Revised Maharashtra Shops and Esablishments Act Comes Into Effect

When the proposed Shops and Establishments Act for the state of Maharashtra vide a bill earlier this year, it created an instant buzz. The changes proposed through this revised Act have been significant in terms of both implication and impact. However, the last three months have only prompted speculation and discussion. Even with the framework in place, the Act was complete and widely circulated, but yet to be passed. In its latest move, the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017 finally sees the light of day as it comes into effect from 19^th December, 2017.

Here is a summary of all that the Act conveys:

Act and Applicability

-          The Maharashtra Shops & Establishments Act is replaced with the new Act

-          It applies to all establishments other than factories

-          Provisions that are similar to those in the Factories Act have been incorporated into the Act

-          Rules shall be framed under the Act by the Government

-          Government to appoint Chief Facilitator under the Act

Mandates

-          Establishments are to apply for online registration. Labour Identification Number (LIN) will be provided to each

-          Intimation needs to be given to chief facilitators online, for all establishments employing less than 10 members. Relevant documents must be uploaded, following which intimation receipt will be received from concerned authorities

-          Maximum years of renewal is now 10 years

-          Annual returns to be filed by all establishments

Salient Features

-          Identity card to be given to all workers

-          Hours of work, overtime, compensatory off, etc. shall all be taken into consideration

-          Leave rules shall include accumulation and encashment of leave, eight paid festival holidays, 8 days casual leave

-          Woman worker can work from 9.30pm to 7am with her consent, and provided employers maintain her dignity, honour, protection from sexual harassment at the premises and until her doorstep

-          Health and safety provisions for workers

An official cop of the Gazetted Notification is available for view at http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/MHSAE2017Sep7.pdf

The notification declaring date of effect of the Act can be found at http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/MHSAE2017Dec19.pdf

Supreme Court Judgement on Increased Pension Claim

EXPLANATION OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT     

Let us visit the process by which the pensioners and members can claim benefit of increased pension. But before that let us look at the statutory wage limits around which the judgement revolves.

Sl No	Period	Wage Limit Per Month
1	01.10.1994 to 31.05.2001	Rs 5000
2	01.06.2001 to 31.08.2014	Rs 6500
3	01.09.2014 onwards	Rs 15000

Issue involved in this judgement ?

1.      Pensionable wages ceiling is Rs 5000 w.e.f 01.10.1994 and Rs 6500 w.e.f 01.06.2001 on which PF and Pension contribution is mandatory.

2.     Members and employers, in this case, contributed on wages more than statutory ceiling limit as required under Para 11(3) of Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 read with Para 26(6) of Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme 1952.

3.     The contribution was made without the approval of the joint option of the employer-employee to contribute on wages higher than statutory ceiling limit.

Supreme Court Judgement

1.      A beneficial Scheme should not lapse for the reason that an option was not exercised before due date but remittance was made on wages above statutory limit.

2.     Excess payment made in PF amount may be taken back with interest.

3.     Benefit of Pension on increased contribution may be given by necessary book adjustments.

Process Involved  –  Understanding through an Illustration

1.      Hiralal, Bansilal and Sonelal were employed in Parishram Enterprises at wages of Rs 9000 each from 1998 to 2013, when both of them superannuated.

2.     For Hiralal PF contributions were made at Rs 6500, while for Bansilal and Sonelal contributions were made on full wages.

The situation arising can be tabulated as below :

Members	Hiralal	Bansilal	Sonelal
Total Wages(A)	Rs 9000	Rs 9000	Rs 9000
PF Wages(A1)	Rs 6500	Rs 9000	Rs 9000
Pension Wages(A2)	Rs 6500	Rs 6500	Rs 9000
Contribution towards PF(B)	12% of 6500 (Ee Share) + 3.67% of 6500 (Er share)	12% of 9000 (Ee Share)+ 3.67% of 9000 (Er share)+ 8.33% of (9000-6500)	12% of 9000 (Ee Share)+ 3.67% of 9000 (Er share)
Contribution towards Pension(C)	8.33% of 6500 (Er share) + 1.16% of 6500 (Govt)	8.33% of 6500 (Er share)+ 1.16% of 6500 (Govt)	8.33% of 9000 (Er share)+ 1.16% of 9000 (To be paid by member)
Whether PF account settled(D)	YES	YES	YES
Indicative PF and Pension Benefits(E)	1.        Principal plus interest on all contributions in PF account 2.        Pension calculated on wage ceiling of Rs 6500.	1.        Principal plus interest on all contributions in PF account. 2.        Pension calculated on wage ceiling of Rs 6500.	1.        Principal plus interest on all contributions in PF account. 2.        Pension calculated on wage ceiling of Rs 6500. Balance in Pension account moved to PF account and settled with interest.
Any effect of SC judgement on Pension	No	No	Yes
Process to claim benefits	NA	NA	1.        Submit a request to concerned PF office undertaking to refund excess PF claimed with interest. 2.        Pension will be recalculated taking Pension Wages as Rs 9000.

The perception around this judgement is “Supreme Court has directed EPFO to increase Pension for all members”.
However, in reality, the judgement simply permits members/pensioners to claim Pension on higher wages if contribution was paid on higher wages. However, members/pensioners will have to return the excess PF claimed with interest.
Most of the Pensioners will not be in a position to return excess PF of several thousand rupees in order to get their Pension increased by few hundreds.
Therefore pensioners/members have to make an informed choice.
Thus the Hon’ble Supreme Court has allowed only the exercise of option for higher pension contribution to those who were already contributing PF on higher salary with equal share of employers but could not exercise option earlier as per para 26(6) of the Scheme, 1952

A Reckoner for Holidays Pan India for 2018

As the year draws to a close, the most awaited news centres around the release of the list of holidays for various states. We bring you a list of notifications that cover the holidays for each state. For increased ease, we have also compiled the lists into a reckoner which breaks the holidays down by state and month, including both public and festival holidays.


Andhra Pradesh: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/APNFHR2017Oct31.pdf

Goa: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/WHA2017Oct26.pdf

Gujarat: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/WHA2017Oct18.pdf

Himachal Pradesh: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/WHA2017Sep7.pdf

Kerala: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/KENHR2017Oct13.pdf

Maharashtra: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/MHMWA2017Nov9.pdf

Tamil Nadu: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/TNNHR2018Nov7.pdf

West Bengal: http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/WHA2018Sep22.pdf


We will be adding updated lists as they come in, so do ensure you keep coming back to check.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Karnataka

(1)Republic day-26/1/18, (2) Uttarayana 15/1/18

Mahashivratri  13/2/18,

(1)Mahavir Jayanti 29/3/18 (2) Good Friday 30/3/18

Bassav Jayanti 18/4/18

May Day 1/5/18,

Kutub-E- Ramzan 16/6/18

(1)Independence day 15/8/18 (2)Bakri Id 22/8/18

(1)Varasiddhi Vinayak Vrata 13/9/18 (2)Last day of Muharram 21/9/18

(1)Gandhi Jayanti  2/10/18, (2) Mahalaya Amavasya8/10/18, (3) Maha Navmi 18/10/18 (4) Vijaya Dashmi 19/10/18 (5) Maharshi Valmik Jayanti 24/10/18

(1)Kannad Rajyotsav 1/11/18 (2) Narak Chaturdashi 6/11/18 (3)Balipadyami  8/11/18 (4) Id-E -Milad 21/11/18  (5) Kanakdas Jayanti  26/11/18

Christmas 25/12/18

Gujarat

Republic day-26/1/18,

Mahashivratri  13/2/18,

(1)Holi 2nd day 2/3/18 (2)Mahavir Jayanti 29/3/18 (3)Good Friday 30/3/18

(1) Ambedkar Jayanti 14/4/18 (2)Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti 18/4/18

Ramzan Id 16/6/18

(1)Independence day 15/8/18 (2) Parsi New Year 17/8/18 (3)Bakri Id 22/8/18

(1)Janmashtmi 3/9/18 (2) Samvatsari 13/9/18 (3) Muharram 21/9/18

(1)Gandhi Jayanti  2/10/18, (2)Dassera 18/10/18, (3) Sardar Patel birthday 31/10/18

(1) Diwali 7/11/18 (2)New year 8/11/18 (3) Bhaubij 9/11/18 (4) Id-E-Milad 21/11/18 (5)GuruNanak Birthday 23/11/18

Christmas 25/12/18

Goa

(1)New Year 1/1/18, (2)Mahasankranti 14/1/18, (3) Republic day-26/1/18 (4)Guru Ravida Birthday 31/1/18

(1)Mahashivratri  13/2/18, (2)Shivaji Jayanti 19/2/18,

(1)Gudi Padva 18/3/18, (2)Ram Navmi 25/3/18, (3)Mahavir/Maundry  Jayanti 29/3/18 (4)Good Friday 30/3/18,

(1)Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti/Baisakhi/Vishu  14/4/18, (2)Buddha Purnima 30/4/18

May Day 1/5/18,

(1)Id UL Fitre 16/6/18, (2) Feast of Sacred Hear Jesus 8/6/18

(1)Independence Day 15/8/18, (2)Id-UL-Zuha 22/8/18, (3)Onam 25/8/18, (4)Raksha Bandhan 26/8/18

(1)Janmashtmi 2/9/18, (2)Hartalika 12/9/18, (3)Ganesh Chaturthi 13&14/9/18, (4)Muharram 21/9/18

(1)Gandhi Jayanti  2/10/18, (2)Dassera 18/10/18,

(1)All Soul Day 2/11/18, (2)Diwali 6/11/18, (3)Govardhan Pooja 8/11/18, (4)Bhaubij 9/11/18, (5)Id-E- Milad 21/11/18 (6)GuruNanak Jayanti 23/11/18 (7)Guru Tegbahadur Day 24/11/18

(1)St.Francis Xavier feast 3/12/18, (2)Feast of Immaculate conception 8/12/18, (3)Goa Liberation day 19/12/18, (4)Christmas 25/12/18,  (5)New year Eve 31/12/18

Kerala

(1)Mannam Jayanti-2/1/18 (2)Republic day-26/1/18,

Mahashivratri  13/2/18,

(1)Maundy Thursday 29/3/18 (2) Good Friday 30/3/18

May Day 1/5/18,

(1)Id UL Fitre 16/6/18,

(1)Independence Day 15/8/18, (2)Bakri Id 22/8/18 (3)First Onam 24/8/18 (4)Thiruonam 25/8/18 (5) Sree Guru Narayan Jayanti 27/8/18  (6) Ayyankali Jayanti 28/8/18

(1) Muharram 20/9/18  (2) Sree Narayan Guru Samadhi day 21/9/18

(1) Gandhi Jayanti 2/10/18  (2) Mahanavmi 18/10/18  (3) Vijayadasami 19/10/18

(1) Deepavali 6/11/18 (2)Milad I Sharif 20/11/18

Christmas 25/12/18

HP

(1)Statehood day 25/1/18 (2),Republic Day 26/1/18 (3) Guru Ravidas Birthday  31/1/18

Mahashivratri  13/2/18,

(1)Holi 2nd day 2/3/18 (2)Ram Navmi 25/3/18 (3)Good Friday 30/3/18

(1) Ambedkar Jayanti 14/4/18 (2) Himachal Day 15/4/18 (3)Bhagwan Parshuram Jayanti 18/4/18 (4) Buddha Purnima 30/4/18

(1)Id UL Fitre/Maharana Pratap Jayanti  16/6/18, (2)Sant Guru Kabir Jayanti 28/6/18

(1)Independence Day 15/8/18, (2)Bakri Id 22/8/18

(1) Janmashtmi 3/9/18 (2)Muharrum 21/9/18

(1) Gandhi Jayanti 2/10/18 (2)Dassehra 19/10/18 (3)Maharshi Valmik birthday 24/10/18

(1) Diwali 7/11/18 (2) Guru Nanak Jayanti 23/11/18

Christmas 25/12/18

TN

(1)New year 1/1/18, (2)Pongal 14/1/18, (3)Thiruvalluvar Day 15/1/18 (4)Uzavar Tirunal 16/1/18 (5)Republic Day 26/1/18

(1)Telugu New year 18/3/18 (2)Mahaveer Jayanti 29/3/18 (3) Good Friday 30/3/18

Tamil New year/Dr.Ambedkar Jayanti 14/4/18

May Day 1/5/18,

Ramzan Id 15/6/18

(1) Independence Day 15/8/18  (2) Bakri Id 22/8/18

(1) Krishna Jayanti 2/9/18 (2)Vinayak Chaturthi 13/9/18 (3)Muharrum 21/9/18

(1) Gandhi Jayanti 2/10/18  (2) Ayuth Pooja 18/10/18  (3) Vijayadasami 19/10/18

(1) Deepavali 6/11/18 (2)Milad Un-Nabi 21/11/18

Christmas 25/12/18

West Bengal

(1) New Year Day 1/1/18 (2)Swami Vivekanand Jayanti 12/1/18, (3)Saraswati Puja 22/1/18 (4),Netaji Jayanti 23/1/18 (5)Republic Day 26/1/18

Mahashivratri  13/2/18,

(1)Doljatra 2/3/18 2) Good Friday

(1) Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti 14/4/18 (2) Buddha Purnima 30/4/18

(1) Labour Day 1/5/18 (2) Ravindranath Tagore Jayanti 9/5/18

Id-UL- Fitr 16/6/18

Bhanu poet Jayanti 13/7/18

(1) Independence Day 15/8/18  (2) Bakri Id 22/8/18

(1) Janmashtmi 3/9/18 (2)Muharrum 21/9/18

(1) Gandhi Jayanti 2/10/18  (2) Mahalaya 8/10/18 (3)Durga Puja  16/10-18/10 (4) Mahasasthi 15/10/18  (5) Additional day for Durga puja 20/10,22/10,23/10 ( 6) Laxmi Puja 24/10/18 & additional day 25/10/18

(1) Kali Puja 6/11/18 & 7/11/18 -8/11/18 (2) Bhatridwitya 9/11/18 (3) Chhat Puja 13/11/18 (4) GuruNanak Jayanti 23/11/18

(1) Fateh -Dwaz- Daham 19/12/18 (2)Christmas 25/12/18

Maharashtra

Republic day-26/1/18,

(1)Mahashivratri  13/2/18, (2) Shivaji Jayanti 19/2/18

(1) Holi  2/3/18 (2)Mahavir Jayanti 29/3/18 (3) Good Friday 30/3/18

(1) Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti 14/4/18 (2) Buddha Purnima 30/4/18

Labour Day 1/5/18

Id-UL- Fitr 16/6/18

(1) Independence Day 15/8/18 (2) Parsi New Year 17/8/18 (3) Bakri Id 22/8/18

(1) Ganesh Chaturthi 13/9/18 (2) Muharrum 20/9/18

(1) Gandhi Jayanti 2/10/18 (2) Dassera 18/10/18

(1) Diwali (Laxmi pujan) 7/11/18 (2) Diwali (BaliPratipada) 8/11/18 (3) Id-E-Milad 21/11/18 (4) Gurunanak Jayanti 23/11/18

Christmas 25/12/18

AP

(1) New Year 1/1/18 (2) Sankranti/Pongal  15/1/18 (3) Kanumu 16/1/18 (4) Republic Day 26/1/18 (5) Sri Panchami 22/1/18

(1) B'day of syed Hazrat Mohd  1/2/18 (2)Mahashivratri  13/2/18,

(1) Holi  2/3/18 (2) Mahaveer Jayanti  29/3/18 (3) Good Friday 30/3/18

(1)Babu Jagjivan Ram B'day.5/4/18 (2) Basava Jayanti 18/4/18 (3) Buddha Purnima 30/4/18

(1) Shahadat Hazrat Ali  5/6/18 (2) Shab -e- Qader 12/6/18 (3)Jumma Tul Wada 15/6/18 (4)  Idul Fitr   16/6/18

(1) Independence Day 15/8/18 (2) Parsi New year 17/8/18 (3)Bakri Id  22/8/18 (4) Varalakshmi Vratam 24/8/18 (5) Eid - E- Ghadeer 30/8/18

(1) Sri Krishan Ashtami  3/9/18 (2) Vinayak Chaturthi 13/9/18  (3)9th Muharram 20/9/18 (4) Muharram  21/9/18

(1) Gandhi Jayanti 2/10/18 (2) Mahalaya Amavasya 8/10/18 (3) Durga Ashtami/Mahanavmi  17/10/18 (4) Vijaya Dasmi/Dassehra 18/10/18 (5) Arbayeen  30/10/18

1) Narak Chaturdashi 6/11/18      (2) Deepavali 7/11/18 (3) Eid E Milad  21/11/18 (4) Karthi ki Purnima/Guru Nanak Jayanti 23/11/18

(1)Christmas 25/12/18 (2) Boxing Day 26/12/18

Government of Goa Issues Exemption from Inspection

In the latest notification issued by the Government of Goa, it has laid down rules for inspection of establishments, based on parameters covered under various applicable Acts and Rules. In accordance, inspection will be carried out as under:

-          High Risk establishments will be inspected by concerned Labour Inspectors

-          Medium Risk establishments may choose between either third party or departmental inspection

-          Low Risk establishments are essentially exempt from inspection and may produce self-certified documents.

Various labour laws have been covered under the scope of this notification, the list is made available in the Gazetted Notification.

Criteria for risk assessment include:

-          Number of workers: High risk - employing over 100 workers; Medium risk – employing 10 to 100 workers; Low risk – employing less than 10 workers (calculated as number employed including contract or outsourced workers on any day in preceding year)

-          Number of contract workers: High Risk – contract workers exceeds 25% of total employed workers; Medium risk – contract workers is under 25% of total employed workers (applicable on any day of preceding calendar year)

-          Nature of activity of establishment: List of industries qualifying as High and Medium risk itemised in notification

-          Exemption from inspection/ self-certification: Medium risk – establishments with record of satisfactory compliance record over last 5 years under all Acts, provided no reports of accidents, complaints and lock down filed. This is valid every year for an initial period of 2 years Low risk – may file self-certified documents every year for all Acts. Random inspection may be carried out, and defaulters will have third party certification revoked.   

-          Third party certification: Medium risk – establishment may opt for Third Party certification for 2 years, after which inspection will be carried out by Labour Inspector. The following year, they may opt for Third Party Inspection again, renewing the cycle. All annual returns will be furnished annually duly certified by either Third party or with self-certification.

Kindly view the Official Gazetted Notification for the following:

-          Acts and Rules under the Scope of Inspection Policy

-          List of industries falling under high and medium risk establishments

-          Official Holiday List – 2018

The notification is available at http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/GAMWR2017Oct26.pdf

Revised Procedure For Transfer of Accounts under EPF Scheme

Through the EPF Scheme, the Central Office has listed clearly the steps to be followed in order to transfer accounts. The process is as follows:

1.       For employees with an existing UAN, employer will need to go through registration formalities on the portal. Details that need to be furnished include:

-          Past UAN

-          Aadhar number

-          Name and date of birth

This is important since there have been several cases of incorrect linking of members and UAN.

2.       Data shall then be validated against UAN for any discrepancies.

3.       In cases where Aadhar number and UAN have been verified and seeded before, request made through Form 11 will prompt an automated transfer where existing accumulations will be added to the new PF ID. An automated SMS will be sent to the registered mobile number intimating the proposed transfer. The auto transfer will only proceed further if:

-          There is no request to stop the auto transfer by the member within 10 days of sending SMS (the transfer may be stopped online, by visiting the nearest EPFO office or through the employer)

-          The first deposit by current employer is deposited and reconciled.

4.       Once the actual transfer has been made, intimation via SMS on number seeded against UAN, and email will be sent.

5.       Form 13 will need to be used to apply in order to carry out a physical transfer. This is only in the following cases:

-          Earlier UAN was not seeded with the Aadhar

-          UAN and Aadhar were seeded but not verified

-          EPF transfer form or to exempted establishment

6.       It will be extremely difficult to transfer old accumulations into the new account without the Aadhar card, and therefore employers must ensure Aadhar number is filled in EPFO portal.

View the official document at http://comply4hr.com/noti/2016/EPFS2017Sep19.pdf