Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Act, 20151
| [Act No. 6 of 2016] | [31st December, 2015] |
An Act further to amend the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows-
1 Received the assent of the President on December 31, 2015 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 1st January, 2016, pp. 1-2, No. 6
Prefatory Note-Statement of Objects and Reasons.- The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (the Act) was enacted with a view to provide for the payment of bonus to persons employed in certain establishments on the basis of profits or on the basis of production or productivity and for matters connected therewith. Thereafter, the Act was amended several times and last amended in the year 2007.
2. According to clause (13) of Section 2 of the Act, employee means any person (other than an apprentice) employed on a salary or wage not exceeding ten thousand rupees per mensem in any industry to do any skilled or unskilled, manual, supervisory, managerial, administrative, technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied. However, according to Section 12 of the Act, the bonus payable to an employee whose salary or wage exceeds three thousand and five hundred rupees per mensem shall be calculated as if his salary or wage were three thousand and five hundred rupees per mensem.
3. The Central Government has been receiving representations from trade unions, individuals and various associations for enhancement or for removal of the above ceilings. After due consideration, the Central Government has decided to enhance the eligibility limit for payment of bonus from ten thousand rupees per mensem to twenty-one thousand rupees per mensem. The Central Government has also decided to raise the calculation ceiling from three thousand and five hundred rupees per mensem to seven thousand rupees per mensem or the minimum wage for the scheduled employment, as fixed by the appropriate Government, whichever is higher.
4. Section 38 of the Act empowers the Central Government to make rules for the purpose of giving effect to the provisions of the Act. Since, the said section does not provide for the previous publication of the rules, it is proposed to insert an enabling provision providing for previous publication for the purpose of inviting objections and suggestions in tune with the other legislations pertaining to welfare of labour.
5. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.
1. Short title and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Act, 2015.
(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of April, 2014.
2. Amendment of Section 2.- In Section 2 of the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (21 of 1965)(hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in clause (13), for the words "ten thousand rupees", the words "twenty-one thousand rupees" shall be substituted.
3. Amendment of Section 12.- In Section 12 of the principal Act,-
(i) for the words "three thousand and five hundred rupees" at both the places where they occur, the words "seven thousand rupees or the minimum wage for the scheduled employment, as fixed by the appropriate Government, whichever is higher" shall respectively be substituted;
(ii) the following Explanation shall be inserted at the end, namely-
‘Explanation.- For the purposes of this section, the expression "scheduled employment" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (g) of Section 2 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948).’.
4. Amendment of Section 38.- In Section 38 of the principal Act, for sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely-
"(1) The Central Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.".