certain rules and
regulations under the payment of wages act. Generally the rules are being made
for the procedure under the Act. The employer is bound to maintain the register with the
details of name of the employee, his wages, D.A. etc. Generally rules are same
but certain rules are specific which are to be followed in the State of
Gujarat. Register of fine as per form No. 1, register of wages as per form No.
2 etc. Any officer can visit the factory or any industrial unit
for inspection as per the Act and ask for the register and other documents
which are to be maintained by the employer. The employer should put the notice
for the payment of bonus, wages etc. in the board. The excess payment of bonus
which to be paid to the employees may also be shown in the notice board. Certain authorities are being announced as prescribed
authorities that means the officer having specific status is known as
prescribed authority. If there is any breach of contract, the employer is not
supposed to deduct the wages without any proper reason and serving a notice to
the concerned employee. For example if there is a contract for the sale of
specific amount and if the employee has not made the sale the employer, as the
per the rules, cannot deduct the amount from his wage without showing the
proper reason for the loss. Another point is the notice must be in writing in
day to day language. Generally it should be in Gujarati and if the employee is
a non-Gujarati and it should be in Hindi or English. However, it should not be
in less than 50 days interval. Rule No. 17 is very important. According to the rule No. 17
no advance can be paid to the employees without the prior permission of the
inspector under Payment of Wages Act. If the advance is paid that can be
recovered in installments of specific amount. However, the deduction from the
wage should not be for more than 18 months and no installments shall be exceed
1/3 rd of the wage. The repayment of the advance should be entered in the
register. If the loan is given for house building of any other purpose it can
be recovered by installments with the clear entry in the register and if
necessary the permission may be obtained from the inspector concerned. These are the important points which are to be followed by
the employer. (1)
These Rules may be called The Gujarat
Payment of Wages Rules, 1963. (2)
They extend to the whole of the State
of Gujarat. In these rules unless there is anything repugnant in the
subject or context,- (a)
"the Act" means the Payment
of Wages Act, 1936 (IV of 1936); (b)
"the Authority" means the
authority appointed under subsection (1) of section 15 of the Act; (c)
"the Chief Inspector of
Factories" means the Chief Inspector of Factories appointed under
sub-section (2) of section 8 of the Factories Act, 1948 LXIII of 1948, (d)
"Chief Office" means a Chief
Officer of a municipality appointed under the Bombay Municipal Boroughs Act,
1925 or the said act as adapted and applied to the Saurashtra area of the State
of Gujarat and as applied to the Kutch area of the State of Gujarat; (dd) "the
Court" mean the Court mentioned in sub- section (1) of section 17 of the
Act; (e)
"deduction' for breach of
contract" means a deduction made in accordance with the provisions of the
proviso to sub-section (2) of section 9; (f)
"deduction for damage or
loss" means a deduction made in accordance with the provisions of clause
(c) of sub-section (2) of sec. 7; (ff) "establishment "means,
except in the expression industrial establishment,' an establishment as defined
by the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act, 1948, and in respect of which the
provisions of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, have been, or may be, applied by
the State Government by notification under section 38 of the former Act: (g)
"Form" means a form appended
to these rules; (gg) "industrial
establishment" includes an establishment; (h)
"inspector" means the
inspector authorized by or under section 14 of the Act; (hh) "Municipal
Commissioner" means the Municipal Commissioner appointed under the Bombay
Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949; (i)
"person employed" excludes
all persons to the payment of whose wages the Act does not apply; (ii) 'Secretary"
means a Secretary of a Municipality governed by the provisions of the Bombay
District Municipal Act, 1901; or the said Act as adapted and applied to the
Saurashtra area of the State of Gujarat: (j)
"section" means section of
the Act; (k)
"paymaster" means an
employer or other person responsible under section 3 of the Act for the payment
of wages; (l)
words and expressions defined in the
Act shall be deemed to have the same meaning as in the Act. Sections 26(2) and 26(3)(a), (1)
In any factory or industrial
establishment in respect of which the employer has obtained approval under sub-section
(1) of section 8 to a list of acts and omissions in respect of which fines may
be imposed, the paymaster shall maintain a Register of, Fines in Form I. (2)
At the beginning of the Register of
Fines there shall be entered serially numbered the approved purpose or purposes
on which the fines realized are to be expended. (3)
Vouchers of receipts in connection
with any expenditure from the fine's fund shall be produced for the scrutiny of
the Inspector when required by him. In every factory and Industrial establishment in which
deductions for damage or loss are made the paymaster shall maintain the
Register required by sub-section (2) of section 10 in Form II A. In every factory or industrial establishment to which the
Act is made applicable the paymaster shall maintain a Register of Wages in Form
II. Provided that if in the case of any establishment, the
Municipal Commissioner or the Chief Officer or Secretary, as the case may be in
whose jurisdiction the establishment is situated and in the case of other
industrial establishment or factories the Chief Inspector of Factories is of
the opinion that the existing wage sheets or register maintained in any factory
or industrial establishment or at the Head Office thereof, give all the
particulars necessary for the enforcement of the Act, he may, by order in
writing, exempt such factory or industrial establishment from maintaining a
Register of Wages required under this rule. Provided further that if in the case of any establishment,
the Municipal Commissioner or the Chief - Officer or Secretary, as the case may
be, in whose jurisdiction the establishment is situated and in the case of
other industrial establishment or factories, the Chief Inspector of Factories
is Satisfied that in the case of any factory or industrial establishment,
information under any of the columns of Form II-A superfluous he may, by order
in writing exempt such factory or industrial establishment from furnishing such
information. The registers required by rules 3, 4, 5 and 17-shall always
be made available for inspection by the inspector and be preserved by the
employer for three years after the date of the last entry made in them. Section 26(3)(c) All weights or measures or weighing or measuring
instruments which are used in checking or ascertaining the wages of persons
employed in any factory or industrial establishment shall be examined in
accordance with the provisions of the Bombay Weights and Measures (Enforcement)
Act, 1958. If an Inspector considers that any action should be taken, under
the, said Act, he may seize the article in question and shall report the matter
with his opinion to the, Inspector of Weights and Measures having, jurisdiction
under, the said Act for necessary action. The paymaster shall display, in a conspicuous place at or
near the main entrance of the factory or of the industrial establishment, as
the case may be a notice in English and in the language of the majority of the
persons employed therein, showing the days on which wages are to be paid. Section 26(3)(da) The excess amount of the bonus payable to an employed
person under the proviso to section 6 shall be paid to him in the following
manner, namely. (a)
as much as possible for the amount of
excess bonus shall be paid wholly or partly in prize bonds of rupees five or
higher denomination or in 12 year National Plan Savings Certificates of Rupees
ten or higher denomination; (b)
if the balance remaining after such
payment shall be or exceeds five rupees a five rupee prize bond or a 12 year
National Plan Savings Certificate of Rupees five denomination in addition or if
the amount be five rupees or more but less than ten rupees a five rupee prize
bond or a five rupee certificate of the same kind, shall be given to the
employed person. (c)
any balance there after remaining
shall be paid in cash Provided that where an employed person is dead or ceases to
reside in the Indian Territory at the time of the payment of the bonus, the
excess amount of the bonus may be paid in cash to the legal representative of
the person who is dead or, as the case may be, to the person who ceases to
reside in the Indian territory. Provided further that except with the previous
permission of the Custodian of Evacuee Property, Bombay, no payment of the
excess amount of the bonus shall be paid to any person residing in Pakistan. Illustration. If the amount to be paid in prize bonds or in certificates
is, Rs. 27.94 P. it shall be paid as follows. Four five rupee prize bonds or two ten rupee Certificates;
One five rupee prize bond or five rupee Certificate; and Two rupees and ninety,
four naya paise in cash. Section 26 (3) (a), (e), (f) and (h) In the case of pensions employed in any establishment, the
Municipal Commissioner or the Chief Officer or Secretary as the cases may be in
whose jurisdiction the establishments situated, and in all, other cases, the
Chief Inspector of Factories, shall be the authorities competent to approve
under sub-section (1) of section 8, acts and omissions in respect of which
fines may be imposed and, under sub-section (8) of section 8 the purposes on
which the proceeds of fines; shall be expended. Every employer requiring the power to impose, fines in
respect of any acts and omissions on the part of employed persons shall send to
the authority appointed under rule 9. (a)
a list, in English, in duplicate,
clearly defining, such act and omissions. (b)
in cases where the employer himself
docs not intend to be the sole person empowered, to impose fines, a list, in
duplicate, showing those appointments in his factory or industrial
establishment as the case may be, of which the incumbents may, pass orders
imposing, fines and the class of establishment on which the incumbent of each
such appointment may impose fine. The authority appointed under rule 9 on receipt of the
lists prescribed in the preceding rule may, after such enquiry as he considers
necessary, pass orders either- (a)
disapproving the lists. (b)
approving the lists either in their
original form or as amended by him, in which case such lists shall be
considered to be approved lists. provided that no order disapproving or amending any list
shall be passed unless the employer shall have been given an opportunity of
showing cause orally or in writing why the lists as submitted by him should be
approved. The employer shall display at or near the main entrance of
the factory or the industrial establishment, as the case may be, a copy in
English together with a literal Translation thereof, in the language of the
majority of the persons employed therein, of the list of acts and omissions
approved under rule. No fine may be imposed by any person other than an
employer, or a person holding an appointment named in a list submitted under
rule 10. Any person desiring to impose a fine on an employed person
or to make deduction for damage or loss shall explain personally to the said
person the act or omission, or damage or loss in respect of which the fine or
deduction is proposed to be imposed and he amount of the fine or deduction,
which it is proposed to impose, and shall hear his explanation in the presence
of at least one other person. The person imposing a fine or directing the making of a
deduction for damage or loss shall at once inform the paymaster of all
particulars, so that the register described in rule 3 or rule 4 may be duly
completed. Section 26(3)(g) (1)
No deduction for breach of contract
shall be made from the wages of an employed person who is under the age of
fifteen years or is a woman. (2)
No deduction for breach of contract,
shall be made from the wages of any employed person unless. (a)
there is provision in writing forming
part of the terms of the contract of employment requiring him to give notice of
the termination of his employment and (i)
the period of this notice does not
exceed fifteen days or be wage period, whichever is less; and (ii)
the period of this notice does not
exceed the period of notice which the employer is required to give of the
termination of that employment. (b)
this rule has been displayed in
English and in the language of the majority of the employed persons at or near
the main entrance of the factory or of the industrial establishment, as the
case may be, and has been so displayed or not less than one month before the
commencement of the absence in respect of which the deduction is made; (c)
a notice has been displayed at or near
the main entrance of the factory or of the industrial establishment, as the
case may be, giving the names of the persons from whom the deduction is
proposed to be deducted and the conditions (if any) on which the deduction
shall be remitted: Provided that where the deduction is proposed to be made
from all the persons employed in any departments or sections of the factory or
of the industrial establishment, as the case may be, it shall be sufficient, in
lieu of giving the names of the persons in such departments or sections, to
specify the departments or sections affected. (3)
No deduction for breach of contract
shall exceed the wages of the person employed for the period by which the
notice of termination of Service given falls short of the period of such notice
required by the contract of employment. (4)
If any condition have been specified
in the notice displayed under clause (c) of sub-rule (2) no deduction for
breach of contract shall be made from any person who has complied with these
conditions. Section 26(2) and 26(3)(i) (1)
An advance of wages not already earned
shall not without the previous permission of the Inspector, exceed an amount
equivalent to the wages earned by the employed person during the preceding four
calendar months or if he has not been employed for that period, the wages he is
likely to earn during the four subsequent calendar months. (2)
The advance may be recovered in
installments by deductions from wages spread over not more than eighteen
months. No installment shall exceed one-third or where the wages for any wage
period are not more than twenty rupees, one-fourth of the wages for the wage
period in respect of which the deduction is made. (3)
The amounts of ail advances sanctioned
and the repayments thereof shall be entered in a register in Form III. (4)
The rate of interest charged for advances
granted under sub-rule (1) shall not exceed 6 1/4 percent per annum. Section 26(3)(ia) (1)
A loan may-be granted by the employer
to an employed person for the purpose of. (a)
building a house, (b)
purchase of a built house, (c)
purchase of plot for building a house. (2)
A loan for the purposes specified in
sub-rule (1) shall not ordinarily exceed the amount equal to 36 calendar months
Wages or ten thousand rupees whichever is less and interest on such loan shall
not exceed 6% per annum. Provided, that where the employer has framed rules for
grant of advance for house-building and such rules have been approved by the
State Government the loan for the purposes specified in sub-rule (1) of rule
17A shall be granted and recovered according to the said Rules. (3)
The amount of loan sanctioned under
sub-rule (1) and repayment there of together with interest thereon shall be
recorded in a register in Form III-A which shall be maintained upto date and
kept at the establishment or as near to it as possible. Provided that if the Chief Inspector of Factories is of the
opinion that the existing registers maintained by any establishment give all
the particulars necessary for the enforcement of the provisions of this rule,
he may by order in writing, exempt such establishment from maintaining the
register as required under this rule. Sections 26(2), 26(3)(a) and 26(3)(b) The paymaster shall send a return in Form IV in respect of
every factory and industrial establishment so as to reach the authority
appointed under rule 9 not later than the 15th of February following the end of
the calendar year to which it relates. (1)
In every cotton spinning and weaving
factory and in every artificial silk factory a notice shall be displayed by the
paymaster in each department of the factory, specifying the rates of wages
payable to all persons employed in such factory other than those who are
employed in positions of supervision or management or those who are employed in
a confidential position in accordance with the provisions of the Bombay
Factories Rules 1950 or any corresponding rules for the time being in force, in
any part of the State of Gujarat. (2)
In every Industrial establishment, a
notice shall be displayed by the paymaster, specifying the rates of wages
payable to all persons employed in such establishment other, than those who are
employed in position of supervision or management. Section 26(3)(i) (1)
Where the Authority or the Court as
the case may he directs that any costs shall not follow the event, he shall
state his reasons for so doing in writing. (2)
The costs which may be awarded shall
include. (a)
the charges necessarily incurred on
account of court fees: (b)
the charges necessarily incurred on
subsistence money to witnesses; and (c)
pleaders fees which shall ordinarily
be Rs. 10 provided that tile Authority or the Court, as the case may be, in any
proceedings, may reduce the fee to a sum not less than Rs. 5 or increase it to
a sum not exceeding Rs. 30. (3)
When a party engages more pleaders
than one to defend a case, he shall be allowed one set of costs only. The Authority or, the Court, as the case may be, may fix
fees on the payment of which any person entitled to do so may, obtain copies of
any documents filed with the Authority or the Court, as the case may be: Provided that the Authority or the Court, as the case may
be, may, in consideration of the poverty of the applicant, grant copies free of
costs. Section 26(3)(k) The fees payable in respect of proceedings under the Act
specified in column 1 of the Table below shall be at the rate specified against
each of them in column 2 there of. TABLE 1 2 (i) An application to summon a witness, Twenty five naye paise in respect of each witness. (ii) An application made to the Authority under section 15 of the Act. The same rate of ad valorem fees as is chargeable in respect of a
plaint under article 1 of Schedule 1 annexed to the Bombay Court Fees Act.
1959 (Bom. XXXVI of 1959) calculated on the amount claimed under the
application or on the amount directed to be paid by the Authority under
section 15 of the Act, whichever is less. (iii) An appeal preferred before the District Court under section 17 of
the Act. The same rate of ad valorem fees as is chargeable in respect of appeal
under article 1 of Schedule I annexed to the Bombay Court Fees Act 1959 (Bom.
XXXVI of 1959) calculated on the amount of the subject matter in dispute in
appeal except that when an appeal is preferred by a person making an
application under section 15 the fees payable shall subject to the provisions
of section 17A, be calculated on the amount directed to be paid by the
Appellate Court under section 17 of the Act. Section 26(3)(i) The abstract of the Act and of the rules made thereunder to
be displayed under Section 25 shall be in Form V : Section 26(4) Any breach of rules, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 15, 18 and 19 of
these rules shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two hundred
rupees. The Saurashtra Payment of Wages Rules, 1949 and the Kutch
Payment of Wages Rules, 1951 are hereby repealed: Provided that anything done or any action taken under the
provisions of the rules so repealed shall, in so fur as it is not inconsistent
with the provisions of the rules, be deemed to have been done or taken under
the corresponding provisions of these rules and shall continue in force until
superseded by anything done or any action taken under these rules.GUJARAT PAYMENT OF WAGES RULES, 1963
PREAMBLE