 bill no 88 of 2009 the domestic workers (conditions of service) bill, 2009 byshri arjun meghwal, mp a billto provide for the fixation of wages of domestic workers and for the improvement of their working conditions and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the sixtieth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the  domestic workers (conditions of service)  act, 2009(2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmirshort title, extent, commencement and application(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint5(4) it shall apply to every individual employing one or more workers for domestic work in his housedefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "domestic work" includes cooking, house-cleaning and attending to all otherodd jobs connected with other household chores;(b) "government" means the central government; and (c) "worker" means any person employed for domestic work53 (1) the provisions of the industrial disputes act, 1947, as in force for the time being, shall, so far as applicable and subject to the modification specified in sub-section (2), apply to, or in relation to workers as they apply to, or in relation to workmen within the meaning of that act14 of 1947application of the provisions of the industrial disputes act, 194710(2) section 25f of the aforesaid act, in its application to workers shall be construed as if in clause (a) thereof, for period of notice referred to therein in relation to the retrenchment of a workman, the following periods of notice in relation to the retrenchment of a worker had been substituted, namely:—(a) three months in case of workers who have been in continuous service for aperiod of not less than two years; and15(b) two months in case of other workers4 where any worker has been in continuous service, whether before or after the commencement of this act, for not less than one year, and—payment  of gratuity  to workers(i) his services are terminated by the employer for any reason whatsoever, or20(ii) he voluntarily resigns from service, or (iii) he dies while in service,14 of 194725the worker or, in the case of his death, his nominee or if there is no nomination in force at the time of the death of the worker, his heirs, as the case may be, shall without prejudice to any benefits or rights accruing under the industrial disputes act, 1947, be paid, on such termination, resignation or death, by the employer gratuity which shall be equivalent to fifteen days' average pay for every completed year of service or any part thereof in excess of six months5 (1) the government may, in consultation with the representatives of the workers from amongst the unions or associations of the workers, by order,—| fixation                                                                                         | of   ||--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|| wages by the                                                                                     |      || government                                                                                      |      || (                                                                                                |      || a                                                                                                |      || ) fix rates of wages in respect of workers; and                                                  |      || 30                                                                                               |      || (                                                                                                |      || b                                                                                                |      || ) revise, from time to time, at such intervals as it may think fit, the rates of                 |      || wages fixed under this section                                                                  |      || (                                                                                                |      || 2                                                                                                |      || ) the rates of wages may be fixed or revised by the government in respect of workers             |      || working on time work basis or on piece work basis                                               |      || right to wages                                                                                  |      || 6                                                                                               |      || every worker shall be entitled to be paid by his employer wages at the rates which               |      || shall in no case be less than the rate of wages specified in the order referred to in section 5 |      || 35                                                                                               |      || hours of work                                                                                   |      || 7                                                                                               |      || no worker shall be required or allowed to work for more than eight hours during the              |      || day exclusive of the time for meals and leisure                                                 |      || period of rest                                                                                  |      || 8                                                                                               |      || every worker shall be allowed during a period of seven consecutive days, a rest for              |      || a period of not less than twenty-four consecutive hours                                         |      || 40                                                                                               |      || leave                                                                                            |      || entitlement                                                                                     |      || 9                                                                                               |      || every worker, who has put in a service for a period of not less than six month, shall            |      || be entitled every year to the following leave, namely:—                                          |      || casual leave                                                                                     | -    || sick leave                                                                                       | -    || earned leave                                                                                     | -    |10 every employer of domestic workers shall prepare and maintain such registers,records and muster-rolls in such manner, as may be prescribedmaintenance of registersand recordsappointment of inspectors511 (1) the state governments or the union territory administrations, as the casemay be, may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint such persons as they think fit to be inspectors for the purpose of this act and may define the local limits within which they shall exercise their powers45 of 1860(2) every inspector shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of theindian penal code, 186012 an inspector may,—powers ofinspectors10(a) require any person to produce any register, muster-roll or other documentsrelating to the employment of workers by him and examine such documents;(b) take, on the spot or otherwise, the evidence of any person for the purpose ofascertaining whether the provisions of this act or any other act made applicable to the domestic workers are complied with notwithstanding any other authority who may be empowered with same powers or any part thereof15punishment13 if any employer contravenes the provisions of this act, he shall be punished withfine which may extend to one thousand rupees notwithstanding any other punishment to which he may be liable for the contravention of any other law for the time being in force governing the domestic workers20power to make rules14 (1) the government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of this act25(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made,before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days, which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree 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; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsthere are millions of domestic servants working as maid-servants or male-servants to attend to household and other personal work the working conditions of these domestic servants are miserable and primitive there is no protection for these workers under any statute they are neither paid reasonable wages nor their hours of service determined they are required to work for almost eighteen hours a day without any rest or leisure these workers are not entitled to any benefits such as gratuity, provident fund, bonus, leave with wages, holidays, etc their services can also be terminated at any time without prior notice and compensation by their mastersthe domestic servants have been agitating for better service conditions throughout the country it is, therefore, essential to regulate their service conditionshence this bill financial memorandumclause 11 of the bill provides that the state governments or the union territory administrations, as the case may be, may appoint such persons as they think fit to be inspectors for the purposes of this act the state governments will incur expenditure from their respective consolidated funds for payment of salaries and allowances, etc to the inspectors however, the central government would have to incur expenditure in respect of inspectors appointed by the union territory administrations from the consolidated fund of indiait is estimated that a recurring expenditure of about rupees fifty lakh is likely to be involved from the consolidated fund of india per annumit is also likely to involve a non-recurring expenditure of about rupees one crore memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 14 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill since the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character annexure (extract from the industrial disputes act, 1947) (act no 14 of 1947)        25f no workman employed in any industry who has been in continuous service for not less than one year under an employer shall be retrenched by that employer until—conditions precedent  to retrenchment of workmen(a) the workman has been given one month's notice in writing indicating the reasons for retrenchment and the period of notice has expired,or the workman has been paid in lieu of such notice, wages for the period of the notice;(b) the workman has been paid, at the time of retrenchment, compensation which shall be equivalent of fifteen days' average pay for every completed year of continuous service or any part thereof in excess of six months; and(c) notice in the prescribed manner is served on the appropriate government for such authority as may be specified by the appropriate government by notification in the official gazette        ———— a billto provide for the fixation of wages of domestic workers and for the improvement of their working conditions and for matters connected therewith————(shri arjun meghwal, mp)gmgipmrnd—4084ls—31102009