The Labour , Skill Development and Employment Department (Gujarat) on December 30, 2021 has issued the Gujarat Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Rules, 2021 which shall be applicable to apply to all Factories/Establishment/Building or other construction work relating to any establishment in relation to which appropriate Government is the State Government under the Code.
These rules shall supersede the following:
• Gujarat Factories Rules, 1963;
• Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2003;
• Gujarat Motor Transport Workers Rules, 1965;
• Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) (Gujarat)Rules, 1968;
• Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) (Gujarat) Rules, 1972; and
• Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and
• Conditions of Service)(Gujarat) Rules, 1981
The foremost provisions of the rules are as followed:
• Application for registration under section3.-
The employer/occupier seeking registration for an establishment/factory not already registered shall apply electronically in Form 1 annexed to these rules, on the portal of Commissioner of Labour by giving details about the establishment/factory, and submitting/uploading documents related to Registration of the establishment/factory, proof of Identity and address of the employer(s) /occupier as specified in the Form. The Form shall be signed digitally or in any other manner as may be required. The applicant shall be responsible for veracity of all information submitted in the application.
• Annual Health Examination under section 6.-
(a)The occupier of factory/Employer of building or other construction work shall arrange to conduct free of cost, medical examination annually i.e. within 120 days from the commencement of the calendar year for every worker/employee who has completed 45 years of age. The medical examination shall be conducted by a qualified medical practitioner as per proforma in the Form 5.
(b)The Medical Certificate shall be submitted by the qualified medical practitioner to the employer and employee.
• Factories exempted for overlapping of shift under section 29.-
The Printing press attached to the newspaper offices shall be exempted from the provisions of section 29 of the Code, subject to the following conditions, namely:-
In such printing press-
(i) The workers of each relay shall bear a badge of distinct colour which will identify the worker of one relay from that of the other;
(ii) The colour of the badge to be worn by the workers of each relay shall be specified in the notice of periods of work required to be displayed and correctly maintained and in the copies of the notice to be sent to the Inspector cum facilitator;
(iii)a flag or light having the same colour as that of the badge to be worn by the workers of any relay actually at work shall be displayed during the time of actual working of one or more relays in the department concerned;
(iv)Each worker engaged in the work carried on by means of overlapping shifts shall be in possession of an identity card. The identity card shall be supplied to the worker by the factory management free of costs and shall bear the photograph of the workers, his full name, signature or thumb impression and visible identification mark and the signature of the Manager.
• Restriction of double employment under section 30.-
The Inspector cum facilitator may allow the employment of adult workers in more than one factories on the same day subject to the following circumstances — (1) such adult worker has not worked more than forty-eight hours in a week and is allowed weekly holidays as per rule 24;
(ii) A note under the initials of the Inspector shall be made in the remarks column of a Register of such workers permitted to work in more than one factory.
• Register of Attendance, Wages, Overtime, fine, deduction for damage or loss.-
(1) Every employer shall-
(a) maintain register of workers, wages, overtime, fine, deduction for damage or loss in Form 13, shall be kept available at a factory/establishment.
(b) maintain muster roll of the all workers employed in the factory/establishment in Form 14 showing the name of each workers, the nature of his work and daily attendance of the worker. (c)in case of manual registers and other records, be legibly entered in ink in English/Hindi/ Gujarati or the language understood by a
majority of the persons employed;
(d) be preserved in original for a period of three calendar year after the date of the last report or entry:
Provided that when the original record is lost or destroyed before the expiry of one-year period, true copies thereof, if available, shall be preserved for the prescribed period;
(e) issue where the wage period is one week or more, wage book to each of such building worker, in Form 15 in which entries shall be made at least a day prior to the disbursement of wages to them;
(f) issue a service certificate to each of such building worker in Form 16 on termination of his service on account of completion of such work or for any other reason;
(g) be produced, electronically or by registered post or manually, on demand before the Chief Inspector-cum-facilitator or an Inspector- cum-facilitator or any person authorized in that behalf of the State Government or the Central Government.
• Annual Return. -
Every employer of an establishment shall send annually a return relating to such establishment in duplicate in Form 23 to the Inspector-cum-facilitator having jurisdiction so as to reach him not later than 1st February following the end of each calendar year with a copy to Director General, Labour Bureau and Director General, Factory Advise Service & Labour Institute (DGFASLI) electronically or otherwise.
• Employment of Women in establishment under Section 43.-
(1) The following conditions shall be met for employment of women during night or before 6.00 a.m. and beyond 7.00 p.m. in any day, namely: -
(a) the consent of women employee shall be taken;
(b) No women shall be employed against the maternity benefit provisions laid down under the Social Security Code, 2020 (36 of 2020);
(c) adequate transportation facilities shall be provided to women employee to pick-up and drop such employee at her residence;
(d) the workplace including passage towards conveniences or facilities concerning toilet, washrooms, drinking water, entry and exit of women employee should be well-lit;
(e) the toilet, washroom and drinking facilities should be near the workplace where such women employee are employed; and
(f) Provide safe, secure and healthy working condition such that no women employee is disadvantaged in connection with her employment.
(g) The provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and rules thereunder, as applicable to the establishments shall be complied with.
• Responsibility of contractor under sub-section (4) of section 48.-
(1) The rates of wages payable to the workers by the contractor shall not be less than the rates prescribed under the Code on Wages, 2019 (29 of 2019) and where the rates have been fixed by agreement, settlement or award, not less than the rates fixed.
(2) In case where the worker employed by the contractor perform the same or similar kind of work as the worker directly employed by the principal employer of the establishment, the wagc rates, holidays, hours of work and other conditions of service of the workers of the contractor shall be the same as applicable to the workers directly employed by the principal employer of the establishment on the same or similar kind of work. In case of any dispute whether the work is of similar kind, the matter be referred to the Inspector-Cum Facilitator whose decision shall be final.
(3) In other cases, the wage rates, holidays, hours of work and conditions of service of the workers of the contractor shall be such as specified under the Code and rules made thereunder.
(4) All contract labour shall be made member of EPF and ESI subject to applicability as under respective provisions of the Code on Social Security, 2020.
(5) The contractor shall notify any change in the number of workers or conditions of work to the Licensing Authority, electronically.
All the persons likely to be affected thereby and notice is hereby given that the said draft rules will be taken in to consideration by the Government of Gujarat on or after the expiry of forty-five days from the date of its publication in the Ofificinl Gazette.
Any objection or suggestion which may be received by the Deputy Secretary to Government of Gujarat, Labour , Skill Development and Employment Department , 5" Block, 6'h Floor, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar or by email [email protected] from any person with respect to the said draft rules on or before the expiry of the aforesaid period will be considered by the Government.
