Chapter IV APPEALS, GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL AND MISCELLANEOUS

1. (1) Every Administrative Department shall, by notification, constitute or designate an Employee Grievance Redressal Committee at the office level to hear and decide, at the first stage, all individual grievances of Eligible Outsourced Personnel and Contractual Appointees arising under this Act or the rules made thereunder; and the Administrative Department may, for that purpose, designate any committee already constituted under the existing instructions of the Government.
2. (2) Appeal from an order of the Employee Grievance Redressal Committee shall lie to a Departmental Grievance Appellate Committee, to be constituted by the Administrative Department, by notification. Every such appeal shall be filed within sixty
3. (60) days of the order appealed against.
4. (3) The time-limits for disposal of grievances and appeals under this section shall be as follows, namely,-
   • (a) the Employee Grievance Redressal Committee shall decide every individual grievance within forty-five
5. (45) days; and
   • (b) the Departmental Grievance Appellate Committee shall decide every individual appeal within ninety
6. (90) days.
7. (4) The composition and procedure of every Committee constituted under this section shall be such, as the Government or the Administrative Department, as the case may be, may, by notification, specify.

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against any officer of the Government or any member of any Committee constituted under this Act for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

1. (1) The Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab shall, within sixty
2. (60) days from the date of commencement of this Act, constitute a State Empowered Committee for the purpose of overseeing the implementation of this Act and for adjudication of cadre-level appeals arising thereunder.
3. (2) The composition of the State Empowered Committee shall be such, as the Government may, by notification, specify.
4. (3) Cadre-level appeals, including appeals filed by any worker representative body, union or collective in respect of any cadre-level matter, shall lie solely to the State Empowered Committee. Every such appeal shall be filed within sixty
5. (60) days of the order appealed against, and shall be decided by the State Empowered Committee within ninety
6. (90) days of receipt.
7. (4) The State Empowered Committee shall undertake a comprehensive review of the operation of this Act every year and submit its report to the Government.

The Government may, by general or special order, for reasons to be recorded in writing, relax any provision of this Act or the rules made thereunder in any class of cases, where it is satisfied that the operation of such provision causes undue hardship or impedes the object of this Act.

1. (1) The Government may, by notification, in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
2. (2) Every rule made under this section, shall be laid, as soon as may be, after it is made, before the House of State Legislature, while it is in session for a total period of ten
3. (10) days, which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the successive sessions as aforesaid, the House agrees in making any modification in the rule, or the House agrees that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter, have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, however, any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

1. (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Government may, by general or special order published in the Official Gazette, make such provision, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as may appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removing such difficulty: Provided that no order shall be made under this section after the expiry of a period of three
2. (3) years from the date of commencement of this Act.
3. (2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the House of the State Legislature.

If any question arises as to the interpretation of this Act, the Government shall decide the same.

The Punjab Adhoc, Contractual, Daily Wage, Temporary, Work Charged and Outsourced Employees' Welfare Act, 2016 (Punjab Act No. 55 of 2016), is hereby repealed from the date of its enactment.