Maintenance of register, records, etc. –
Every employer
shall prepare and maintain such registers, records and other documents in such
form and in such manner as may prescribed.
Inspectors. –
(1) The
appropriate Government may, by notification on the Official Gazette, appoint
such person as it think fit to be Inspectors for the purposes of this Act and
may define the limits within which they shall exercise jurisdiction.
(2) An
Inspector appointed under sub-section (1) may, for the purpose of ascertaining
whether any of the provisions of this Act has been complied with --
(a) Require an employer to furnish
such information as he may consider necessary;
(b) at any reasonable time and
with such assistance, if any, as he thinks fit enter any establishment or any
premises connected therewith and require any one found in charge thereof to
produce before him for examination any accounts, books, registers and other
documents relating to the employment of persons or the payment of salary or
wage or bonus in the establishment;
(c) examine with respect to any
matter relevant to any of the purposes aforesaid, the employer, his agent or
servant or any other person found in charge of the establishment or any
premises connected therewith or any person whom the Inspector has reasonable
cause to believe to be or to have been an employee in the establishment;
(d) make copies of, or take
extracts from, any book, register or other document maintained in relation to
the establishment;
(e) exercise such other powers as
may prescribed.
(3) Every
Inspector shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the
Indian penal Code (45 of 1860).
(4) Any person required to produce any accounts, book, register or
other documents or to give information by an Inspector under sub-section (1)
shall be legally bound to do so.
[(5) Nothing contained in this section shall enable
an Inspector to require a banking company to furnish or disclose any statement
or information or to produce, or give inspection of any its books of account or
other documents which a banking company cannot be compelled to furnish,
disclose, produce or give inspection of, under the provision of section 34A of
the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949).
Penalty.- if any person-
(a)
contravenes any of the provision of this Act or
any rule made thereunder, or
(b)
to whom a direction is given or a requisition is
made under this Act fails to comply with the direction or requisition,
he shall be punishable with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to six
months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with
both.
Offense by
companies.-
(1) If the person committing an offense under this Act is a company,
every person who, at the time the offense was committed, was in charge of, and
was responsible to, the company for the conduct of business of the company, as
well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offense and shall be
liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall
render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence
was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all; due diligence to
prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an
offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that
the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is
attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or
other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other
officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable
to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation. – For the
purposes of this section, --
(a) “company” means any body
corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(b) “director”, in relation to a
firm, means a partner in the firm.
Cognizance of offences. –
(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act,
save on complaint made by or under the authority of the appropriate Government 1[or an officer of that Government (not
below the rank of a Regional Labour Commissioner in the case of an officer of
the Central Government, and not below the rank of a Labour Commissioner in the
case of an officer of the State Government) specially authorised in this behalf
by that Government].
(2) No court inferior to that of a presidency magistrate or a
magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.
Protection of action taken
under the Act. –
No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie
against the Government or any officer of the Government for anything which is
in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule
made thereunder.
A. Special provision with respect to
payment of bonus linked with production or productivity. –
Notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act,--
(i) where an agreement or a
settlement has been entered into by the employees with their employer before
the commencement of the Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Act, 1976 (23 of 1976), or
(ii) where the employees enter
into any agreement or settlement with their employer after such commencement, for
payment of an annual bonus linked with production or productivity in lieu of
bonus based on profits payable under this Act, then, such employees shall be
entitled to receive bonus due to them under such agreement or settlement, as
the case may be:
[Provided that any such agreement or
settlement whereby the employees relinquish their right to receive the minimum
bonus under section 10 shall be null and void in so far as it purports to
deprive them of such right:]
[Provided further that] such employees
shall not be entitled to be paid such bonus in excess of twenty per cent. of
the salary or wage earned by them during the relevant accounting year.
Act not to apply to certain
classes of employees. –
Nothing in this Act shall apply to --
(i) employees employed by any insurer carrying on general insurance business and
the employees employed by the Life Insurance Corporation of India
(ii) seamen as defined in clause
(42) of section 3 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 ( 44 of 1958);
(iii) employees registered or
listed under any scheme made under the Dock Workers (Regulation of Employment)
Act, 1948 (9 of 1948), and employed by registered or listed employers;
(iv) employees employed by an
establishment engaged in any industry carried on by or under the authority of
any department of the Central Government or a State Government or a Local
authority;
(v) employees employed by --
(a) the Indian Red Cross Society
or any other institution of a like nature (including its branches);
(b) universities and other
educational institutions;
(c) institutions (including
hospitals, chambers of commerce and social welfare institutions) established
not for purposes of profit;
(vi) employees employed through
contractor on building operations;
(viii) employees employed by the Reserve Bank of India
(ix) employees employed by --
(a) the Industrial Finance
Corporation of India
(b) any Financial Corporation
established under section 3, or any Joint Financial Corporation established
under section 3A, of the State Financial Corporations Act, 1951 (63 of 1951);
(c) the Deposit Insurance
Corporation;
[(d) the
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development;]
(e) the Unit Trust of India
(f)
the Industrial Development Bank of India
(fa) the Small Industries Development
Bank of India
(ff) the
National Housing Bank;]
(g) any other financial
institution [(other than a banking
company)], being an establishment in public sector, which the Central
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, having regard
to --
(i) its capital structure;
(ii) its objectives and the nature
of its activities;
(iii) the nature and extent of
financial assistance or any concession given to it by the Government; and
(iv) any other relevant factor;
(xi) employees employed by inland
water transport establishment operating on routes passing through any other
country.
Effect of laws and agreements
inconsistent with the Act. –
Subject to the provisions of section 31A, the
provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent
contained in any other law for the time being in force or in the terms of any
award, agreement, settlement or contract of service.]
Saving. –
Nothing,
contained in this Act shall be deemed to affect the provisions of the Coal
Mines, Provident Fund and Bonus Schemes Act, 1948 (48 for 1948), or of any
scheme made thereunder.
Power of exemption. –
I
f the appropriate Government, having regard to the financial position and
other relevant circumstances of any establishment or class of establishment, is of opinion that
it will not be in public interest to apply all or any of the provisions of this
Act thereto, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, exempt for such
period as maybe specified therein and subject to such conditions as it may
think fit to impose, such establishment or class of establishment from all or
any of the provisions of this Act.
Power to make rules. –
(1) The Central Government may make rule for the purpose of carrying into
effect the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such rules may provide for --
(a) the authority for granting
permission under the proviso to sub-clause (iii) of clause (1) of section 2;
(b) the preparation of
registers, records and other documents and the form and manner in which such
registers, records and documents may be maintained under section 26;
(c) the powers which may be
exercised by an inspector under clause (e) of sub-section (2) of section 27;
(d) any other matter which is to
be, or maybe prescribed.
(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may
be after it is made, before each House of Parliament while it is in session for
a total period of thirty days, which may be comprised in one session [or in two
or more successive sessions], and if before the expiry of the session
[immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid], both
Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that
the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such
modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any
such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of
anything previously done under that rule.
Application of certain law
not barred. –Save as otherwise expressly provided, the provisions of this
Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the Industrial Disputes
Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), or any corresponding law relating to investigation and
settlement of industrial disputes in force in a State.
Repeal and saving. –
(1) The Payment of Bonus Ordinance, 1965 (3 of 1965), is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken
under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under this
Act as if this Act had commenced on the 29th May, 1965 .
