Bizprout Updates : September 2023

Minimum Wages revision in Haryana, Rajasthan, Goa, Daman etc.

Government of Haryana vide notification dated 28-Aug-2023, notified the minimum wages to unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled, highly skilled and other employments, effective from 01-Jul-2023 to 31-Dec-2023.

Government of Rajasthan vide notification dated 31-Aug-2023, notified the minimum wages to 52 scheduled employments, effective retrospectively from 01-Jan-2023.

Government of Goa vide Gazette Notification dated 11-Aug-2023, notified minimum wages to shops/establishments and other scheduled employments.

Pune District Security Guard Board, vide circular dated 07-Aug-2023, has provided the rate chart for security guards including travel, washing allowance etc., effective from 01-Jun-2023 to 31-Dec-2023.

Union Territory Administration of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu vide Notification dated 18-Aug-2023 notified the minimum wages payable to 46 different categories of scheduled employments effective from 01-Apr-2023.

Ladakh Disabilities Rules notified.

Administration of Union Territory of Ladakh, vide Notification dated 29-Aug-2023, notified the Ladakh Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2023 effective immediately. Similar to the Central rules and several State Government rules, rule 12 mandates every establishment (including private entities) to publish an equal opportunity policy.

ESIC Scheme Circulars.

Employees’ State Insurance Corporation vide Circular dated 24-Aug-2023, notified the list of state wise districts where ESIC coverage is available or not. All districts in Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh etc., are covered while two districts in Tamil Nadu are partially covered and two districts in Maharashtra are not covered.

Government of Maharashtra vide Gazette notification dated 31-Jul-2023 and ESIC vide Circular dated 29-Aug-2023, have notified that ESIC Scheme is extended to the casual/contractual workers under the Municipal Corporation/Municipal bodies under the control of State Government.

EPFO inspection regulations.

Employees’ Provident Funds Organization vide circular dated 04-Sep-2023, notified the inspection regulations, wherein for physical inspections, inter-alia establishments are to be notified every fortnight for a period of three months. Further, several steps are taken to streamline the physical inspection process through the portal of CAIU (Central Analysis & Intelligence Unit).

Change in Festival/Holiday date in Assam, Bihar and Tamil Nadu.

Government of Tamil Nadu vide Notification dated 31-Aug-2023, changed the public holiday of “Vinayakar Chathurthi” under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1882 from 17-Sep-2023 (Sunday) to 18-Sep-2023 (Monday).

Government of Bihar vide Gazette Notification dated 04-Sep-2023, changed the public holiday of “Chehlum” from 06-Sep-2023 (Wednesday) to 07-Sep-2023 (Thursday).

Government of Assam vide Notification dated 16-Aug-2023, changed the holidays of Sankardeva and others.

Paid Holiday for elections in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal etc.

Government of Andhra Pradesh vide notification dated 07-Aug-2023, notified that in connection with Panchayat Raj elections on 19-Aug-2023, employees of commercial/industrial concerns located in the areas of elections in all the Districts of the State should declare a paid holiday and make any subsequent holiday as a working day, or alternatively allow employees to have time off of three hours during poll hours.

Government of West Bengal vide Memorandum dated 18-Aug-2023, notified that all shops, commercial and industrial establishments are required to grant a paid holiday on 5-Sep-2023 (Tuesday)to employees in the areas of Dhugpuri assembly constituency, where elections have been notified.

Guidelines issued on National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme-2 implementation.

Government of India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship vide notification dated 25-Aug-2023, issued guidelines for implementation of National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS-2) effective from 25-Aug-2023. Eligible candidate between the ages of 14 to 35 can avail partial stipend support from government up to Rs.1500/- per month through direct benefit transfer in the bank account of apprentices, and private organizations are encouraged to forego the stipend support. Annexure-I to the Guidelines provides the comparison between the previous NAPS, wherein the stipend was claimed by private establishments will now go directly to the account of apprentices, thereby employees will now pay lesser stipend (maximum reduction of INR 1500).

All Shops and Establishments in NCT of Delhi ordered to be closed.

General Administration Department of National Capital Territory of Delhi vide Notification dated 29-Aug-2023 and Delhi State Gazette Notification dated 24-Aug-2023, have directed all shops, commercial and business establishments functioning in New Delhi, District of NCT of Delhi to close their establishments from 08-Sep-2023 (Friday) to 10-Sep-2023 (Sunday) and grant paid holiday to their employees/workers on 8^th and 9^th in offices where Sunday is a Public Holiday.

Meghalaya permits establishments to remain open on 365 Days.

Government of Meghalaya vide Gazette Notification dated 03-Aug-2023, permitted establishments to keep open on all the 365 days of the year for a period of one year till 31-Dec-2023, subject to compliance with conditions such as granting a weekly holiday, appointment of new staff for extended timing etc.

Amendment of Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers Rules

Government of Punjab vide Notification dated 11-Aug-2023, notified the Punjab Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Amendment) Rules, 2023, amended certain provisions relating to remittance of contributions. Inter-alia, the due date for remittance of contribution is changed from three (3) months in advance to one (1) year in advance.

EPF Standard Operating Procedure for change/correction joint declarations

EPFO vide Notification dated 23-Aug-2023, notified the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for processing joint declarations (JD) for member profile updating in EPFO. Inter-alia, the SOP provides the detailed process and timelines for corrections and documents required in support. For a name change, two documents as per Annexure-I are required for minor changes and three documents for major changes. The SOP also provides the process to be followed for death cases (nominee’s aadhaar to be saved in case of death of a member without an aadhaar etc.) The timelines for completion of JD are 7 days for minor changes and 15 days for major changes. EPFO has also proposed to change the online member login portal as presently only 4 fields are available for change.

ESIC notification on closing of Accident Reports

ESIC vide notification dated 10-Aug-2023, instructed the regional offices not to close accident reports for want of sufficient documents from the employers as it will cause inordinate delay to the dependents. Instructions are issued to initiate legal action against defaulting employers under ESI Act and regulations framed under it.

Karnataka Amendment of Factories Act for 4 days working week & women in night shift

Government of Karnataka vide Gazette Notification dated 07-Aug-2023, notified the amendment to the Factories Act, 1948 with regard to the provision of working hours, by allowing work for up to 12 hours per day subject to 48 hours per week, thereby declaring paid holidays for the remaining three days of the week. The over time payable is twice the wages in case of working more than eleven & half hours for factory working four days per week. The amendment inter-alia also permits a women to work between 7 PM to 6 AM subject to certain conditions mentioned in newly substituted Section 66.

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COMPLIANCES FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2023

07 Sep, 2023