WEST BENGAL FACTORIES (WELFARE OFFICERS) RULES, 1971

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (2) of section 49, section 50 and section 112 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), and in supersession of the rules published with this Department Notification No. 4020-Lab., dated the 24th July 1950, the Governor is pleased hereby to make, after previous publication, the following rules, namely:

Rule - 1. Short title.

These rules may be called the West Bengal Factories (Welfare Officers) Rules, 1971.

Rule - 2. Commencement.

These rules shall come into force at once.

Rule - 3. Definitions.

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,

(a)      "the Act" means the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948);

(b)      "Welfare Officer" means a Welfare Officer appointed under sub-section (1) of section 49 of the Act; and

(c)      "section" means a section of the Act.

Rule - 4. Number of Welfare Officers.

(a)      In every factory wherein five hundred or more workers are ordinarily employed, the minimum number of full-time Welfare Officers to be employed by the occupier shall be as follows:

Provided that where the number of workers exceeds 20,000 there shall be employed one Additional Welfare Officer in any grade for every 2,000 workers in excess of 20,000.

(b)      Where there are more than one Welfare Officer, one enjoying higher or the highest grade shall be designated Chief Welfare Officer, and other Welfare Officer's, Grade I, II or III, as the case may be:

Provided that where there are more than one factory under the same occupier in any premises, Welfare Officer enjoying higher or the highest grade may be designated Chief Welfare Officer for all such factories.

Rule - 5. Qualifications.

A person shall not be eligible for appointment as a Welfare Officer unless he

(a)      possesses a degree of a recognised University;

(b)      has thorough knowledge of Bengali acquired through an institution which is under a Board of Secondary Education or affiliated to a University or recognised by the State Government;

(c)      can speak Hindi;

(d)      has obtained a degree or diploma in Labour and Social Welfare recognised by the Government of West Bengal, or has passed Labour Welfare Officers' Training Course of the Labour Department of the Government of "West Bengal, and has qualified at a viva voce test conducted by a Board constituted by the Labour Department of the Government of West Bengal; and

(e)      is not less than 21 years of age:

Provided that in case of persons already in service as Welfare Officers in factories, the qualifications prescribed in clauses (b), (c) and (d) above may be relaxed subject to such conditions as the State Government may specify.

Rule - 6. Power to exempt.

The State Government may exempt, from all or any of the prescribed qualifications, any person who has been in employment for more than ten years in any factory as a Welfare or Labour Officer, and who, in the opinion of the State Government, possesses the requisite practical experience to serve as a Welfare Officer.

Rule - 7. Filling up of vacancy.

Any vacancy in the post of a Welfare Officer, caused by the death, dismissal, discharge or resignation of a Welfare Officer or by any other reason, shall be filled up within three months of the occurrence of the vacancy.

Rule - 8. Conditions of service.

(1)     The Chief Welfare Officer shall be given appropriate status corresponding to the status of other departmental heads serving under the Chief head of the factory. Every other Welfare Officer shall be given appropriate status corresponding to the status of the deputy to the other departmental heads in the factory.

(2)     The Chief Welfare Officer or a Welfare Officer may be employed either on a tenure basis or on a permanent basis. Where he is appointed on a tenure basis, the term shall not be less than three years and the period of probation shall be six months; and where the appointment is on a permanent basis, the period of probation shall act be less than one year or more than two years, Any such officer appointed on a tenure basis shall ordinarily be entitled to a renewal of such periodical contract unless there are very special reasons against such renewal.

(3)     The occupier shall notify the appointment of a Chief Welfare Officer or a Welfare Officer within seven days from the date of appointment, to the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, giving full details of his qualifications, age, terms and condition of service.

(4)     A Welfare Officer, whose work is found unsatisfactory during the period of probation, shall, after one month's notice to such Welfare Officer, be liable to be discharged by the occupier of the factory, with intimation to that effect to the Chief inspector of Factories, West Bengal.

(5)     (a) The occupier may impose upon any Welfare Officer any or move of the following punishments, namely:

(i)       suspension,

(ii)      removal or dismissal from service,

(iii)     reduction in rank,

(iv)    withholding of increment including stoppage at an efficiency bar,

(v)      censor,

(vi)    warning:

Provided that no Welfare Officer shall be punished as aforesaid except after an enquiry in which he has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges and where it is proposed, after such an enquiry, to impose on him any such penalty, until he has been given a reasonable opportunity of making representation on the penalty proposed, but only on the basis of the evidence adduced during such enquiry.

(b) Any Welfare Officer, who is awarded any or more of the punishments referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (5), shall within thirty days of the communication of the order of punishment to him, be entitled to appeal against such order to the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal:

Provided that the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, may, on sufficient cause being shown for the delay, extend the aforesaid time-limit to a period not exceeding six weeks,

(c) On being satisfied that a Welfare Officer intends to prefer an appeal under clause (b) of sub-rule (5), the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, may stay the enforcement of the order of punishment to be appealed against, for such period and on such terms, if any, as he may think just and proper.

(d) The Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, shall, after giving both the parties a reasonable opportunity of being heard, by an order for reasons to be recorded in writing, dispose of the appeal as expeditiously as possible. While disposing the appeal, the Chief Inspector of Factories, "West Bengal, may confirm, modify or set aside the order appealed against.

(e) The occupier or any Welfare Officer, being aggrieved by the decision of the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, may, within thirty days of the communication of such order to him, prefer a second appeal to the State Government, and the decision of the State Government on such appeal shall be final and binding on both the parties:

Provided that no such second appeal shall lie where all or any of the punishments specified in sub-clauses (iv), (v) or (vi) of clause (a) of sub-rule (5) have been imposed, and in cases of such punishment, the decision of the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, shall be final and binding on both the parties.

(f) On being satisfied that (the occupier or) a Welfare Officer intends to prefer an appeal under clause (e) of sub-rule (5), the State Government may stay the enforcement of the decision of the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, for such period and on such terms, if any, as the State Government may think just and proper.

Rule - 9. Duties of the Chief Welfare and Welfare Officers.

(1)     In addition to the duties of a Welfare Officer hereinafter prescribed, the Chief Welfare Officer shall supervise the work of the Welfare Officers.

(2)     The duties of the Welfare Officers shall be

(a)      to advise the concerned departments of the factory on questions of fulfillment of obligations, statutory or otherwise, in the application of the provisions of the factories Act, 1948, and the rules made thereunder;

(b)      to establish liaison with the Inspector of Factories, the Medical Inspector and the Certifying Surgeon of Factories concerning medical examination of employees, health records, supervision of hazardous jobs, systematic plant inspection, safety education, accident prevention, investigation of accidents, and maternity benefits;

(c)      to advise and assist factory management regarding provision of amenities such as first-aid, ambulance rooms, canteens, shelters for rest, creches, drinking water and latrine facilities, sickness and benevolent scheme payments, pension and superannuation funds, gratuity payments and matter concerning workmen's compensation;

(d)      to advise and assist the factory management regarding

(i)       display of abstracts of the labour laws and the notices under the Factories Act, 1948, We West Bengal Factories Rules, 1958, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, and the West Bengal Payment of Wages Rules, 1958, and

(ii)      submission of all notices and periodical and yearly returns to the factory inspector;

(e)      to help the factory management in regulating grant of leave with wages, to explain to the workers the provisions relating to leave with wages and other leave privileges, and to guide the workers in the matter of submission, of application for grant of leave for regularising authorised absence;

(f)       to promote relations between the concerned departments of the factory and workers for bringing about productive efficiency as well as amelioration in the working conditions, and to help workers to adjust and adapt themselves to their working environments;

(g)      to advise the factory management on questions relating to

(i)       training of new entrants and apprentices; where there is no separate arrangement for imparting training,

(ii)      transfer and promotion, and

(iii)     supervision and control of notice board and information bulletins to facilitate further education of workers and to encourage their attendance at technical institutes;

(h)     to encourage the formation of Safety Committees, (sic) Production Committees, Co-operative Societies, Works and Welfare Committees, and to supervise their work;

(i)       to advise and assist the factory management

(i)       in dealing with individual personnel problems, and

(ii)      in providing welfare facilities, such as housing facilities, foodstuff, social and recreational facilities, sanitation and education of children;

(j)       to bring to the notice of workers;-

(i)       their rights and liabilities under the standing orders of the factory, and

(ii)      other rules defining the rights and prescribing the duties of workers and dealing with discipline, safety and production of workers and the factory;

(k)      to establish contacts and hold consultations with a view to maintaining harmonious relations between the factory management and the workers;

(l)       to bring to the notice of the factory management the grievances of workers, individual as well as collective, with a view to securing their expeditious redress;

(m)    to study and understand the point of view of labour in order to help the factory management to shape and formulate labour policies, and to interpret these policies to the workers in a language they can understand;

(n)     to watch industrial relations with a view to using his influence to prevent a dispute arising between the factory management and the workers, and in the event of a dispute having arisen, to help to bring about a settlement by persuasive efforts;

(o)      to suggest measures which will servo to raise the standard of living of the workers, and in general promote their well-being;

(p)      to advise the management to display the provisions of the Code of Discipline, Code of Conduct, Grievance Procedure, and other decisions of the Indian Labour Conference or Standing Labour Committee as are available or may be available subsequently;

(q)      to advise the management to lay down "grievances procedure" and also assist the management in implementation thereof.

(3)     The Chief Welfare Officer or a Welfare Officer shall not

(a)      deal with any disciplinary case against a worker, or

(b)      appear before a conciliation officer or in a court or tribunal on behalf of the factory management against a worker or workers except when he is required by the conciliation officer or a court or a tribunal to appear as a witness.

Rule - 10. Power of Chief Inspector to issue order.

It the Chief Inspector of Factories is of opinion that Welfare Officer is being required or permitted by the occupier of the factory to do work which is inconsistent with, or detrimental to, the performance of his duties prescribed by rule 9, the Chief Inspector of Factories may, by an order for reasons to be recorded in writing, direct that such Welfare Officer shall not be acquired or permitted to do such work.

Rule - 11. Grade of Welfare Officer and their pay scale.

(1)     There shall be the following grade of Welfare Officer with the minimum scale of pay as mentioned against each grade:

(a)      Grade IIIRs. 30020600;

(b)      Grade IIRs. 40035800;

(c)      Grade IRs. 50025800401,200;

(d)      Selection GradeRs. 1,300501,800.

(2)     Over and above the scale of pay specified in sub-rule (1), a Welfare Officer shall be entitled to get such allowances and benefits as are admissible to other officers or employees of equivalent rank and status receiving the same pay or same scale of pay.

Rule - 12. Exemption.

The State Government may, by a notification in the Official Gazette, exempt any factory or class of factories or description of factories from all or any of the provisions of these rules subject to compliance with such alternative arrangements as may be specified therein.