Calculating Factory License Fees: Should Act Apprentices Be Counted as Employees?

While calculating the number of employees to be ordinarily employed in a factory for the purpose of factory license fees, do we need to include the strength of Act apprentices?

Definition of a Worker Under the Factory Act

Every person working within the factory premises, except for the occupier and the factory manager, is considered a worker under the Factory Act. So yes, apprentices should also be considered when computing the number of persons ordinarily employed.

Buffer for Workforce Management

However, most companies keep a buffer of 100-300 workers to provide for urgent needs or temporary increases in the workforce.

Though the definition of a worker under the Factories Act 1948 does not include an apprentice, my view on the inclusion of apprentices is on a different ground. The Factories Act is basically a welfare Act meant to provide for the health and safety of persons employed in the factories, even if they are not directly involved in the manufacturing process but are incidentally connected with it. Sec.16 of the Apprentices Act extends the application of provisions of the Factories Act relating to health and safety to apprentices engaged in a factory premises. Thus, looking to the spirit of the Factories Act and the provisions of the Apprentices Act, you can include apprentices also for the limited purpose of paying license fees. This is only a view. Views of other experts are also invited.

Regards,
B. Saikumar HR & Labour Law Advisor

Dear All, I have one query; please provide me with a solution.

We are a very small organization, and we are deducting the PF amount within the limit of ₹6,500.

Our Case:

Last month, one of our employees met with an accident. She attended her duty from September 1st to September 20th, 2013. After September 21st, she met with an accident and did not attend her duty for the remaining days. Her salary for these 20 days is ₹8,000 (Basic only). So, can we deduct the PF amount as ₹6,500 * 12% of what?

Her salary is deducted from the month of September 2013 (10 Days).

The calculation is as follows:

1. If her 20 days' salary exceeds the limit of ₹6,500, then we can deduct the PF as ₹6,500 * 12%.

2. If her 20 days' salary exceeds the limit of ₹6,500 and she did not attend her duty for the remaining 10 days, and if her salary exceeds ₹6,500, then we consider her present days only and can deduct PF with respect to (₹6,500/30) * 20 days * 12%. Is this correct?

Please provide a solution for this query.

Regards,

Disha G.
Human Resource Department