THE MINIMUM WAGES DELHI AMENDMENT BILL 2017

REGISTERED No. D.L.-33002/99 GOVERNMENT OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY 303] No. 303] DELHI, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2017/SRAVANA 18, 1939 [N.C.T.D. No. 204 —IV PART—IV GOVERNMENT OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI la- 21¼34½@U;wu- osru@2017@fo-l-l-&VI@fo-@4558.— laf{kIr ‘kh”kZd ikzjaHk ,oa foLrkj . 1948 ds vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk 2 dk la’kks/ku . “ 4840 DG/2017 (1)2 DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY PART IV] 1948 dk vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk 4 dk la’kks/ku . 1948 ds vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk 11 dk la’kks/ku-& 1948 ds vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk 14 dk la’kks/ku . 1948 ds vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk 20 dk la’kks/ku . 1948 ds vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk 22 dk la’kks/ku . 1948 ds vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk *22 d * dk la’kks/ku . 1948 ds vf/kfu;e 11 dh /kkjk 22 [k dk la’kks/ku .PART IV] DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY 3 /kkjk 31 d dh izfof”V .4 DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY PART IV] LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY SECRETARIAT NOTIFICATION Delhi, the 9th August, 2017 Bill No. 05 of 2017 THE MINIMUM WAGES (DELHI) AMENDMENT BILL, 2017 A Bill to amend the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi; No. 21(34)/Min. Wages/2017/LAS-VI/Leg./4558.—WHEREAS; it is expedient further to amend the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, for the purposes hereinafter appearing; Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in the Sixty-Seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows: 1. Short title, extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Minimum Wages (Delhi) Amendment Act, 2017. (2) It extends to the whole of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. (3) It shall come into force from the date of its notification. 2. Amendment of section 2 of Act 11 of 1948.—In section 2 of the Minimum Wages Act,1948 ( hereinafter referred to as the Principal Act), in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, after clause (g), the following clause shall be inserted, namely :— “(ga) ‘State Government’ means the Lieutenant Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi, appointed by the President under Article 239 and designated as such under Article 239 AA of the Constitution.”. 3. Amendment of Section 4 of Act 11 of 1948.—In Section 4 of the Principal Act, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, after sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be inserted; namely :- “(3) The appropriate government, in fixing or revising the minimum rates of the wages under foregoing sub-sections, shall take into account the skill required, the arduousness of the work assigned to the worker, the cost of living of the worker, and other such components which are related to fixing or revising minimum rates of wages as the Government may think appropriate.”. 4. Amendment of Section 11 of Act 11 of 1948.— In Section 11 of the Principal Act, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi,— (1) in sub-section (1), for the words “in cash”, the words “by depositing the same in the bank account of the employees, electronically or by account payee cheque” shall be substituted. (2) In sub-section (1), the following provisos shall be inserted: “Provided that payment of wages to the workers employed on daily wages basis, not less than minimum wages as notified from time to time by appropriate Government, may be made in cash; Provided further that in special circumstances which are beyond the control of employer like- fire in the establishment, natural calamities, death of employer or director of the establishment and other such circumstances as prescribed by appropriate government, the payment of wages may be made in cash.”. 5. Amendment of Section 14 of Act 11 of 1948.—In Section 14 of the Principal Act, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, in Sub-section (1), for the words “the employer shall pay him for every hour or for part of an hour so worked in excess at the overtime rate fixed under this Act or under any law of the appropriate Government for the time being in force, whichever is higher.”, the words “the employer shall pay him for every hour or for part of an hour so worked in excess at the overtime rate fixed under this Act which shall not be less than two times of the normal rate of wages fixed under this Act or under any law of the appropriate Government for the time being in force, whichever is higher” shall be substituted.PART IV] DELHI GAZETTE : EXTRAORDINARY 5 6. Amendment of Section 20 of Act 11 of 1948.—In Section 20 of the Principal Act, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, after sub-section (3), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely :— “(3A)-During the pendency of the proceeding or inquiry in the application preferred by the workman under sub-section(2), the workman shall not be retrenched, dismissed, terminated or laid-off without the prior approval of the Authority before whom the application is pending.”. 7. Amendment of Section 22 of Act 11 of 1948.- In Section 22 of the Principal Act, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi for the words “shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both” the words “shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term of three years, or with fine of fifty thousand rupees, or with both.” shall be substituted. 8. Amendment of Section 22A of Act 11 of 1948.- In Section 22A of the Principal Act, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, for the words “with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees”, the words “with imprisonment for a term of one year, or with fine twenty thousand rupees or with both shall be substituted. 9. Amendment of section 22 B of Act 11 of 1948.—After sub-section 2 of Section 22 B, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely :- “(3) The court before whom the prosecution complaint is made under section 22 shall dispose of the same within a period of three months from the date of making of the complaint.”. 10. Insertion of Sections 31A -After Section 31 of the Principal Act, in its application to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the following section shall be inserted, namely:— “31A. The employer shall Upload the employee data on website or web portal in the manner as may be prescribed.”. MINIMUM WAGES (DELHI) AMENDMENT BILL, 2017 Statement of Objects and Reasons Several states such as Gujarat and Rajasthan have effected state amendments in the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, to enhance the efficacy of the Act. Primarily, the focus has been on enhancing the penalty as well as making compliance easier for the employers by introducing electronic maintenance of records. To ensure that the benefit of minimum wages actually is received by the workers, these state amendments have substituted cash payments with a direct transfer of the wages into the bank account of the workers. The proposed Labour Codes on Wages Bill of the Government of India has also included such similar provisions. The Government of National Capital Territory, having ensured one of the highest levels of minimum rates wages of workers is intended to adopt such legislative trends, which are in favour of a more efficacious implementation of the minimum wages law. In order to realistically examine and fix minimum rates of wages for different class/category of workers all necessary components of ‘wage determination’ which shall include not only basic calorie needs of a workman but also holistically shall include food, shelter, clothing, education for children, medical needs and other social commitments which are generally necessarily followed and adopted by all depending upon their financial earning capacity. Legislative changes in the form of enhanced penalties and direct benefit transfer alone shall not be adequate to ensure that all workers are brought under the cover of this beneficial labour welfare enactment. It is common knowledge that in many establishments there are many workers who are engaged on amounts less than minimum rates of wages and in order to avoid compliance with the provisions of the Act, such workers are often not issued any proof or documents which could establish the ‘employer-employee’ relationship although these are statutorily prescribed documents/records under the provision of Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and rules framed thereunder and it is obligatory on the part of employers to maintain these records/documents. PRASANNA KUMAR SURYADEVARA, Secy. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.