Chennai Local Body Election Holiday on October 17, 2011: Does Anyone Have the Official TN Govt Order?

Dear friends, kindly help me. Does anyone have the TN Govt order declaring a holiday for October 17, 2011, for the local body elections in Chennai?

The Civic Polls/By-election in Tamil Nadu State

The Tamil Nadu Local Body Election has been scheduled in two phases. The first phase of the polling areas, which are under the Corporation, is scheduled for 17th October, and for the other areas on 19th October, 2011.

Orders are expected from the State Government to be announced on the day of polling as a Public Holiday for Government and Private employees under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

The paid holiday may be declared on the actual date of the poll, and it will be applicable only in the areas where the election/bye-election is taking place.

In accordance with the instructions of the Election Commission, “commercial and Industrial establishments and shops to which the public holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act do not apply, it is suggested that the State Government should direct their Labour Commissioners to issue instructions to Commercial and Industrial establishments in the private sector to declare a paid holiday for their workers on the day or days of the poll.”

Hi guys, thanks. Tamil Nadu Government order is attached. Holidays are declared under the Negotiable Instrument Act only for Government/Educational Institutions and not for Private Establishments. I'm sad .

Mandatory Holiday Notice for Tamil Nadu Employers

Direction has been given by the Commissioner of Labour, Tamil Nadu. It is mandatory for every employer in Tamil Nadu to grant a holiday with wages on 17-Oct-11 and 19-Oct-11 to every person employed by them.

Therefore, the employers of Shops & Establishments are required to grant a holiday with wages on the date of the poll to their employees entitled to vote at the local body election.

Find an attachment of the notice issued.

Regards

Dear Prabhakaran, thank you for your interest. The right information was timely notified by the Labour Commissioner.

Note to All Concerned:

I would like to clarify that, with reference to the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, only the Labour Commissioner has released the notification. This has been clearly mentioned in the letter reference.

"It is suggested that the State Government should direct their Labour Commissioners to issue instructions to commercial and industrial establishments in the private sector to declare a paid holiday for their workers on the day or days of the poll."

So, I conclude that the factories, shops, and establishments should announce a public holiday on 17/10/11 or 19/10/11, whichever is applicable to the employees with paid wages.

Regards,
JP
Asst. Manager - HR & Admin
ARL,
Chennai
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Thank you very much, Mr. Prabhakaran. I had been searching for this notification from the labor department everywhere on the internet. Much appreciated.

But the notification says that the employer is required to grant a paid holiday on 17.10.2011 AND 19.11.2011. It doesn't say that the holiday should be declared on the day where it is applicable to the employer. The use of AND in the notification signifies that both the 17th and 19th are to be declared as holidays. The last two lines are like an explanation, stating that it should enable the employees to vote on such a poll day. So, it is not related to the date where it is applicable for the employer but rather relates to the employee.

For example, if an organization has 100 employees, 50 of them having a poll on the 17th and 50 on the 19th, then what is the solution? If anyone can clarify this, please do.

Same situation here too. We have over 800 employees, with a ratio of 70% to 30% for employees having the 17th and 19th off for the election. People are scratching their heads to find a way out!

Dear Rathna and Subramani, your doubt is correct. However, it depends on whether the factory is situated in a panchayat or corporation area. In that particular location, when the government has announced to conduct elections on either the 17th or 19th, it will be applicable to you.

Regards,
JP
Assistant Manager - HR & Admin
ARL, Chennai
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

For your issue, please refer to my post here: https://www.citehr.com/333521-electi...ml#post1695362.

Central Government Organization Holiday Policy

Friends, in our organization, a central government organization, we have not given a holiday. No central government office is on leave on the 17th and 19th; permission is given to employees to go and vote. Employees can come late or leave early. Only a very few central government offices have declared a full holiday. Please note that as these are local body elections, there is no compulsion to close down completely. You can give permission for 2 hours or half a day; there is no need to provide a full day holiday. This has been confirmed with major central government offices.

Dear Ravi, I disagree with your point of view. Adapting the law is different from violating the law. The law, via a notification issued by the labor commissioner, stipulates that the 17th and 19th of October must be declared as a holiday mandatorily. The word used is "mandate," which means there shall be no other interpretation. Giving permission for one hour or obtaining an undertaking from the employers still constitutes a violation of the law.

When an employer asks an employee to sign an undertaking stating they are willing to work, regardless of any language suggesting the undertaking is voluntary, the employee is obligated to sign it. Therefore, even if you receive such an undertaking from the employees, you are still violating the law.

In my opinion, you must grant a holiday on the 17th or 19th, whichever date is applicable to your organization.

Driving a motor vehicle without a license is an offense, and drunken driving is an offense. Every violation of the law is an offense. You can bend it, violate it, adapt it - do anything. Nothing will happen to you as long as you are not caught!

Regards, Rathnakumar Advocate

Dear Sir, Due to some technical problems, I am not able to download the order issued by the labor office. All I have downloaded is the notification order, which is as follows:

ORDER:

The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission has notified the schedule for the ordinary elections to Local Bodies. The 1st phase of the election is on Monday, the 17th of October, 2011, and the 2nd phase of the election is on Wednesday, the 19th of October, 2011.

The Government has decided to declare the said days of Poll as public holidays under section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (Central Act XXVI of 1881). All Government Offices, including industrial establishments of the Government and Government-controlled bodies, and all educational institutions will remain closed on 17th October 2011 in the areas where polling takes place in the first phase and on 19th October 2011 in the areas where polling takes place in the second phase.

Accordingly, the following Notification will be published in an Extraordinary issue of the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, dated 11th October 2011.

NOTIFICATION

Under the Explanation to section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (Central Act XXVI of 1881), read with the Notification of the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs No. 20-25-26, Public-I, dated the 8th June 1957, the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby declares Monday, the 17th of October 2011, and Wednesday, the 19th of October 2011, the dates on which the poll for the ordinary election to the local bodies in 2011 will take place, to be public holidays in those areas wherever such poll takes place.

(BY ORDER OF THE GOVERNOR)

Debendranath Sarangi, Chief Secretary to the Government.

From the above notification and order, kindly read the bold words; it is self-explanatory:

In the order, it means and applies to only government offices and industrial establishments of government and government-controlled bodies, and dates are specified. If in your area, it is on the 17th, you need to give only on the 17th. Here, area means the area of establishment, so if your company is in X area having the 17th as the poll date, then only the 17th is a leave and the 19th is not leave.

The same is implied in the notification, and it also includes the phrase, to be public holidays, in those areas wherever such poll takes place.

In that post, I already mentioned that laws should be simple and not confusing, giving an opportunity for doubt.

Dear Sir, kindly go through the notification issued by the Commissioner of Labour. The notification under the N.I. Act is applicable for Government institutions and educational institutions. With respect to private establishments, the state Government has to direct the Labour Commissioner to declare a holiday. Pursuant to the same, the Labour Commissioner has given the notification. If you are kind enough to peruse the same, it does not make any exception with respect to the grant of a holiday on the 17th and 19th.

However, it is not fair for the government to direct the private organizations to declare a holiday on the 17th and 19th. A combined reading of the N.I. notification and the notification by the Labour Commissioner allows us to conclude that holidays are to be given on the days applicable to the employer. However, the employer cannot prevent the employees from voting on the 19th.

Kindly go through the notification issued by the Commissioner of Labour. The notification under the N.I. Act is applicable to Government institutions and educational institutions. Regarding private establishments, the state Government must direct the labour commissioner to declare a holiday. Consequently, the labour commissioner has issued the notification. Upon reviewing the same, it is evident that there are no exceptions regarding the granting of holidays on the 17th and 19th.

However, it is unfair for the Government to mandate private organizations to declare holidays on the 17th and 19th. By analyzing both the N.I. notification and the notification from the Labour commissioner, we can infer that holidays should be provided based on the employer's applicable days.

Nevertheless, the employer cannot prohibit employees from voting on the 19th.

The notification by the labour commissioner is in Tamil, and I do not understand it. It would be helpful if you could provide the English version. Concerning the notification under the N.I. Act, a one-day holiday is to be declared. However, we must acknowledge that the current scenario is different from ten years ago. Presently, private companies incur losses even if they halt operations for two hours, particularly IT companies and BPOs. Foreign companies come to India under the condition of 24-hour service assurance. If such notifications lead to full 8-hour shutdowns, it would result in significant losses for companies. Such impacts could deter future outsourcing to India, leading to unemployment and decreased profits for companies, as well as losses for the government in terms of taxes.

The truth is, most people simply desire a holiday to enjoy themselves. There are no regulations to verify if an individual actually voted or not. This condition is outlined in the DOPT order No. 12/14/99 JCA (attached), issued for central government offices, which is self-explanatory. I believe that instead of declaring a full-day holiday, the government could consider a half-day holiday to prevent complete industry shutdowns. In my previous post in another thread, I suggested that instead of declaring holidays, out-of-state employees could be called in for work. In any company with 100 employees, there are nearly 30 out-of-state employees who do not have voting rights. Blindly following notifications and opting for total closure will not benefit India's development.

Regards.

Notification and Legal Considerations

The notification in this thread is in English. However, I am attaching the notification again for your reference.

Whether such a law is right or beneficial is not the issue here. If you feel that such a Government order is violating your right of profession under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, consider filing a writ.

But the issue here is, there is a law. The question is if you don't grant a paid holiday as per the law, it is a violation of the law.

Regards,

Great notification, thanks a lot for uploading the English version. Hope emergency services are exempted, or does this law cover them as well? Because it mentions it is mandatory for every employer in Tamil Nadu. Any common man would not like to see their near and dear ones dying when taken to the hospital and finding it closed because doctors and nurses went to vote and the whole day is a holiday, or train services are completely blocked because all drivers and conductors are given leave and all reservation systems are closed, airports closed?  And if any of these services are running, then I guess the labor commissioner should take action against all of them. Well, anyway, nice discussing with you. Keep in touch.

As far as my knowledge goes, this does not apply to essential services like hospitals. Anyways, thanks for the discussion. Keep in touch.

Regards,
S. Rathnakumar