West Bengal Form W Register of Employees

The Shop and Establishment Act (the "Act") is unique to each state. But do all states have the same general Act provisions? The registrations are granted by the individual states in accordance with the Act, and as a result, they vary slightly between states.

States have established Shops and Establishment Acts to regulate working conditions, establish legal requirements for companies, and protect employee rights in the unorganised employment sector.

The law governing working and employment conditions in commercial enterprises, stores, and other facilities is also included in and changed by this act.

Every idea related to the West Bengal Shops & Establishment Rules, 1964, and its Form W: Register of Employees, will be covered in this article. Let's look at what will be discussed next:

• West Bengal Shops & Commercial Establishment Act, 1963
• Preliminary
• Registration
• Miscellaneous
• Form W Register of Employees
• Compliance for the Act
• How Deskera Can Assist You?

Let's Start!

West Bengal Shops & Commercial Establishment Act, 1963

All shops and commercial establishments in the regions declared by the West Bengal government are subject to the West Bengal Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1963 and Rules, 1964.

The Act was passed in order to protect the rights of employees.

The Act regulates wages, terms of service, work hours, rest intervals, overtime work, opening and closing hours, closed days, holidays, leaves, maternity leave and benefits, working conditions, rules for child employment, and record-keeping, among other things.

Commercial: An advertising, commission, forwarding, or commercial agency, or a clerical department of a factory or of any industrial or commercial undertaking, an insurance company, joint stock company, bank, broker's office, or exchange, and any other class or classes of concerns or undertakings that the State Government may declare to be commercial establishments by notification, after taking into account the nature of their work, declare to be commercial establishments for the purposes of this Act, but excludes a shop or a public entertainment or amusement business;

Establishment for public entertainment or amusement" means a hotel, restaurant, eating-house, cafe, cinema, or theater, as well as any other class or classes of concerns or undertakings that the State Government may declare to be, for the purposes of this Act, establishments for public entertainment or amusement, by notification, after taking into account the nature of their work, but does not include a shop or a commercial establishment;

Shop: Any premises used wholly or partially for the sale of services to customers or for the wholesale or retail sale of commodities or articles, either for cash or on credit, and includes any offices, storerooms, godowns, or warehouses, whether on the same premises or elsewhere, used in connection with such sale or for the storage of commodities or articles for the purpose of such sale, as well as any other class or classes of premises as the State Government may define,  after considering the nature of the work done there, proclaim them to be shops for the purposes of this Act by notification, although this does not include an establishment.

Preliminary

1. Short title

The Rules may be called the West Bengal Shops & Establishments Rules, 1964.

2. Definitions

In these Rules, unless, there is anything repugnant in the subject or context :

(a) The Act' means the West Bengal Shops & Establishments Act,1963 ;

(b) 'Calcutta' has the same meaning as in Calcutta Municipal Act, 1951 (West Bengal Act No. 33 of 1951) ; [See section 5, clause (ii) and sections 352, 592 and 594 and Schedule 1 of the Calcutta Municipal Act.]

(c) 'Form' means a form appended to these Rules ; (01) 'Government' means the Government of West Bengal ;

(e) 'Maternity benefit' means the payment of the sum of money referred to in sub-rule (1) of rule 23 or part thereof ;

(f) 'Miscarriage' means expulsion of the contents of a pregnant uterus at any period prior to or during the 26th week of pregnancy but does not include any miscarriage, the causing of which is punishable under the Indian Penal Code (XLV of 1860) ;

(g) 'Referee' means an officer or authority appointed under sub-section (2) of section 14 ;

(h) 'Rule' means a rule framed under the Act ;

(i) 'Schedule' means a schedule appended to these rules ; (/) 'Section means a section of the Act ;

(k) Women' used with reference to any shop or establishment means a woman who is a person employed in relation to such shop or establishment.

Registration

Every shopkeeper or employer shall—

• in the case of existing shops or establishments, within such date as the State Government may, by notification, specify; and

• in the case of new shops or establishments, within such period as may be prescribed, apply for registration to the registering authority, in such form and with such fee as may be prescribed.

Every such application must include the following information:

• The name of the shopkeeper or employer;

• The shop or establishment's postal address;

• The shop or establishment's name;

• A declaration of weekly closing days in the case of a shop;

• Any other information that may be required.

When the registering authority is satisfied that the particulars are correct, the shop or establishment is registered in the manner required by the registering authority, and the shopkeeper or employer is issued a certificate of registration in the prescribed form.

The registering authority must keep a Shops and Establishments Register in the suitable form.

The certificate of registration must be displayed in a prominent location in the shop or establishment by every shopkeeper or employer.

Any change in any particulars provided in the application must be reported to the registering authority in the specified form within seven days of the change taking place:

Provided, however, that a shop's statement of weekly closure days may not be modified more than once per year. On receipt of such information and payment of such fee as may be prescribed, the registering authority, if satisfied with the accuracy of the information, shall make necessary modifications in the Register of Shops and Establishments and modify or issue a new certificate of registration, if necessary.

Within fifteen days of the closing of his business, a shopkeeper or employer must notify the registering authorities in writing.

When the registering authority is satisfied that the information is correct, the name of the shop or establishment is removed from the Register of Shops and Establishments, and the certificate of registration is cancelled.

Within thirty days after the expiry of three years from the date of issue or renewal, as the case may be, a shopkeeper or an employer shall apply to the registering authority in such form and with such fee, not exceeding one rupee, as may be prescribed, for renewal of the certificate of registration.

3. Register of shops and establishments

The registering authority shall maintain a district wise register of shops and establishments in Form A. The register of shops and establishments so maintained shall consist of 4 parts as follows :

Part I—Shops ;

Part II—Commercial Establishment ;

Part III—Residential Hotels, Restaurants, Eating Houses and Cafes ;

Part IV—Theatres, Cinemas and other places of public entertainment or amusement.

4. Application for Registration

(1) In the case of a shop or an establishment, not being a shop or an establishment in existence on the date on which the Act applies, the shop-keeper or the employer, as the case may be, shall apply under sub-section (1) of section 16 for registration within 30 days from the date on which the shop or the establishment, as the case may be, commences its business.

(2) An application for registration under sub-section (1) of section 16 shall be made in triplicate in Part I of Form B, which shall be either in print or type and every such application shall be accompanied by the requisite fee specified in Schedule I.

(3) On receipt of an application accompanied by the requisite tee under sub-rule (2) registering authority shall, on being satisfied about the correctness of the particulars furnished in the application, register the shop or the establishment, as the case may be, in the appropriate parts of the register of shops and establishment referred to in rule 3 and issue a certificate of registration in Part II of Form B.

5. Notice of change

A notice of change under sub-section (4) section 16 shall be in Form C and every such notice shall be accompanied by the current registration certificate together with the requisite fees specified in Schedule II.

6. Renewal of registration certificate. -

(1) An application of renewal under sub-section (6) of section 16 shall be in Form D and shall be accompanied by the existing registration certificate together with such fees as are required for an application under rule 4.

(2) On receipt of an application for renewal of a registration certificate and the necessary fee under sub-rule (1), registering authority shall, on being satisfied about the correctness of the information furnished, make necessary entries in the appropriate part of the register of shops & establishments and the registration certificate and return the registration certificate to the applicant:

Provided that if the registering authority so thinks fit he may issue a new registration certificate, instead of renewing the existing certificate by making alteration therein.

7. Notice of winding up. -

Notice of winding up of the business of a shop or an establishment shall be in Form E and shall be accompanied by the registration certificate.

Explanation.—Every case where a shop or an establishment is closed for a continuous period of six months or more shall be treated for the purposes of this Rule as a case of winding up.

8. Loss of registration certificate. -

If any registration certificate issued under sub-rule (3) of rule 4 is in lost, destroyed, or defaced, the shopkeeper or the employer, as the case may be, concerned shall forthwith report the matter to the registering authority who issued the certificate and make an application in Form F accompanied by the requisite fees specified in Schedule 1 for the issue of a duplicate certificate, and registering authority shall thereupon issue a duplicate registration certificate duly stamped "duplicate" in red ink.

9. Transfer of registration certificate. -

(1) A registration certificate issued under these rules shall not be transferable, and if ownership of any shop or establishment is transferred the shop-keeper or the employer, as the case may be, shall, within 15 days of such transfer, notify the fact of transfer and surrender the certificate of registration to the registering authority and shall submit to the registering authority a statement signed by himself specifying the name and address of the transferee.

(2) The registering authority, on being satisfied about the correctness of the information relating to transfer, shall cancel the certificate of registration and amend the register of shops and establishments accordingly.

(3) The transferee shall apply for new registration certificate as provided in rule 4 within 30 days from the date of transfer.

10. Enquiry for registration renewal etc., and payment of fees. -

(1) The registering authority may, for the purpose of satisfying himself about the correctness of any information furnished in any application or notice, hold such enquiry as he deems necessary for his satisfaction in such manner as he considers fit.

[(2) All fees payable under this Chapter shall be paid into the Local Treasury under the appropriate Head of Account through Treasury Challan.]

Miscellaneous

10. Register of employees

(1) Every shop-keeper or employer shall maintain a register of employees in Form W.

(2) All information in the register of employees shall be kept up-to-date and necessary correctives shall be made within three days from the date on which any change taken dace.

11. Letter of appointment

Every shop-keeper or employer shall furnish all persons employed with letters of appointment in Form X [or in such other form substantially containing the particulars specified in Form X as may be approved by the State Government on an application being made to it in this behalf by a shop-keeper or an employer]—

(i) in the case of every person who is already in employment in his shop or establishment, as the case may be, within sixty day from the date on which these rules come into operation, and

(ii) in the case of every person who is employed in his shop or establishment, as the case may be, after these rules come into operation before the person so employed commences work :

Provided that it shall not be necessary for a shop-keeper or an employer to issue such letter of appointment to a person who is already in employment and has already been given a letter of appointment substantially containing the particulars specified in Form X.

12. Maintenance and preservation or records, registers, notices, etc

(1) All registers required to be maintained under these rules shall be in English, Bengali, Hindi or Nepali and all dates entered in a register shall be in accordance with the English calendar. Entries shall be made in ink and shall be legible.

(2) All registers, except those in Forms I and .1, records and notices relating to any calendar year shall be preserved and made available in the shop or establishment for examination by the Inspector till the end of the next calendar year. Registers in Forms I and J shall be so preserved and made available for examination by the Inspector till the end of the next fourth calendar year.

(3) Entries relating to any day, week or year in any of the registers shall be made forthwith after the close of such day, week or year, except in so far as otherwise permitted under these rules, and shall be signed by the shop-keeper or employer.

(4) Where an office, store-room, godown, warehouse, or work place used in connection with the trade or business of a shop is situated at any premises other than the premises of the shop, all registers, records, visit book and notices required to be maintained, exhibited or given under the Act, and these rules shall be separately so maintained, exhibited or given in respect of and at such office, store-room godown warehouse or work place.

13. Special registers and records

(1) If on an application made by an employer or shop-keeper in writing, the Government is satisfied that any register or record maintained by such employer or shop-keeper given in respect of the persons employed by him the particulars required to be shown in any register or record to be maintained under these rules, the Government may, by or order in writing, direct the registers or record so maintained by the employer or shop-keeper shall notwithstanding that it is not in accordance with the form provided in that behalf in these rules, be deemed to the corresponding extent to be a register or record maintained under these rules.

(2) Every application under sub-rule (1) shall be accompanied by five copies of Form of the relevant register or record.

14. Manner of filing application or notices

An application or notice meant for any authority,-officer or Inspector appointed under the Act shall be filed either by personal service with receipt during the hours fixed for the purpose by such authority, officer or Inspector or by registered post with acknowledgement due.

15. Saving of certain rights and privileges

Nothing in these rules shall affect any right or privilege to which any person employed in any shop or establishment is, on the date of the commencement of these rules, entitled under any law for the time being in force or under any contract, custom or usage which is in force on that date, if such right or privilege is more favourable to him than any right or privilege conferred upon him by these rules or granted to him at the time of appointment.

Form W Register of Employees

Compliance for the Act

• Form A - Register of Shops and Establishments
• Form B - Application for Registration
• Form C - Notice of Change
• Form D - Application for Renewal of Registration
• Form E - Notice of Winding up of Business
• Form F - Notice of Loss of Registration Certificate
• Form G - Notice of Weekly Closure
• Form H - Notice of Weekly Holidays
• Form I - Register of daily hours of work and rest intervals of persons employed
• Form J - Register of Leave
• Form K - Notice of claim for maternity benefit
• Form L - Delivery Certificate
• Form M - Pay register
• Form T - Notice of Overtime
• Form U - Register of Overtime Work
• Form V - Diary of Inspector for the month endings
• Form W - Register of Employees
• Form X - Letter of Appointments
• Form 1 - Register of daily hours of work and rest intervals

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