In exercise of the
power conferred by sub-section (2) of section 26 of the Payment of Wages Act,
1936 (IV of 1936), the Governor is pleased to make the following rules, the
same having been previously published as required under sub-section (5) of the
said section : These rules may be
called the West Bengal Payment of Wages Rules, 1958. These rules shall
apply to factories and also to the industrial establishments to which the
provisions of the Act have been or may be extended by notification under
sub-section (5) of section 1 of the Act. 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 sub-section (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) "the Labour
Commissioner" means the Labour Commissioner as defined in rule 2 of the
West Bengal Industrial Disputes Rules, 1958; (e) "the Court"
means the court mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 17 of the Act; (f) "deduction for
breach of contract" means a deduction made in accordance with the
provisions of the proviso to sub-section (2) of section 9; (g) "deduction for
damage or loss" means a deduction made in accordance with the provisions
of clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 7; (h) "factory"
means a factory as defined in section 2 of the Factories Act, 1948 (LXIII of
1948); (i) "industrial
establishment" means an industrial establishment as defined in section 2
of the Act; (j) "form"
means a form appended to these rules; (k) "Inspector"
means the Inspector authorised by or under section 14 of the Act; (l) "person
employed" excludes all persons to the payment of whose wages the Act does
not apply; (m) "section"
means a section of the Act; (n) "paymaster"
means an employer or other person responsible under section 3 of the Act for
the payment of wages; [1](o) "the Regional Labour Commissioner
(Central)" means the Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), referred to
in rule 2 of the Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957. (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 1. (2) At the beginning of
the Register of Fines there shall be entered serially numbered the approved
purpose or purposes on which the fines realised are to be expended. (3) When any
disbursements are made from the lines realised, an entry of the amount so
expended shall be made in the Register of Fines, and a voucher or receipt in
respect of the amount shall be affixed to the register. If more than one
purpose have been approved the entry of the disbursement shall also indicate
the purpose for which it is made. In every factory or
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. In every factory or
industrial establishment, the paymaster shall maintain a Register of Wages in
such form as he finds convenient including, inter alia, the following
particulars: (a) the rate of wages of
each person employed; (b) the gross wages
earned by each person employed for each wage-period; (c) all deductions made
from those wages, with an indication in each case of the clause of sub-section
(2) of section 7 under' which the deduction is made; (d) the wages actually
paid to each person employed for each wage-period; (e) dare of payment. (1) The registers
required by rules 4, 5, 6 and 18 shall be maintained in the English language. (2) All entries in the
registers shall be made in ink, shall be legible and shall be maintained' up to
date. (3) All registers for the
preceding three calendar years shall be preserved and be available in the
factory or industrial establishment, as the case may be, for examination by the
Inspector.' (1) All weights, measures
or weighing machines which are used in checking, or ascertaining the wages of
persons employed in any factory or industrial establishment shall be examined
at least twice a year by an Inspector who may prohibit the use of any weight, measure
or weighing machine which he finds to register incorrectly. (2) If the Inspector
considers that any action should be taken under the Indian Penal Code (XLV of
1860), he may seize the article in question and shall record his opinion and
send it to the District Magistrate for such action as he may think fit. The paymaster shall
display, in a conspicuous place at or near the main entrance of the factory or
industrial establishment, a notice in English and in the language of the
majority of the persons employed therein, specifying for not less than one
month in advance, the wage-period and the date or dates on which wages are to
be paid. (1) The Chief Inspector
of Factories shall be the authority competent in respect of factories 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. (2) The Labour
Commissioner shall be the authority competent in respect of industrial
establishments other than docks, wharfs and jetties 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. [2](3) The Regional Labour Commissioner (Central) of
the area concerned shall be the authority competent in respect of docks, wharfs
and jetties 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 Chief Inspector of Factories or the Labour
Commissioner or *[the Regional Labour Commissioner (Central)]
as the case may be (a) a list, in [3][Bengali
or] English, in duplicate, clearly defining such acts and omissions; (b) in cases where the
employer himself does not intend to be the sole person empowered to impose
fines, a list, in duplicate, showing those appointments in his factory or
industrial establishment of which the incumbents may pass orders imposing fines
and the departments or sections in respect of which the incumbent of each such
appointment may impose fine. The authority
appointed under rule 10 on receipt of the list prescribed in clause (a) of rule
11 may, after such enquiry as he considers necessary, pass orders either (a) disapproving the
list, (b) approving the list
either in their original form or as amended by him, in which case such list
shall be considered to be an approved list, provided that no order disapproving
or amending the list shall be passed unless the employer shall have been given
an opportunity of showing cause orally or in writing why the list as submitted
by him should be approved. The employer shall
display at or near the main entrance of the factory or industrial establishment
a copy each in English and Bengali, together with a literal translation
thereof, in the language of the majority of persons employed therein, of the
list approved under rule 12. No fine shall be
imposed by any person other than an employer, or a person holding an
appointment named in the list submitted under clause (b) of rule 11. Any person desiring
to impose a fine on an employed person or to make a 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 the amount of the fine or deduction, which it is proposed to impose, and if
any such employed person has any explanation to offer in this behalf, he shall
hear the employed person 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 prescribed in
rule 4 or rule 5 may be duly completed. (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 the 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 industrial establishment
and has been so displayed for 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 industrial
establishment giving the names of the persons from whom the deduction is
proposed to be made, the number of days, wages to be deducted and the
conditions (if any) on which the deduction will 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 industrial establishment, 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 persons 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 conditions
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. (1) An advance of wages
not already earned shall not, without the previous permission of an Inspector,
exceed an amount equivalent to the wages earned by the employed person during
the preceding two calendar months, or if he has not been employed for that
period, an amount equivalent to the wages he is likely to earn during the two
subsequent calendar months. (2) The advance may be
recovered in instalments by deductions from wages ordinarily spread over not
more than twelve months. No instalment 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 amount of all
advances sanctioned and the repayments thereof shall be entered in a register
in Form III. In respect of every
factory or industrial establishment the paymaster shall submit a return in Form
IV so as to reach the Chief Inspector of Factories or the Labour Commissioner
or Regional Labour Commissioner (Central), as the case may be. not later than
the 31st of January following the end of the calendar year to which it relates. (1) Where the Authority
or the Court, as the case may be, 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) pleader's fees which
shall ordinarily be Rs. 10 provided that the 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 cost. The fee payable in
respect of proceedings under the Act shall be (i) For every certificate
of authorization One rupee. (ii) For every application
to summon a witness (a) for the first witness
mentioned in the application Fifty paise. (b) for each subsequent
witness in the application Twenty-five paise. (iii) For every other
application made by or on behalf of an individual person before the Authority Fifty
paise. (iv) For every other
application made by or on behalf of an unpaid group before the Authority Twenty-five
paise for each member of the group, subject to a maximum of five rupees. (v) For every appeal
lodged with the Court Five rupees: Provided that the
Authority or the Court may, in consideration of the poverty of the applicant,
reduce or remit this fee: Provided further that
no fee shall be chargeable in respect of an application presented by an
Inspector. (1) Any amount directed
to be paid under section 15 may be deposited with the Authority along with a
statement in Form V. (2) When any deposit is
made under sub-rule (1), the Authority shall grant a receipt for the amount so
deposited in Form VI and this receipt shall be a sufficient discharge in
respect of any amount deposited with him: Provided that the
said receipt in Form VI may be signed under the direction of the Authority and
on his behalf by any officer subordinate to him appointed by him in writing for
this purpose. (3) Any sum deposited
with the Authority under sub-rule (1), or recovered under sub-section (5) of
section 15 shall, on application, be paid by the authority to the person
entitled thereto. The abstracts of the
Act and of the rules made thereunder to be displayed under section 25 shall be
in Form VII. Any breach of rules
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 19 of these rules shall be punishable
with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees.WEST BENGAL PAYMENT OF WAGES RULES, 1958
PREAMBLE