2. Definitions:- In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires:-
3. Registration of Establishments and Renewal of Registration Certificate:- (1) The statement specified in sub-section (1) of Secti()n 3 of the Act shall be submitted by the employer in Form-I to the Inspector of the area cOl1cerned. The statement shall be accompanied by a challan in support of the payment of fees prescribed in Schedu1e-I.
2. Application submitted on or after 1st January. :- 50% of the fees Prescribed.
Provided that the Government or subject to the control of the Government the Chief Inspector may, if they are or he is satisfied that there is sufficient reason for the employer in not sending the application for the renewal of the Certificate of Registration before the expiry of the time limit specified in sub"section (2) of Section 4, by an order and for reasons recorded therein, waive• the payment of penalty either in part or wholly by the employer in respect of the renewal of the Certificate of Registration applied for.
4. Payment of Fees :- The fees prescribed under these Rules shall be remitted into the Government Treasury/State Bank of India/ State Bank of Hyderabad under the Head of Account "0230 Labour and Employment (101) Receipts under Labour Laws". The fees once remitted shall under no circumstances be refunded.
5. Issue of du.plicate Registration Certificate :- If the Certificate of Registration issued under sub"rule (3) of Rule 3 is lost, destroyed or defaced, the employer of the Establishment shall forthwith report the matter to the Inspector of the area concerned and shall apply in Form-VI with a fee as prescribed in Schedule-II for the issue of duplicate registration certificate. Upon the receipt of such application together with the fee, the Inspector shall furnish to the employer with a duplicate copy of registration certificate duly stamped 'Duplicate copy of the Registration Certificate'.
6. Notice of Change :- (1) Notice shall be given by the employer to the Inspector of the area concerned as required under sub section (4) of Section 3 of the Act, in Form-VII together with the Certificate of Registration and a challan for the amount of fee remitted as specified in Schedule-II and the amount, if any, payable as specified in Schedule-I having regard to increase in the number of employees:
7. Authority to whom, appeals $halllie against revocation of suspension of registration certiflcate:- An appeal under sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Act against the orders of revocation or suspension of the Registration Certificate shall lie to trie Labour Officer in whose jurisdiction the Shop/Establishment lies.
8. Form of app'eal, mode of submission and procedure to be followed by the appellate authority:- (1) Every appeal, under Section 6 shall be presented to the Appellate Authority in person or sent to him by Registered Post under Acknowledgement Due.
(4) Where the memorandum of appeal does not comply with the provisions of sub-rules (2) and (3) above, it may' be returned, witliiu fifteen days from the date of its receipt to the appellant for the purpose of being amended. The appellant shall resubmit the appeal duly amended as directed by the Appellate Authority within a period of thirty days from the date of its return.
9. Ascertainment of age by the Inspectors:- An employer may be required to produce one of the following ,documents in support of the age of an employee :
10. Maternity Benefit :- (1) The payment of Maternity Benefit to a woman employee under Section 25 of the Act shall be at the same rate of daily, weekly or monthly wages last paid, In the case of piece rate employees, the rate of maternity bellefit shall be on the basis of the average earning of one month or wages drawn on the Jast working day whichever is higher.
11. Cleanliness :- The premises of every establishment shall be kept clean in the following manner:~
(i) Rooms used only for the storage of articles
(ii) walls or ceilings of rooms which are made of galvanised iron, flat tiles, asbestos sheets, glazed bricks, glass slate, bamboo, thatch, cement, pla.o;;:ter, or polished chunam ;
(iii) ceilings of rooms in which the lowest part is atleast 6.0 meters from the floor j
(iv) any other establishment or part thereof in which white-washing, colour-washing, painting or varnishing is, in the opinion of the Chief Inspector, u:d.necessazy to satisfy the requirement. of Section 26 of the Act in regard to cleanliness.
(2) Rubbish, filth or debris shall not be allowed to accumulate or to remain on any part of the establishment for more than 24 hours and shall be disposed of. All waste matter shall be kept in covered receptacles.
(3) All drains carrying waste or sullage water or sewage shall be constrncted of masonry or other impermeable material and shall be regnlarly flushed at least twice daily and where possible, connected with some recognised drainage line.
(4) The establishment and the compound surrounding it shall be maintained in a strictly sanitary and clean condition. The floor shall be swept or otherwise cleaned atleast once daily, and the ceilings shall be dusted atleast once a month.
(5) The employer shall enforce the proper use of latrines and urinals and preve.nt pollution by excreta or urine on the surface of the ground in the vicinity or the latrine or the urinal and the compound of the establishment. The employer shall make suitable arrangements for the regnlar cleaning and conserving of the latrines and urinals to the satisfaction of the Inspector.
(6) Employer shall provide drinking water and keep the area around the place of drinking water clean and properly drained.
12. Precautions against fire :- Every establishment shall provide under sub-section (I) of the Section 28 with adequate means of escape in case of f"Jre and shall also provide b\lckets of substantial construction full of water or sand and! or chemical fire extinguishers in suitabl~ number and at suitable sites according to the nature of work carried on and the size of the premises.
13. Safety :- (I) Every dangerous part of machinery in an establishment other than a shop shall be securely fenced by safeguards of substantial construction which shall be kept in position while the part of machinelY is in motion or in use.
(2) In every establishment where manufcwturing process is carried on with the aid of electric, power, suitable devices for disconnecting the power supply during the emergencies from running machinery shall be provided and maintained.
(3) No employee, with loose fitting clothes on, shall be allowed or made to work near the moving machinery or belt and the tight fitting clothes for the purpose shall be provided by the employer.
14. First Aid Appliances :- In every establishment other than a shop, a first aid box shall be kept and it shall contain the following equipment together with a book of instructions on fJrst aid namely:-
(i) 3 small sterilised dressings ;
(ii) 2 medium size sterilized dressings ; (iii) 2 large size sterilized dressings ;
(iv) 2 large size sterilized burn dressings
(v) 2 (15.0 grams) packets sterilized cotton wool, . (vi) 1 pair of dressing scissors ;
(vii) I (30.0 grams) bottle containing solution of salvolatine having the dose and mode of administration indicated on the label;
(viii) 1 (30.0 grams) bottle containing solution of iodine or mecurrichrome ;
(ix) 1 (30.0 grams) bottle containing Potassium Permanganate crystals ;
(x) any antidotes for burns.
15. Maximum permissible load, training and instruction, medical examination and provision of technical devices:- (1) For the purposes of this rule, the term Regular "Manual Transport of Load" means any activity which is continuously or principally devoted to the manual transport of loads, or which normally includes, eventhough intermittently, the manual transport of loads.
(2) The maximum permissible weight which may be transported manually by' an adult male worker shall not be more than fifty five kgs. and in the case of women and young persons the maximum permissible weight shall not be more than thirty kgs.
(3) No woman employee shall be assigned to manual transport of loads during pregnancy or during the ten weeks following confinement.
(4) (i) Every employee who is assigned to manual transport of loads other than light loads shall be given, prior to such assignment, adequate training or instruction in working techniques, with a view to safeguarding health and preventing accidents.
(ii) Such training or instruction should include methods of lifting, carrying, putting down, unloading, stocking of different types of loads, and shall be given by suitably qualified persons or institutions, and be followed up, wherever practicable, by supervision on the job to ensure that the correct methods are used.
(iii) Every employee occasionally assigned to manual transport of loads shall be given appropriate instructions on the ma.nner in which such operations may be safely carried out~,
(5) (i) Every employer shall make available, suitable technical devices in order to limit or to facilitate the manual transport of loads, which shall be used.
(ii) The packaging of loads which may be transported manually should be compact and of suitable material and should as far as possible and appropriate, be equipped with devices for holding and so designed as not to create risk of injury; for example, it should not have sharp edges, projections or rough surfaces.
16. Manner of calculating ordinary rate of wages :- For the purpose of the explanation of Section 37, ordinary rates of wages per hour shall be calculated by dividing the total wages payable to a person employed for the hours actually worked by him during the wage period by the number of such hours in the wage period :
17. Fines and deductions for damage or loss:- (i) (a) The Chief Inspector shall be the Authority competent to approve, the acts and omissions in respect of which fines may be imposed and to approve the purpose to which the fines realised sball be applied.
18. Advances :- Advance of wages shall be subject to th~ following conditions, namely, (1) Any advance of wages not already earned shall not, without the previous permission of the Labour Officer having jurisdiction, exceed an amount equivalent to the wages earned by the employee during the preceding two calendar months, or if he has not been employed for that period, twice the wages, he is likely to earn during the subsequent calendar month.
(3) No instalments by which an advance is repaid shall exceed one fourth or where the wages for any wage period are not more than twenty rupees, one fourth of the wages of any wage period in respect of which the deduction is made.
(4) The amounts of all advances and all repayments of such advances shall be entered in a Register of Advances in Form XII.
19. Acts and Omissions constituting misconduct :- (1) The following acts and omissions shall be treated as misconduct on the part of the employees:-
(a) Wilful insubordination or disobedience of instruction whether alone •or in combination with others or any lawful and reasonable order of a superior ;
(b) Striking work or inciting others to strike work in contravention of the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 ;
(c) Damage, theft, fraud or dishonesty in connection with the employer's business or property ;
(d) Habitual absence without leave, or absence without leave for more than five consecutive days or overstaying the sanctioned leave '\Vithout sufficient grounds or proper or satisfactory explanation ;
(e) Engaging trade within the premises of the establishment; (J) Unprovoked misbehaviour with customers, drunkenness, riotous, disorderly or indecent behaviour in the premises of the establishment ;
(g) Habitual neglect of work, or habitual negligence disclosing any information in regard to the business/process of the establishment to any unauthorised person which may be prejudicial to the interest of the establishment ;
(h) Gambling within the premises of the establishment ;
(i) Conviction by any Court of Law for any criminal offence involving moral turpitude.
(2) Every employer shall display or cause to be displayed at or near the main entrance or at any conspicuous place of the establishment a copy of the list of acts and omissions specified under sub-rule (1) above in English and Telugu, If the establishment consists of several departments, such lists shall be displayed in each department.
20. Procedure for terminating the services of an employee:- (I) No employer shall terminate the services of an employee unless an enquiry is held against the employee concerned in respect of any alleged misconduct in the manner set forth in sub-rule -(2).
(2) An employee against whom an enquiry has to be held he shall be given a charge-sheet clearly setting forth the circumstances appearing against him and requiring explanation. He shall be given an opportunity to answer the charge and shall also be permitted to produce witnesses in his defence and cross-examine any witness on whose evidence the charge rests.' Act concise summary of the evidence led on either side and the employee's plea shall be recorded and signature of the parties obtained.
(3) In awarding punishment under this Rule, the employer shall take into account the gratuity of the misconduct, the previous record, if any of the employee and any other extenuating or aggravating circumstances that may exist :
Provided that no punishment shall be awarded based on the previous record and other circumstances that may exist unless the employee has been given an opportunity of making representation in respect of those charges.
21. Appeals :- (1) An appeal under sub-section (1) of Section 48 shall be preferred to the Appellate Authority by the employee within 60 days from the date of service of the order terminating his services with the employer, such service shall be deemed to be effective, if carried out either personally if that is not practicable, by prepaid registered post to his last known address, when the date of such service shall be deemed to be the date when the letter would arrive in ordinary course of post :
Provided that the Appellate Authority may admit an appeal after the expiration of the period of sixty days where the appellant satisfies the Appellate Authority that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the stipulated .period of sixty days.
(2) (a) The procedure to be followed by the Appellate Authority for hearing appeals preferred to it under sub-section (1) of Section 48 shall be summary. It shall pass orders giving its reasons therefor. A Register of Appeals in Form XIII shall be maintained by the Appellate Authority wherein the particulars Df the appeal and summary of the final order shall be recorded.
(b) If the employer fails to appear on the specified date, the Authority may proceed to hear and determine the application ex parte.
(c) If the employer fails to appear on two successive dates of hearing, the Authority may dismISS the application :
Provided that an order passed under clause (b) or clause Ic) above may be set aside and the application re-heard, if any good cause being shown by the defaulting party within one month from the date of the said order, after service of notice to opposite party.
(d) The parties shall not be entitled to produce additional evidence whether oral or documentary before the Appellate Authority. But it can be entertained on the following grounds :
(i) the employer from whose order the appeal is preferred has refused to admit evidence which ought to have been admitted ; or
(ii) the Appellate Authority requires any document to be produced or any witness to be examined to enable it to pass orders or for any other substantial cause, the Authority may allow such evidence or dDcument to be produced or witness to be examined.
22. Permission to act on behalf of employee or employer:- Any person desiring to act on behalf of the employee whose appeal against termination of his services' is pending disposal or the employer thereto shall present to Appellate Authority a Letter of Authorisation in Form XIV from the employee or employer as the case may be, on whose behalf he seeks to act, together with a written statement explaining his interest on the matter and praying for permission so to act. The Appellate Authority shall record thereon an order either according his approval or specifying in the case of refusal to grant permission prayed for the reasons for such refusal.
23. Application for payment of Wages or service compensation etc.:- An application for payment of Wages for service compensation etc., by or on behalf of an employee or group of employees, shall be made in duplicate in Form XVI or Form XVII as the case may be, one copy of which shall bear Court fee prescribed in Rule 27.
24. Authorisation:- The Authorisation to act on behalf of an employee, employees employer under Section 51 or Section 52 of the Act shall be given in Form XVIII by an instrument which shalf be presented to the Authority hearing the application and shall form part of the record.
25. Procedure for dealing with application for recovery of wages of service compensation :- (1) Any other person desiring to act on behalf of any employee shall present to the Authority under Section 50 of the Act, a brief written statement explaining his interest in the matter praying for permission so to act, and the Authority shall record thereon an order specifying, in the case of a refusal to ' grant the permission prayed for, the reasons of such refusal shall be furnished.
26. Costs :- (1) Where the Authority appointed under Section 48 or Section 50 of the Act, as the case may be, directs that any cost shall not follow the event., the reasons for the directions shall be recorded in writing by such Authority.
27. Court-fees;- The Court-fee payable in respect of proceedings shall be as prescribed in Schedule-III.
28. Duties of Inspectors:- (I) The Inspector shall make such inspection as may appear to him to be necessary for the purpose of satisfying himself that the provisions of the Act and of the Rules and any orders issued by the Government under the Act are duly observed. In particular, he shall satisfy himself-
29. Maintenance of registers and records and display of notices:- Every employer shall maintain registers and records and display notices in the following manner :-
30. Letter of Appointment:- Every employer shall furnish to all employees with the Letters of Appointment, with the photograph of the employee in Form XXVI affixed thereon and obtain acknowledgement in token of having served also the said letter. He shall prepare the Letter of Appointment in triplicate, issue the original copy to the employee, retain the duplicate copy with him and the triplicate copy shall be handed over to the Inspector of the area concerned.
31. Admissibility of Forms other than those prescribed in the Rules :- If an application made by an employer or Manager in writing, the Deputy Commissioner of Labour of the area concerned is satisfied that any muster roll, register or record maintained by the employer or Manager gives in respect of all or any of the employees in his establishment the particulars required to be shown in any register, record or notice prescribed under these rules, the Deputy Commissioner of labour of the area concerned may, by order in writing direct that such muster roll, register or record shall, to the corresponding extent be maintained in place of such register, record or notice prescribed under this rule, as the case may be :
32. Period of supplying,informahon reqUired by Inspector:- Any information or document required by the Inspector for carrying out the purposes of the Act and the Rules shall be furnished to him by the employer of an establishment within fifteen days from the date of receipt of such requisition by the employer :
33. Periodical returns:- Every employer having ten or more employees shall send a return in Form XXVII for months ending March, June, September and December of every year so as to reach the Inspector within whose jurisdiction the establishment is situated not later than 10th day of the month following the month to which the return relates.
34. Penalty :- Any employer who contravenes any of the provisionS of these Rules shall, on conviction, be punished with a fine which may extend to fifty rupees.
35. Repeal and savings :- The Andhra Pradesh Shops and Establishments Rules, 1968 are hereby repealed: