How Does the Maharashtra Assembly Election Holiday Affect Your Work Plans?

Please find attached the Holiday Notification for the Maharashtra Assembly election on Wednesday, 15th October 2014.

Warm Regards,
Anand Thakkar.

Kindly let us know whether it is applicable under the Factories Act, since it's a declared holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act.

Regards,
Satish

Clarification on Holiday Notification

This notification is applicable to corporations, undertakings, and semi-government bodies under their administrative control. However, this notification does not state whether paid holidays should be granted to establishments, shops, and offices. Please clarify.

Regards.

Holiday Declaration Under the NI Act

It's declared as a holiday under the NI Act and is recognized as a state holiday. It will apply to all employees, including those in factories and shops.

Thank you for the prompt post with notification. However, for private companies, employers, and factories, there needs to be a notification from the State Election Commission, which I think will be published very soon.

Representation of People's Act, 1951

Based on the above discussion, I would like to draw your attention to the Representation of People's Act, 1951.

Under the Representation of People's Act, 1951, Section 135B is reproduced as below:

135B. Grant of paid holiday to employees on the day of poll.

(1) Every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishment and entitled to vote at an election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State shall, on the day of poll, be granted a holiday.

(2) No deduction or abatement of the wages of any such person shall be made on account of a holiday having been granted in accordance with sub-section (1). If such a person is employed on the basis that he would not ordinarily receive wages for such a day, he shall nonetheless be paid for such day the wages he would have drawn had not a holiday been granted to him on that day.

(3) If an employer contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), then such employer shall be punishable with a fine which may extend to five hundred rupees.

(4) This section shall not apply to any elector whose absence may cause danger or substantial loss in respect of the employment in which he is engaged.

Hope this will give clarity on the subject.

Thank you.

Regards,
Girish V
Labour Law Consultant
B.Com, LLM, DCL, IPRL, M & A, DHRM, CS(Inter)
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Appreciate your opinion on the queries raised by Members. In that case, the Maharashtra Govt should have declared a Paid Holiday based on the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. The confusion was raised by the Industrial Establishments as the Govt. of Maharashtra declared a Paid Holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act. Request your opinion on the above.

Regards,
Satishkumar

Please find herewith the Government Circular dated 10.10.2014 declaring a Paid Holiday on Assembly Election day in Maharashtra. Please also find below the text of the Circular dated 09.10.2014 by the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the said subject.

To:

ALL MEMBERS IN MAHARASHTRA:

Sub: Assembly Elections in Maharashtra – 15th October, 2014

Elections to various Assembly Constituencies in Maharashtra will be held on Wednesday, 15th October, 2014. Members are informed that the Representation of People Act, 1951 was amended in the year 1996 by the Representation of People (Amendment) Act, 1996 by the insertion of a new Section 135-B providing for the grant of a paid holiday to employees on the day of the poll. The relevant section is reproduced overleaf for the information of Members. In view of the insertion of Section 135-B and subject to sub-section 4 thereof, it is now necessary for employers in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishments to grant a paid holiday to employees who are entitled to vote at the election. It is not compulsory for any Company to keep its establishment(s) closed on the election day.

The Government of Maharashtra has, in the past, issued notifications declaring the days of elections to be holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Members may please note that the Representation of People Act, 1951, being a Central enactment, would be binding insofar as the applicability of Section 135-B to all persons employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishments for the purpose of granting a paid holiday on the day of election.

Every employee entitled to vote will be eligible to avail of a paid holiday on the day of polling in the Constituency in which he is entitled to exercise his franchise. Such employees who fall within the ambit of Sub-section-4 of Section 135-B will not be entitled to a paid holiday. However, they will be required to be given suitable time off to exercise their franchise. Employees may be asked to intimate their Department Heads, the place, and date on which they are eligible to vote to enable them to appropriately avail of the paid holiday.

Section 135-B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951: Grant of paid holiday to employees on the day of polling – (inserted by Act 21 of 1996 with effect from 1st August, 1996)

Every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking, or any other establishment and entitled to vote at an election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State shall, on the day of poll, be granted a holiday. No deduction or abatement of the wages of any such person shall be made on account of a holiday having been granted in accordance with sub-section (1) and if such person is employed on the basis that he would not ordinarily receive wages for such a day, he shall nonetheless be paid for such day the wages he would have drawn had not a holiday been granted to him on that day. If an employer contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), then such employer shall be punishable with a fine which may extend to Rs.500/-. This section shall not apply to any elector whose absence may cause danger or substantial loss in respect of the employment in which he is engaged.

Regards.

Dear all, as a responsible employer, we will announce a holiday. However, how can we check if employees have used this leave for a good cause? Additionally, most of our employees are outstation and are not authorized to vote for the Maharashtra state assembly. Don't you think this will result in a loss of productivity? Do we have any solutions to address this issue?

Please advise.

Regards,
Suvarna

Notification for Assembly Elections 2014

Attachment of the notification for the 2014 assembly elections.

Regards

If the same notification (posted by me) is uploaded anywhere else in another thread/discussion, then sorry for the duplication. But if you are talking about the two notifications uploaded in this same thread, then I would kindly suggest reading both of them. You will see the difference. Also, someone moderating voluntarily is always welcome as long as it is in concern and helpful to the fellow members.

Regards,
KT

[QUOTE=korgaonkar k a;2183440]
Dear All,

Hi Korgaonkar Ji and Hi Other Labour Law experts, IT company has posted the following message to its employees. I would like to understand if there are different rules governing IT companies in Maharashtra and Mumbai, as well as SEZ companies. Please let me know what this circular is about and if you have a copy of the official circular countering this.

Quote:
"Dear All,

As per the revised notification issued by the Government of Maharashtra on October 10, 2014, all employees of IT and IT-enabled services who are entitled to vote on October 15, 2014, are required to be given at least two hours to enable them to exercise their franchise.

Hence, our earlier communication declaring a mandated holiday on October 15, 2014, for casting votes stands null and void.

You may now plan your activities accordingly and ensure at least two hours of time off is given to the associates to cast their votes on October 15, 2014."

[QUOTE=girish_vivalkar;2183219]

Representation of Peoples Act, 1951

Based on the above discussion, I would like to draw your attention to the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. I would like to understand if some IT companies in Maharashtra and Mumbai have issued another notification to employees in Mumbai and Maharashtra. Is there any circular related to IT from the Assembly about the holiday cancellation? If there is anything that has come to the valuable attention of the senior members here in the forum to counter the below notification, please share it. If you have any English circular or in any language, the latest one as of Saturday, 11th October 2014, or 10th October 2014 pertaining to IT, then please do publish it in the forum to help the IT associates have a proper idea regarding the notification in the press.

Quote:

"Dear All,

As per the revised notification issued by the Government of Maharashtra on October 10, 2014, all the employees of IT and IT-enabled services who are entitled to vote on October 15, 2014, are required to be given at least two hours to enable them to exercise their franchise.

Hence, our earlier communication declaring a mandated holiday on 15 October 2014 for casting the votes stands null and void.

You may now plan your activity accordingly and ensure at least two hours of time off is given to the associates to cast their votes on October 15, 2014."

Please find the attachment. It is in Marathi. You need to translate it.

Regards

Dear All,

According to this circular, employees can be granted a 2-hour or sufficient time concession to cast their vote where the absence of employees on election day may cause danger or substantial loss to the employer, especially in the IT industry, export industry, and continuous process industry.

Regards,