 bill no  16  of 2008 the domestic workers (conditions of service) bill, 2008 byshri mohan singh, 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 fifty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the domestic workers (conditions of service) act, 2008(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, appoint(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 other odd jobs connected with other house-hold chores;(b) "government" means the central government; and (c) "worker" means any person employed for domestic work514 of 19473 (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 actapplication 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:—15(a) three months in case of workers who have been in continuous service for a period of not less than two years; and(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, or (ii) he voluntarily resigns from service, or20(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; and30(b) revise, from time-to-time, at such intervals as it may think fit, the rates ofwages fixed under this section (2) the rates of wages may be fixed or revised by the government in respect of workersworking on time work basis or on piece work basis35right to wages6 every worker shall be entitled to be paid by his employer wages at the rates whichshall in no case be less than the rate of wages specified in the order referred to in section 5hours of work7 no worker shall be required or allowed to work for more than eight hours during theday exclusive of the time for meals and leisureperiod of rest408 every worker shall be allowed during a period of seven consecutive days, a rest fora period of not less than twenty-four consecutive hoursleave entitlement9 every worker, who has put in a service for a period of not less than six months, shallbe entitled every year to the following leave, namely:—casual leave—12 days;sick leave—21 days; andearned leave—1/11th of the number of days spent on duty4510 every employer of domestic workers shall prepare and maintain such registers, records and muster-rolls in such manner as may be prescribedmaintenance of registers and records appointment of inspectors511  (1) the state governments or  the union territory administrations, as the case may 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 the indian penal code, 1860| 12                                                                      |  an inspector may,—   ||--------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|| powers of                                                                |                       || inspectors                                                              |                       || 10                                                                       |                       || (                                                                        | a                     || relating to the employment of workers by him and examine such documents; |                       |15| (b                                                                                  ||-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| ascertaining 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 thereof                              || punishment                                                                         |13 if any employer contravenes the provisions of this act, he shall be punishable with fine 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, be notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of this act25(2) every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, of 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  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 eigthteen 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 billnew delhi;mohan singhfebruary 13, 2008 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 and 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———— 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 mohan singh, mp)mgipmrnd—320ls(s5)—20022008