Standing orders of
(Certified on the and copies sent to parties on the )
1. Classification of workmen.—Workmen shall be classified as follows, namely :--
(1) Permanent;
(2) Probationers;
(3) Temporary;
(4) Badli;
(5) Casual ;
(6) Seasonal ; and
(7) Apprentices.
2. Definitions.—(a) A ‘permanent workman’ is one who is employed on a permanent basis and includes any person who has satisfactorily completed the prescribed period of probation in the same or higher or equivalent category in the industrial establishment.
(b) A ‘probationer’ is one who is provisionally employed to fill a permanent vacancy in a post and has not completed the period of probation which shall be three months in the case of unskilled workmen and six months in respect of those other than unskilled :
Provided, in any particular case, the management may extend the period of probation of any workmen upto a further period equivalent to the period of probation prescribed, if they are not satisfied with the work and/or conduct of any workman during the period of probation. In any case where the period of probation is extended, the concerned workmen shall be informed in writing at least one week before the normal date of the completion of probation and in the absence of any such intimation the workman shall be deemed to have satisfactorily competed his probation on the normal date. If a permanent workman is employed in a different post, he may, at any time during the probationary period, be reverted to his old permanent post.
(c) A ‘temporary workman’ is one who has been employed for work which is of an essentially temporary nature likely to be finished within a specified period.
(d) ‘Badli’ is a workman who is employed in the place of another workman whose name is borne on the muster rolls of the establishment.
(e) ‘Casual workman’ is one who is employed for some unexpected or unforeseen work, which is not likely to last continuously.
(f)‘Seasonal workman’ is one who is employed on seasonal basis during the working seasons only but whose name will be no the muster roll of the factory and who will be eligible for re –employment during every working season.
(g) ‘Apprentice’ is one who is engaged essentially in learning any skilled work provided that the period of such learning shall not exceed one year for those with prescribed technical qualification and three years for others.
3. Issue of department al tickets to workmen.—(1) Every workman shall be provided with a ticket showing his number, classification of work and on attendance each day, shall deliver the ticket at the place provided when entering the industrial establishment and take it back when leaving the industrial establishment at the close of the day.
(2) Every badli, temporary seasonal and casual workman and apprentice shall be provided with a special ticket showing his number, classification of work and his attendance on the day he works which he shall deliver at the place provided when entering the industrial establishment and take it back when leaving the industrial establishment at the close of the day :
Provided that the ticket system shall not apply to industrial establishments where the system issue of metal tokens to workmen is in force or where the workmen are required to sign the attendance register maintained for the purpose or any other customary practice is in fore.
(3) Date and manner of payment of unclaimed wages. – Any wages due to a workman but not paid no the usual pay day on account of their being unclaimed shall if a claim is presented by the workman, or by his legal representative within three years from the date on which the wages become due to the workman, be paid by the employer to the workman or to his legal representative as the case may be, on such unclaimed wage pay day in each week, as may be notified in this behalf.
(4) Shift working (1) At the discretion of the employer more than one shift may be worked in a department or departments or any section of a department of the establishment. If more than one shift is worked, the workman shall be liable to be transferred from one shift to another. No shift working shall be discontinued without one month’s notice being given in writing to the workmen prior to such discontinuance:
Provided that no such notice shall be necessary
(a) If the establishment is a seasonal one where work is carried on intermittently; or
(b) If the closing of the shift is under an agreement; or
(c) If as a result of closing of the shift no permanent workman will be retrenched; or
(d) If the closure is due to circumstances beyond the employer’s control.
(2) If as a result of the discontinuance of the shift working, any workman is to be retrenched, the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act XIV of 1947) shall in so far as it relates to retrenchment of workmen, apply to such workman. If the employer proposes to take into his employ any person, the workman retrenched shall be given notice and re-employed in accordance with the abovesaid Act.
6. Attendance and late coning.—(1) All workmen shall be at work in the industrial establishment at the time fixed and notified. Workmen attending late shall be liable to the deductions provided for the payment of Wages Act, 1936.
(2) Any workman, who after presenting his ticket, leaves his proper place or places of work during any period of the working hours without the permission of the authority to be specified by the management or without any sufficient reason, shall be liable to be treated as absent for the whole day, in case his absence commences before the interval for rest and for half-a-day in case his absence commences after the interval.
7. Procedure for the grant of leave to workman (***). –A workman who desires to obtain leave of absence shall apply to the manager who shall issue orders on the leave application within a week of its submission or tow days prior to the commencement of leave applied for. If the leave is granted, a leave pass shall be issued. If the leave is refused or postponed, the fact of such refusal or postponement and reasons therefor shall be recorded in writing and commencement to the workman concerned before the day of commencement of the leave applied for if the application for leave had been received at least two days in advance. If the workman after proceeding on leave desires an extension thereof, he shall before the expiry of the leave originally granted to him make an application in writing for the purpose to the authority granting leave, who shall send to the workman a written reply either granting or refusing the extension of leave to his last known address. If the leave is required urgently, it shall be applied at least within half-an-hour before the industrial establishment starts working.
8. Grant of casual leave.—Workman may be granted casual leave for ten days in the aggregate in a calendar year. Casual leave is intended only to meet special circumstances : Provided that the period of such casual leave taken at any time or on any one occasion shall not exceed three days, nor shall casual leave be combined with any other leave :
Provided further, that this standing order shall not apply in cases where a workman shall be entitled under any other law, contract, custom or usage to a large number of days of casual leave than that provided for under this standing order.
Ordinarily the previous permission of the head of the department in the establishment shall be obtained before such leave is taken, but when this is not possible, the head of the department shall as soon as may be practicable be informed in writing of the absence from and of the probable duration of such absence.
9. Entry into and departure from establishment of workman.— The workman shall not enter or leave the premises of the industrial establishment except by the gate or gate provided for the purpose.
10. Liability for search.—All male workers shall be liable to be searched by the gateman while leaving the premises of the industrial establishment and all female workers shall be liable to be detained by the gateman for search by the female searcher, if acting without malice, the gateman suspects that any worker is in wrongful possession of property belonging to the industrial establishment ;
Provided that no search shall be made except in the presence of two other persons of the same sex as the suspected worker.
11. Temporary closure of departments and lay-off of workmen for causes beyond the control of the employer.—(1) The employer may, at any time, in the event of fire, catastrophe, breakdown of machinery, or stoppage of power supply, epidemic, civil commotion or other cause beyond his control, shop working any machine or close any department or departments wholly or partially for any period or periods.
(2) In the event of any such stoppage or closure during working hours, the workmen affected shall be notified by notices put upon notice boards in the department concerned and at the time-keeper’s office, as soon as practicable, when work will be resumed and whether they are to remain or leave the industrial establishment. The workman detain in the industrial establishment during such stoppage or closure shall be entitled to receive wages for the whole of the time during which they are detained in the industrial establishment.
Explanation.—In the case of a workman who is paid at piecerate, the wages due for the period of detention shall be calculated taking into account the average daily earnings of the workman for the previous wage-period in which he has worked excluding the overtime and night-shift allowance.
12. Resumption of work after temporary closure.—Any workman who has no work on account of the closure referred to in standing order 11, shall not be considered as discharged from service, but as temporarily unemployed. Whenever practicable, reasonable notice shall be give for resumption of normal work to the workmen and all workmen laid off under standing order 11 who present themselves for work when the normal working is resumed shall be allowed to resume work :
Provided that any workman who for any bonafide reason is unable to resume work on the day of resumption of normal work, may be permitted to resume the work subsequently, if he presents himself within a reasonable time to the satisfaction of the employer.
13. Closure due to strike and resumption of work thereafter.—In the event of a strike affecting either wholly or partially any one or more departments of the industrial establishment, the employer may subject to the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act XIV of 1947), or of the rules made thereunder, close down either wholly or partially such department or departments and any other department or departments affected by such closing down and for any period of periods. The fact of such closure shall be notified by notices put upon the notice board in the departments concerned and in the time-keeper’s office as soon as practicable. The workmen concerned shall also be notified by a general notice, prior to the resumption of work, when work will be resumed.
14. Termination of employment of workmen-(1) Subject to the provisions contained in standing order 17, no employer shall dispense with the service of any workman with not less than one year of continuous service except for a reasonable cause and without giving such workman atleast one month’s month’s or wages in lieu of such notice.
(2) In cases of retrenchment as defined in section 2 (oo) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act XIV of 1947), the provisions of the said Act shall apply :
Provided that no such notice shall be necessary in the case of badli and apprentices.
(3) No order of termination of service of a workman shall be made unless the workman is informed in writing of the reasons for the termination of his service and is given an opportunity to show cause against such termination. A copy of the said order shall be communicated to the workman.
(4) Where the employment of any workman is terminated by or on behalf of the industrial establishment, the wages earned by him shall be paid before the expiry of the second working day form the day on which his employment was terminated or the same shall be made available to him by the drawer of the wages, in case he dose not turn up for receiving the wages.
15. Liability of workmen to give notice before voluntarily leaving service.—Any permanent workman desirous of leaving the service shall give one month’s or one month’s wags in lieu of notice to the employer or to such other officer as the employer may appoint to exercise the functions of an employer in connection with the business of the industrial establishment. The wages due to such a workman shall, if possible, be paid on the date on which the notice expires and in any case within two days after the expiry of the notice:
Provided that the period of notice to be given by an employee in the case of a seasonal factory shall be two months instead of one month, as specified above.
16. Acts and omissions constituting misconduct.—The following acts and omissions shall be treated as misconduct :--
(a) wilful insubordination or disobedience, whether alone or in combination with another or others, of any lawful and reasonable order of a superior;
(b) strike of work or inciting others to strike work in contravention of the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (Central Act XIV of 1947), or any other enactment or rule for the time being in fore.
(c) theft, fraud or dishonesty in connection with the employer’s business or property ;
(d) taking or giving bribes or any illegal gratification, whatsoever ;
(e) habitual absence without leave or absence without leave for more than 10 consecutive days ;
(f) habitual late attendance ;
(g) habitual breach of any standing orders ;
(h) collection of any moneys within the premises of the industrial establishment for purposes not sanctioned by the employer ;
(i) engaging in trade within the premises of the industrial establishment ;
(j) drunkenness, riotous or disorderly behaviour during working hours in the premises of the industrial establishment or any act subversive of discipline ;
(k) negligence or neglect of work ;
(l) habitual breach of any rules or instructions for the maintenance and running of any department or the maintenance of the cleanliness of any portion of the premises of the industrial establishment ;
(m) undertaking employment under any other employer or company in any capacity without the permission of the management ;
(n) sleeping while on duty ;
(o) smoking except in places specified and set apart for the purpose ;
(p) distribution or exhibition within the premises of the industrial establishment of any bills or pamphlets or posters without the previous sanction of the employer ;
(q) wilful damages or damages due to negligence or carelessness to work in process or to any other property of the company ;
(r) failure to observe duly notified safety instructions or interference with any safety device or equipment installed within the industrial establishment;
(s) wilful slowing down in performance of work, or abetment or instigation thereof ;
(t) threatening , abusing, intimidating or assaulting any workman outside the premises of the establishment, if such threat, abuse, intimidation or assault is in connection with the employment in the establishment ;
(u) disclosing to any person trade information with regard to the working or process in the establishment, without the prior permission of the management ;
(v) squatting or remaining anywhere within the premises of the establishment other than the appointed place with a view to intimidate, coerce or threaten the establishment;
(w) interfering with machines or process not connected with the work allocated and/or asked to do by a member of the supervisory staff ;
(x) conviction by any Court of law for any criminal offence involving moral turpitude ;
(y) deliberately making false, vicious or malicious statements, public or otherwise, against the industrial establishment or any officer or employee of the establishment ;
(z) loitering, idling or wasting time during working hours or being within the establishment out of the authorised hours or work without previous within permission of the head of the department.
(aa)Intimidating, coercing or threatening any doctor at an E.S.I. Hospital or Dispensary to issue sickness certificate when the worker is not sick .
17. Punishment for misconduct.—(1) A workman may be fined upto two per cent, of his wages in a month for acts and omissions notified by the employer in pursuance of section 8 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.
(2) The employer may withhold the increment due to a workman, if he is on an incremental scale or demote him to a lower post.
(3) A workman may, on a charge misconduct supported by satisfactory evidence recorded at an enquiry held for the purpose by suspended for a period not exceeding 30 days or dismissed but such workman shall not be entitled to any notice or any compensation in lieu of such notice.
(4) (a) Where a disciplinary proceeding against a workman is contemplated or is pending or where criminal proceedings against him in respect of any offence are in progress and the employer is satisfied that it is necessary or desirable to place the workman under suspension, he may by order in writing, suspend him with effect from such date as may be specified in the order. A statement setting out in detail the reasons for such suspension shall be supplied to the workman within a week from the date of suspension.
(b) A workman who is placed under suspension under clause (a), shall, during the period of such suspension, be paid a subsistence allowance at the following rates, namely:--
(i) where the enquiry contemplated or pending is departmental, the subsistence allowance shall , for the fist ninety days from the date of suspensions, be equal to one- half of the basic wages, dearness allowance and other compensatory allowances to which the workman would have been entitled, if he were on leave with wages. If the departmental enquiry gets prolonged and the workman continues to be under suspension for a period exceeding ninety days, the subsistence allowance shall, for such period, be equal to three-fourths of such basic wages, dearness allowance and other compensatory allowances:
Provided that where such enquiry is prolonged beyond a period of ninety days for reasons directly attributable to the workman, the subsistence allowance shall, for the period exceeding ninety days, be reduced to one-forth of such basic wages, dearness allowance and other compensatory allowances.
(ii) Where the inquiry is by an outside agency or, as the case may be, where criminal proceedings against the workman are in progress, the subsistence allowance shall, for the first one hundred and eighty days from the date of suspension, be equal to one-half of his basic wages, dearness allowance and other compensatory allowances to which the workman would have been entitled to if he were on leave. If such enquiry or criminal proceedings gets prolonged and the workman continues to be under suspension for a period exceeding one hundred and eighty days, the subsistence allowance shall, for such period, be equal to three-fourths of such basic wages, dearness allowance and other compensatory allowances :
Provided that where such enquiries or criminal proceedings are prolonged beyond a period of one hundred and eighty days for reasons directly attributable to the workman, the subsistence allowance shall, for the period exceeding one hundred and eighty days, be reduced to one-fourth of such basic wages, dearness allowance and other compensatory allowances.
(bb) A copy of the enquiry proceedings shall be given to the workman concerned at the conclusion of the enquiry on request by the workman.
(c) If on the conclusion of the inquiry or, as the case may be, of the criminal proceedings, the workman has been found guilty of the charges framed against him and it is considered, after giving the workman concerned a reasonable opportunity of making representation on the penalty proposed that an order of dismissal or suspension of fine or stoppage of annual increment of reduction in rank would meet the ends of justice, the employer shall pass an order accordingly :
Provided that when an order of dismissal is passed under this clause, the workman shall be deemed to have been absent from duty during the period of suspension and shall not be entitled to any remuneration for such period, and the subsistence allowance already paid to him shall not be recovered :
Provided further that when an order of suspension is passed under this clause and the period between the date on which the workman was suspended form duty pending the enquiry or investigation or trial and the date on which the final order of suspension was passed exceeds thirty days, the workman shall be deemed to have been suspended only for thirty days or for such shorter period as is specified in the said final order of suspension and for the remaining period he shall be entitled to the same wages as he would have received if he had not been placed under suspension, after deducting the subsistence allowance paid to him for such period :
Provided also that where an order imposing fine or stoppage of annual increment or reduction in rank is passed under this clause, the workman shall be deemed to have been on duty during the period of suspension and shall be entitled to the same wages as he would have received if he had not been placed under suspension, after deducting the subsistence allowance paid to him for such period :
Provided also that in the case of a workman to whom the provisions of clause (2) of Article 311 of the Constitution apply, the provisions of that Article shall be complied with.
(d) If on the conclusion of the inquiry or , as the case may be, of the criminal proceedings, the workman has been found to be not guilty of any of the charges framed against him, he shall be deemed to have been on duty during the period of suspension and shall be entitled to the same wages as he would have received if he had not been placed under suspension, after deducting the subsistence allowance paid to him for such period.
(dd) The proceedings of the enquiry shall be recorded in English or Tamil or in the language understood by the workmen.
(e) The payment of subsistence allowance under this standing order shall be subject to the workman concerned not taking up any employment during the period of suspension.
(5) In awarding the punishment under this standing order the employer shall take into account the gravity of the misconduct, the previous record of the workman and any other extenuating or aggravating circumstances, that may exist.
(6) If a workman who is suspended is after enquiry dismissed by the employer he shall be deemed to have been dismissed with effect on and from the date of suspension, unless otherwise indicated in the order of dismissal.
(7) A copy of the order passed by the employer shall be communicated to the workman concerned.
17. Redress of grievance against unfair treatment.—All complaints arising out of his employment including those relating to unfair treatment or wrongful exaction on the part of the employer or his agent or servant shall be submitted by the workman or on his behalf by a union of which he is a member to the manager or such other officer or officers as the employer may appoint. The employer or such other officer authorised by him in this behalf shall personally inquire into the complaint at such time and place as he or they may fix and the complainant workman or the employee member of the union shall have the right to be present. When the complainant alleges unfair treatment or wrongful exaction on the part of the employer or servant, a copy of the order finally passed shall be supplier to the complainant if he asks for the same. In other cases, the decision of the enquiring officer shall be communicated to the complainant :
Provided that complaints relating to—
(i) assault or abuse by any person holding a supervisory position ; and
(ii) refusal of an application for urgent leave
shall be enquired into as expeditiously as possible by the employer or such other officer as may be authorised by him in this behalf.
19. Issue of service certificate.—Every permanent workman shall be entitled to a service certificate at the time of leaving the service, dismissal or discharge.
20. Notice for absence from duty and penalty for absence without due notice.—If ten or more workmen acting in convert and without giving to the employer fourteen days notice and without reasonable cause absent themselves from work or being present at the workspot refuse to work, each one of them shall be liable to pay to the employer in lieu of such notice an amount equal to his wages for eight days.
Explanation.—For the purpose of this standing order, the expression “wages” shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (Central Act IV of 1936).
21. Retirement.—Every workman shall retire on attaining the age of 58 (Fifty- eight) Years which shall be the age of superannuation, provided that the management may in their discretion extend the period of service of any workman on reaching the said age of superannuation for such longer period as may be considered necessary.
22. Notice - (1) Any matter required to be notified under these standing orders and any notice by the employer to the workman in the industrial establishment shall be displayed on notice boards maintained for the purpose at conspicuous place in the premises of the industrial establishment.
(2) Any notice or communication intended for any workman personally may be delivered to him personally in the premises of the industrial establishment or sent to him by post to the address of the workman as specified in the service records or as otherwise furnished by him.
(3) Any matter required to be notified under these standing orders and any notice or communication by the employer to the workmen in the industrial establishment shall be in Tamil : Provided that if the majority of the workmen in the industrial establishment know English or any other regional language and express a desire to receive communication in that language, the communication may be sent to the workmen in that language.