Chapter III HOURS AND LIMITATIONS OF EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES

Save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, no worker shall be required to work for more than eight hours in any day and no adolescent or minor worker shall be required to do the work of loading and unloading: Provided that nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to prohibit an agreement between the employer and the workers for working less than eight hours, as the case may be, on any particular day or days or on all days of employment or to affect any custom or practice prevailing in the locality under which the loading and unloading worker is required to work for less than eight hours, as the case may be.

(1) No loading and unloading worker shall be required to carry load of any article or load weighing more than fifty-five kilograms, at a time. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, no person who is above the age of sixty years shall be deemed to be a worker for the purposes of this Act.

The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed four hours of continuous work and no worker shall work for more than four hours continuously before he had an interval for rest for at least half an hour.

Every employer or contractor shall pay wages to a loading and unloading worker employed or engaged by him on the due date, as may be prescribed: Provided that the wages payable to any worker shall not be lower than the minimum wages prescribed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (Central Act 11 of 1948).

(1) If, any employer pays less than the notified wages due to a loading and unloading worker or refuses to pay such wages, the loading and unloading worker or an official of the union of which he is a member may make an application to the Assistant Inspector of Labour for a direction under sub-section (2) hereunder within 6 months from such less payment or refusal: Provided that the application may be entertained after the expiry of the said period of six months, if, sufficient cause is shown by the applicant. (2) On receipt of an application under sub-section (1), the Assistant Inspector of Labour shall, after giving the applicant and the employer an opportunity of being heard and after such inquiry, if any, which he may consider necessary, direct:— (a) in the case of a claim arising out of the payment of less than the notified wages, the payment to the loading and unloading worker of the amount by which the wages payable to him exceeds the amount actually paid by the employer; (b) in the case of a claim arising out of non-payment of notified wages payable to the loading and unloading worker for payment of the notified wages; (3) If, as a result of a direction under sub-section (2), any amount of the wages becomes payable to a loading and unloading worker, the Assistant Inspector of Labour shall, if, the amount is not paid in accordance with his direction, make a report within 30 days from the date of receipt of application to the Labour Officer (Enforcement), Puducherry for Puducherry, Mahe and Yanam regions and the Labour Officer, Karaikal for Karaikal region specifying the full particulars regarding the amount of the wages due to the loading and unloading worker and on receipt of such report, the said authorities shall hear and decide all claims arising out of deductions from wages or delay in payment of wages of the persons employed, within 60 days from the date of receipt of such report: Provided the aforesaid time limit of 30 days and 60 days may be extended to such period not exceeding the duration of original period for reasons to be recorded in writing.

An appeal shall lie against any order passed under sub-section (2) and sub-section (3) of section 12, to the Deputy Labour Commissioner, who is the Appellate Authority, within a period of thirty days from the date of the order appealed against and the decision of the Appellate Authority on such appeal shall be final: Provided that the Appellate Authority may admit an appeal presented after the expiration of the said period of thirty days if, it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not presenting the appeal within that period.