The Labour Welfare And Skill Development Department, Tamil Nadu on April 11, 2022 has issued the Draft Industrial Relations (Tamil Nadu ) Rules, 2022 to supersede (i) the Tamil Nadu Trade Unions Regulations, 1927; (ii) The Tamil Nadu Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules, 1947; and (iii) The Tamil Nadu Industrial Disputes Rules, 1958.
The foremost provisions of the rules are as followed:
• Manner of filing application for the conciliation of grievance as against the decision of the Grievance Redressal Committee to the Conciliation Officer under sub-section (8) of section 4.- Any worker who is aggrieved by the decision of the Grievance Redressal Committee or whose grievance is not resolved by the said Committee within thirty days of receipt of the application, may file an application electronically or otherwise to the jurisdictional Conciliation Officer within a period of sixty days from the date of communication of the decision of the Grievance Redressal Committee or from the date on which the aforesaid period of thirty days expires, as the case may be, to the Conciliation Officer through the Trade Union, of which he is a member or otherwise:
Provided that in case of manual receipt of such application through registered post or speed post, the Conciliation Officer shall get the same digitised and enter the particulars of the applications in the online mechanism under intimation to the concerned worker.
• Annual audit.- (1) The annual audit of the accounts of a registered Trade Union shall be conducted,-
(a) if the membership of the Trade Union exceeds 250 anytime during the financial year, by an auditor authorised to audit the accounts of companies under section 141 of the Companies Act, 2013 (Central Act 18 of 2013);
(b) if the membership of the Trade Union does not exceed 250 during the financial year, by any two members of the Trade Union;
(2) Where the Trade Union is a federation of unions, its accounts shall be audited by an auditor authorised to audit the accounts of companies under section 141 of the Companies Act, 2013 (Central Act 18 of 2013).
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, no person who, at any time during the year, was entrusted with any part of the funds or securities belonging to the Trade Union shall be eligible to audit the accounts of the Trade Union.
(4) The auditor appointed in accordance with these rules shall be given access to all the books of the Trade Union and shall verify the annual return with the accounts and vouchers relating thereto and shall thereafter sign the auditor‘s declaration appended to Form XI, indicating separately on that Form under his signature a statement showing in what respect he finds the return to be incorrect, unvouched or not in accordance with the Code. The particulars given in this statement shall indicate,-
(i) every payment which appears to be unauthorised by the rules of the Trade Union or contrary to the provisions of the Code;
(ii) the amount of any deficiency or loss which appears to have been incurred by the negligence or misconduct of any person; and
(iii) the amount of any sum which \ought to have been but not brought to account by any person.
(5) Every registered Trade Union shall maintain the following books and registers to facilitate the audit of its accounts:—
(a) Applications for membership, register of membership and subscription in Form- II;
(b) Register of receipts and disbursements of the General Fund Account;
(c) Minutes book to record the proceedings of all meeting;
(d) Register of stock, tools and plant to show the furniture, fittings and valuable documents relating to the immovable property of the Trade Union;
(e) Machine-numbered subscription receipt book;
(f) Register of receipts and disbursements for the political fund (if there is a political fund); and
(g) a file of vouchers.
(6) The audit of political fund of a registered Trade Union shall be carried out along with the audit of the general account of the Trade Union and by the same auditor.
• Registration of Trade Union.- (1) On receipt of an application for registration of Trade Union, the Registrar after due verification of information and particulars submitted with the application either by himself or through any other officer authorised by him and found proper, shall issue certificate of registration in Form- V.
(2) The Registrar shall dispose an application, for registration of a Trade Union either granting or refusing to grant registration, within a period of forty five days from the date of receipt of such application.
(3) The register of Trade Unions referred to in sub-section (1) and (3) of section 9 of the Code shall be maintained in Form-VI.
• Facilities to be provided to negotiating union or negotiating council under sub-section (7) of section 14.- In an industrial establishment, where there is a negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be, the employer of such industrial establishment shall provide the following facilities to the negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be, namely:-
(a) notice board for the purpose of displaying the information relating to activities of negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be;
(b) venue and necessary facilities for holding discussions by the negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be, as per schedule and agenda to be settled between employer of the industrial establishment and the negotiating union or constituents of negotiating council, as the case may be;
(c) venue and necessary facilities for holding discussions amongst the members of the negotiating union or constituents of negotiating council, as the case may be;
(d) facility for entrance of the office bearers of the negotiating union or constituents of negotiating council, as the case may be, in the industrial establishment for the purposes of ascertaining the matters relating to the working conditions of the workers;
(e) employer to deduct subscription of the members of the Trade Unions on the basis of the written consent of the worker;
(f) treating on duty of the employed office bearers of the negotiating union or constituents of negotiating council, as the
case may be, when the office bearers are holding meetings or discussing with the employer as per agreed schedule between the employer and such office bearers;
(g) employer of an industrial establishment, having three hundred or more workers, shall provide suitable office accommodation to the negotiating union or negotiating council, as the case may be.
• Manner of making application for adjudication before the Tribunal under sub-section (1) of section 22.- Where any dispute arises between –
(a) one Trade Union and another; or
(b) one or more workers who are members of Trade Union and the Trade Union regarding registration, administration or management or election of office bearers of the Trade Union; or
(c) one or more workers who are refused admission as members and the Trade Union; or
(d) where the dispute is in respect of a Trade Union which is a federation of Trade Unions and the office bearer authorised in this behalf by the Trade Union, then, the aggrieved person may make application to the Tribunal having jurisdiction, in Form-VIII within a period of one year from the date on which the dispute arises, electronically or by registered post or by speed post or in person.
• Annual returns of the Trade Union.- (1) The annual returns to be furnished under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 26 shall be submitted either electronically or otherwise to the Registrar in Form-XI by the Secretary of the Trade Union on or before the 30th day of April in each year.
• Notice of strike under sub-section (1) of section 62. – (1) The notice of strike shall be given to the employer of an industrial establishment in Form-XIX which shall be duly signed by the Secretary of the registered Trade Union, or where there is no registered Trade Union, by five elected representatives relating to such industrial establishment, endorsing copies thereof either electronically or by registered post or by speed post or in person to the conciliation officer, the Commissioner of Labour and the Government.
(2) If the employer of an industrial establishment receives from any person employed by him any notice of strike then he shall within five days from the date of receiving of such notice, intimate the same either electronically or otherwise to the concerned conciliation officer and the Commissioner of Labour.
• Notice of lock-out under sub-section (2) of section 62. – (1) The notice of lock-out shall be given by the employer of an industrial establishment in Form-XX to the Secretary of every registered Trade Union relating to such industrial establishment endorsing copies thereof to the concerned conciliation officer, the Commissioner of Labour and the Government either electronically or otherwise. The notice shall be displayed conspicuously by the employer on a notice board or on electronic board at the main entrance to the industrial establishment.
(2) If the employer gives to any person employed by him a notice of lock-out, then he shall within five days from the date of such notice, intimate electronically the same to the concerned conciliation officer and the Commissioner of Labour.
• Notice of retrenchment under clause (c) of section 70. - If any employer desires to retrench any worker employed in his industrial establishment who has been in continuous service for not less than one year under him then, such employer shall give notice of such retrenchment, in Form-XXI to the authority notified by the Government, through e-mail or, by registered post or speed post.
• Re-employment to the retrenched workers under section 72.- Where any vacancy occurs in an industrial establishment and there are workers of such industrial establishment retrenched within one year prior to the proposal for filling up such vacancy, then, the employer of such industrial establishment shall offer an opportunity at least 10 days before by registered post or speed post and through e-mail to such retrenched workers who are citizens of India. If such workers give their willingness for employment then, the employer shall give them preference over other persons in filling up of such vacancy.
• Notice of closure under sub- section (1) of section 74. — If an employer intends to close down an industrial establishment he shall give notice of such closure in Form-XXI to the Government and a copy thereof to the Commissioner of Labour, by e-mail and by registered post or speed post.
• Protected workers under sub-sections (3) and (4) of section 90.- (1) Every registered Trade Union connected with an industrial establishment, to which the Code applies, shall communicate to the employer, before the 30th September of every year, the names and addresses of such of the officers of the Trade Union who are employed in that establishment and as in its opinion, should be recognized as “protected workers” during the subsequent calendar year. Any change in the incumbency of any such officer shall be communicated to the employer by the Trade Union within fifteen days of such change. In case of any dispute between the employer and any registered Trade Union in respect of matters connected with the recognition of “protected workers” the 30th September of every year shall be taken as the date for determining the representative character of each Trade Union for the purpose of this rule.
(2) The employer shall, recognise such workmen to be “protected workers” and communicate to the Trade Union, in writing, within fifteen days form the date of the receipt of the names and addresses under sub-rule (1), the list of workmen recognised as “protected workers” for the period of twelve months from the date of such communication:
Provided that where the number of officers suggested for recognition as “protected workers” falls short of the number of officers for whom recognition can be given in respect of the Trade Union, the employer shall intimate the fact to the Trade Union and the Trade Union shall thereupon be entitled to select additional officers to be recognised as “protected workers”. Such selection shall be made by the Trade Union and communicated to the employer within five days from the date of receipt of the employer‘s letter. On receipt of the communication, the employer shall act as specified in this sub-rule.
(3) Where the number of officers suggested for recognition by the Trade Union exceeds that for which recognition can be given according to sub-section (4) of section 90, the required number shall be selected according to the order of priority suggested by the Trade Union.
(4) Where there is more than one registered Trade Union in the establishment, the maximum number of workmen to be recognised as “protected workers” shall be so distributed by the employer among the Trade Unions, that the number of recognised “protected workers” in the individual Trade Union bear, as nearly as possible, the same proportion to one another as the membership figures of the Trade Unions. The employer shall, in that case, intimate in writing to the Secretary or Principal Officer of the Trade Union the number of “protected workers” allotted to it.
(5) When a dispute arises between the employer and any registered Trade Union in respect of matters connected with the recognition of “protected workers” under this rule, the dispute shall be referred to the concerned conciliation officer. The conciliation officer may call for and scrutinize such of the records as may be considered to be relevant and shall give the parties a reasonable opportunity of stating their case before giving a decision. The decision of the conciliation officer shall be final.
*Disclaimer – Kindly find the detailed rules and Forms in the attached document.
All persons likely to be affected thereby and the notice is hereby given that the said draft notification will be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of forty five days from the date on which the copies of the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette in which this notification is published are made available to the public;
Objections and suggestions, if any, may be addressed to the Secretary to Government, Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department, Fort St. George, Chennai – 600 009 through the Commissioner of Labour, DMS Campus, Chennai – 600 006 or by e-mail - [email protected]. The objection or suggestion should be sent in a proforma containing columns (i) specifying the name and address of the persons and organisations (ii) specifying the rule or sub-rule which is proposed to be modified and (iii) specifying the revised rule or sub-rule proposed to be substituted and the reasons therefor;
The Objections and suggestions which may be received from any person or organisation with respect to the said draft notification before the expiry of the period specified above, will be considered by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
[Notification No. SRO A- 8(b)/2022]
