Himani after passing of the Professional examination conducted by the MM Professional Institute underwent the requisite training and got the membership of the Institute. She also applied and got the Certificate of Practi

CS Professional · Labour Laws and Practice · PYQS · December 2024
Himani after passing of the Professional examination conducted by the MM Professional Institute underwent the requisite training and got the membership of the Institute. She also applied and got the Certificate of Practice. However, Himani was not sure in which field she should start the practice looking to the competition in each of the area, whether it be the company related issues or taxation and the new comers have to face the challenges too. Himani's father, Rakesh is an Advocate and has been in practice for matters relating to the labour laws. Himani used to spend most of the time in her father's office and observed that there is a good scope in doing practice in labour audit. Rakesh used to discuss with Himani the cases he used to plead in the labour court and most of them were relating to the Provident Fund, Child Labour, Contract Labour, Workmen's Compensation and Industrial Disputes. Rakesh also introduced Himani to some his corporate clients. Very soon Himani was entrusted to do the labour audit for some of the companies on which various provisions of the labour laws applies. One day Himani was invited by the City Law College to address the law students on the topic of the Industrial Relations Code, 2019. Himani agreed and prepared her speech and addressed the law students, faculties and distinguished guests which were present in the seminar. The speech of Himani was well appreciated. During the question-answer session, one of the law students raised a query that Parliament had enacted number of labour laws for regulating employment and conditions of service of workers. Whenever a new law is enacted, it prescribes certain registers to be maintained by the employers and for furnishing of returns of various details to the concerned enforcing authorities. This creates lot of complications on the part of the employer in dealing with compliances of these provisions. Whether the submission of multiplicity of returns can be exempted? Himani also addressed this issue to the satisfaction of concerned students and for the knowledge of the audience. Jhanvi, a law faculty of the college, appreciated the speech given by Himani. She also asked Himani, how India has made specific representation of the major deliberative organ of the International Labour Organisation. Himani also elaborated over this issue. At last, Jhanvi gave the vote of thanks. One day, a case was brought into the knowledge of Rakesh (father of Himani). In this case, there is a factory, in which the workers were agitating against the management and the union leader appealed to the workmen for not going into the factory for work. However, some of the workers ignored the command of the union leader and attended their work schedule in the factory. At the end of the working hours, when the workers (who attended the factory work) were returning to their home, were attacked by other parties and were severally injured. The injured workers asked the management of the factory to provide them the amount of insurance on the plea that it is an employment injury. Based on the given facts, answer the following questions: Himani, being a practicing Professional, thought to enter in the field of labour laws. Guide Himani, how she should start her work as a labour auditor ?

Answer & Explanation:

It is always recommended to get insights into the business before performing any compliance activity by interviewing with the concerned department. Following must be the key areas of discussion to determine the applicability of Labour and Industrial law on the establishment: - Nature of Business Number of offices and branch Number of employees (permanent and contractual both) Status of registrations (if obtained) Preliminary Steps Identify the laws applicable to the company/establishment based on the nature of the industry and the number of employees. Prepare the checklist, based on discussions for coverage of applicable laws. After the preparation of the checklist, the independent professional has to start compliance with labour laws. The following key areas must be covered while doing compliances and audits under labour laws: - Whether valid registration or license has been obtained. All dues to employees and workers are paid within the timeline which includes: Monthly Wages (Equal or higher than minimum wages) Bonus Payment, Leave Allowances, Gratuity (in case of left out employee), and Overtime Payment. Check whether leave benefit is entitled to eligible employees (Leaves such as Sick Leave, Casual Leave, Earned Leave, Festival Holidays, and Maternity Leave). Whether the safety and security of employees are ensured (Medical Facility, First Aid Box, etc.). Whether display requirements under the Act have been complied. Whether contributions under laws such as ESI, EPF, Labour Welfare Fund and Profession tax have been made on or before the due date. Check whether all required registers and records are maintained as prescribed under the laws. Whether periodic returns are filed timely. Based on the review, any shortcomings and/or observations must be discussed with the management and their statements on the corrective action plan should be recorded within the expected timeline. This may be categorized further into High/ Medium/Low based on financial/operational risk and penalties that may be imposed for non-compliance.

Topics: Labour Audit

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