Can I Apply the Paid Sunday Rule from Factories Act to My CA Firm? Seeking Advice

I am presently working in a CA firm which comes under the Shops & Establishments Act. I've worked with companies that were under the Factories Act and applied a rule of paid Sunday after working for 4 days. That is, if someone works for 4 days in a week only, then he/she will get the Sunday paid holiday benefit. I acquired this knowledge through a PF/ESI consultant.

Now, I want to know if I can apply the same rule in a CA firm or not. Kindly revert to my query as soon as possible.

Thanks & Regards,
Anika Sharma

Dear Anika, while we are calculating the wages from monthly wages into a daily rate, we consider Sundays at that time. That's the reason we arrive at the daily wage rate based on the monthly rate fixed by the government divided by 26, rather than on a 30-day basis. Therefore, the Sunday wages are already evenly included and distributed in the wages of the other days.

With warm regards,

S. Bhaskar
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Hi Anika, how are you? First, I have to tell you, if you're working on Sunday, there are two options. One is to mention Sunday working in the muster roll, in which case the employer will pay double wages on that day. The second option is if the employer is aware, then he will pay on a casual basis only for Sunday entries.

I hope your query will be resolved.

Thanks and regards,
Chander Kr.
HR - Exec.
E-mail: [Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

I've understood your point, but my point is to know if there is any rule in the Shops & Establishment Act to provide Sunday benefits (paid) to employees even when they have not worked for 4 days in a week.

I've applied the same rule from my last organization in this CA firm, but it seems that this practice is not widely followed as many big firms are not implementing it. I just want to clarify this point: is it right to provide Sunday pay only when people work for at least 4 days in a week?

Thank you.

Weekly Off Benefit Criteria

To benefit from a weekly off, employees must work for 50% of the working days in the preceding week. Otherwise, the weekly off/Paid Holidays will also be included in the string of leaves. For example, consider an employee working for only 4 days in a month and getting paid for 8 days due to 4 Sundays in the month. This situation would not be justified.

Regards

That's right, but I want to know if there is any policy or rule in the Shops and Establishment Act or in the Factories Act stating that one should work for at least 50% of the days to get Sunday benefits.

But in case a person does not show up for work for even one day, they will receive reduced Sunday remuneration. Therefore, you need not worry too much about it. If they do work on Sunday, you will need to provide them with one Compensatory Off within the next three days, or you must pay them double the overtime wages.

@ S. Bhaskar, perfectly answered. That's precisely the way it's done in Shops & Estb. I think it's clear-cut and without ambiguity. Not everything done in an organization needs a rule book. There are policies and procedures in the organization precisely for this purpose.

Regards

I find your query confusing. I will try to answer it from my perspective.

Legal Provision for Weekly Offs

Be it a factory, shop, or commercial establishment, there is a legal provision for a weekly off. The employer is required to stipulate a particular day as a weekly off each week, on which the employee is not supposed to work.

Payment of Salary and Weekly Offs

Treatment of the weekly off for payment of salary purposes will depend on the category of the employee and the specific policy followed by the employer.

In the case of daily-rated workers, the salary for the month is derived by multiplying the number of days worked by the daily rate of wages. Obviously, workers are not paid anything for weekly offs.

For monthly-rated employees, the total monthly salary fixed is for all 30 or 31 days of the month, which includes weekly offs as well.

Weekly Offs and Leave/Absence for Monthly Rated Employees

Regarding the treatment of weekly offs in relation to leaves or absences for monthly rated employees, the widely followed practice is: 'Weekly off at the beginning and/or at the end of a leave/absence period is treated as a weekly off, but any weekly off sandwiched between leaves/absence will be treated as leave/absence.'

What Mr. VKomthankar said is absolutely right. Generally, only the intervening weekly off is considered as part of leave. For working on a weekly off, you must pay double OT to the employee whose salary is calculated on a daily wage rate basis and Compensatory Off (C/O) to the employee whose salary is calculated on a monthly fixed salary.

With warm regards,
Sachin P.

As per provisions laid down in the Shops & Commercial Establishment Act, it is mandatory for the employer to notify the weekly off day through the notice board and to the Labour department using the relevant form/format. Since your query pertains to a CA firm where the existence of daily rated workmen/weekly rotated shift duty is expected to be nil, the mandatory weekly off day would be on Sunday only, which is considered a paid holiday for all monthly rated employees. Therefore, the question of determining eligibility for paid Sunday based on the number of days worked in a particular week does not arise. However, you can consider such leave of absence during the week in question as either paid leave or LWOP, in accordance with your organization's leave policy.

I hope this clarifies your query.

Regards,
Gopal

I would like to know one more thing: in the case of a monthly salary, can we deduct the Sunday benefit if someone is not coming for at least four days in a week, even if they have come on Saturday and Monday? The reason for me asking this is that I was using the same in the Factories Act where my PF consultant mentioned this point to me. Now, when I am dealing with the Shops & Establishment Act, I am unable to find any such rule in this act. I would like to know more about this rule.

Thanks & Regards,
Anika Sharma

Dear All, I have gone through the whole discussion. She had asked if a salary-based employee doesn't attend the office for 4 days in a week, say he/she comes on Monday and Tuesday only, and then he comes to the office after 4 working days (after being absent/on leave from Wednesday to Saturday), i.e., on Monday of the next coming week. Is he/she entitled to a paid weekend, i.e., Sunday? Is it right, Anika?

To my knowledge, in a manufacturing concern in Noida, if he/she is not a confirmed employee (salary-based), we only pay for a holiday in a month, other than Sundays and declared holidays (by the company). The rest of the absenteeism will be deducted from his/her salary. In the above case, for this salary-based, non-confirmed employee, Sunday will not be paid.

If he/she happens to be a confirmed employee, in this particular case, this Sunday will be a paid Sunday, and Wednesday to Saturday will be marked as leave (Sunday may also be marked as leave depending on the HR policy of the company), and this number of leave days will be deducted from his account of leave or adjusted at the end of the year during leave encashment, as the case may be. In our case, we only encash/pay for leave for over and above 45 days only. Hence, it is adjustable in any case.

I think it's clear now. If not, you may please update me for any of my concerns.

Regards, SN

Weekly Day Off and Absence Policy

When a weekly day off falls within the period of absence, the day off is also considered as part of the absence. Similarly, if an employee works just before their scheduled day off, they cannot receive paid time off for the extra work done on that day.

Clarification on Sunday Absence and Leave Policies

Please mention exactly the section under which Sunday can be marked as absent (loss of pay) according to the Factories Act and Leave Act of a particular state.

If an employee was on leave with wages for the whole month of February, then the earned leave (EL) would be only 24 days and 4 extra Sundays. There is some confusion regarding whether Sundays should be marked as "loss of pay" or "paid." If marked as "paid," why should it be subtracted from EL's or CL's, etc.?

If any senior lawyer is on the discussion board, please share your views on this!!!

Regards,
Manish Gupta

Sorry I am late in responding. You cannot and should not deduct salary for Sunday in the instance given by you. What you were doing in the past in the factory is also absolutely wrong. I wonder how your employees were tolerant of such reckless deductions. No legislation allows such deductions. The advice of your PF Consultant is not correct and not legal.