WEEKLY HOLIDAYS ACT, 1942
[REPEALED]
Preamble 1 - THE WEEKLY HOLIDAYS ACT, 1942
THE
WEEKLY HOLIDAYS ACT, 1942
[Act
No. 18 of 1942][1]
[03rd
April, 1942]
PREAMBLE
An Act to provide for the grant of
weekly holidays to persons employed in shops, restaurants and theatres.
WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for
the grant of weekly holidays to persons employed in shops, restaurants and
theatres;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
Section 1 - Short title, extent and commencement
(1)
??This Act may be called the Weekly
Holidays Act, 1942.
(2)
??It extends to the whole of India [2]
[***].
(3)
??It shall come into force in a [3]
[State] or in a specified area within a [4]
[State] only if the [5]
[State] Government by notification in the Official Gazette so directs.
Section 2 - Definitions
In
this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) ??"establishment" means a shop,
restaurant or theatre;
(b) ??"day" means a period of twenty-four
hours beginning at mid-night;
(c)??
"restaurant"means any premises in which is carried on
principally or wholly the business of supplying meals or refreshments to the
public or a class of the public for consumption on the premises but does not
include a restaurant attached to a theatre;
(d)??
"shop" includes any premises where any retail trade or
business is carried on, including the business of a barber or hair dresser, and
retail sales by auction, but excluding the sale of programmes, catalogues, and
other similar sales attheatres;
(e)??
"theatre" includes any premises intended principally or wholly
for the presentation of moving pictures, dramatic performances or stage
entertainments;
(f) ???"week" means a period of seven
days beginning at midnight on Saturday.
Section 3 - Closing of shops
(1) Every shop shall
remain entirely closed on one day of the week, which day shall be specified by
the shopkeeper in a notice permanently exhibited in a conspicuous place in the
shop.
(2) The day so specified
shall not be altered by the shopkeeper more often than once in three months.
Section 4 - Weekly holidays in shops, restaurants and theatres
Every
person employed otherwise than in a confidential capacity or in a position of
management in any shop, restaurant or theatre shall be allowed in each week a
holiday of one whole day:
Provided
that nothing in this section shall apply to any person whose total period of
employment in the week including any days spent on authorised leave is less
than six days or entitle to an additional holiday a person employed in a shop
who has been allowed a whole holiday on the day on which the shop has remained
closed in pursuance of section 3.
Section 5 - Additional half day closing or holiday
(1) ??The [6] [State] Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, require in respect of shops or any
specified class of shops that they shall be closed at such hour in the
afternoon of one week-day in every week in addition to the day provided for by
section 3 as may be fixed by the [7] [State] Government, and in respect of
theatres and restaurants or any specified class of either or both, that every
person employed therein otherwise than in a confidential capacity or in a
position of management shall be allowed in each week an additional holiday of
one-half day commencing at such hour in the afternoon as may be fixed by
the [8] [State]Government.
(2)??
The [9] [State] Government may, for the
purposes of this section, fix different hours for different shops or different
classes of shops or for different areas or for different times of the year.
(3)??
The weekly day on which a shop is closed in pursuance of a requirement
under sub-section(1) shall be specified by the shop-keeper in a notice
permanently exhibited in a conspicuous place in the shop and shall not be
altered by the shop-keeper more often than once in three months.
Section 6 - No deduction or abatement to be made from wages
No
deduction or abatement of the wages of any person employed in an establishment
to which this Act applies shall be made on account of any day or part of a day
on which the establishment has remained closed or a holiday has been allowed in
accordance with sections 3, 4 and 5, and if such person is employed on the
basis that he would not ordinarily receive wages for such day or part of a day
he shall none the less be paid for such day or part of a day the wages he would
have drawn had the establishment not remained closed or the holiday not been
allowed on that day or part of a day.
Section 7 - Inspectors
(1)
The [10] [State] Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint persons to be inspectors for the
purposes of this Act within such local limits as it may assign to each such
person.
(2)
Every
inspector appointed under this section shall be deemed to be a public servant
within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of
1860).
Section 8 - Powers of Inspectors
(1)
Subject
to any rules made in this behalf by the [11] [State] Government, an inspector may,
within the local limits for which he is appointed,-
(a)
enter
and remain in any establishment to which this Act applies with such assistants,
if any, being servants of the [12] [Government] as he thinks fit;
(b)
make
such examination of any such establishment and of any record, register or
notice maintained therein in pursuance of rules made under clause (c) of
sub-section (2) of section 10, and take on the spot or otherwise such evidence
of any person as he may deem necessary for carrying out the purposes of this
Act;
(c)
exercise
such other powers as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this
Act.
(2)
Any
person having the custody of any record, register or notice maintained in
pursuance of rules made under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 10 shall
be bound to produce it when so required by the inspector, but no person shall
be compellable to answer any question if the answer may tend directly or
indirectly to criminate himself.
Section 9 - Penalties
In
the event of any contravention of the provisions of section 3, of section 4, of
a requirement imposed by notification under sub-section (1) of section 5, of
section 6, or of the rules made under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section
10, the proprietor or other person responsible for the management of the
establishment in which such contravention takes place shall be punishable with
fine which may extend, in the case of the first offence, to twenty-five rupees,
and, in the case of a second or subsequent offence, to two hundred and fifty
rupees.
Section 10 - Rules
(1) ??The [13] [State] Government may, subject to the
condition of previous publication by notification in the Official Gazette, make
rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) ??In particular and without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing power, such rules may-
(a) ??define the persons who shall be deemed to be
employed in a confidential capacity or in a position of management for the
purpose of sections 4 and 5;
(b)?
?regulate the exercise of their
powers and the discharge of their duties by inspectors;
(c) ??require registers and records to be
maintained and notices to be displayed in establishments to which this Act
applies and prescribe the form and contents thereof.
Section 11 - Power of exemption and suspension
The
Central Government in respect of establishments under its control, and
the [14] [State] Government in respect of all
other establishments within the [15] [State] may, subject to such
conditions, if any, as it thinks fit to impose, exempt any establishment to
which this Act applies from all or any specified provisions of this Act, and
may, on any special occasion in connection with a fair or festival or a
succession of public holidays, suspend for a specified period the operation of
this Act.
[1]
For statement of Objects
and Reasons, see Gazette of India, 1941, Pt. V, p. 142 and for Report of Select
Committee, see Gazette of India, 1942, Pt. V, p. 55.
[2]
The words
"except the State of Jammu & Kashmir" Substituted for
"except Part B States" by Act 3 of 1951, Section 3 and Schedule
which were subsequently omitted by Act 51 of 1970, Section 2 and Schedule
[3]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950, for "Provinces".
[4]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950, for "Provinces".
[5]
Substituted by the Adaptation
of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provincial".
[6]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provincial".
[7]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provincial".
[8]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provincial".
[9]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provincial".
[10]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provincial".
[11]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provincial".
[12]
Substituted by the Adaptation
of Laws Order, 1950 for "Crown".
[13]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950, for "Provincial".
[14]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950, for "Provincial".
[15]
Substituted by the
Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 for "Provinces".