January is a busy month when it comes to labour compliances. This month end, i.e. 31 Jan 2020 is the due date for annual returns under the following laws,

• Sexual Harassment Of Women At Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition… etc.), commonly referred to as POSH,
• Maternity Benefit Act, and
• Karnataka Shops & Commercial Establishments Act.

Here’s a quick summary of what you need take care of.

Annual return under POSH

Rule 14 of the POSH Rules announced in 2013, require every establishment to which the rule applies, to submit an annual return containing the following information

• number of complaints of sexual harassment received in the year;
• number of complaints disposed off during the year;
• number of cases pending for more than ninety days;
• number of workshops or awareness programme against sexual harassment carried out;
• nature of action taken by the employer or District Officer.

The annual return has to be furnished even if there have been no complaints during the year. The return will have to be furnished to the District Officer / Commissioner of Labour of your jurisdiction.

Annual return under Maternity Benefit Laws

While the Maternity Benefit Act 1961 does not prescribe any generic annual return, the Maternity Benefit (Mines & Circus) Rules, 1963, vide Rule 16 prescribes an Annual Return.

The return hitherto had to be filed in Form L. However, an amendment in Feb’19 has prescribed a unified online return, Form X. The form has to be filed by every mine & circus, that are governed centrally.

Other commercial establishments, that are governed by State specific laws have to file annual returns under that law. In Karnataka, the requirements of Rule 16 of the Karnataka Maternity Benefit Rules 1963 have been combined into a unified annual return, i.e. Form U which is filed as the annual return under the K’tka Shops & Commercial Establishment Law.

The return requires disclosure of the following matters

• Total number of women who have worked for more than 80 days (earlier, 160 days) in the preceding 12 months, thereby entitling her to maternity benefit
• Number of women discharged / dismissed in the last 12 months
•  Amount paid towards maternity benefit.

Annual return under K’tka Shops & Commercial Establishment Law

Filing the annual return under the K’tka Shops & Commercial Establishment (S&E) Law, is also compliance with the following requirement

• Rule 82 of Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Karnataka Rules, 1974
• Rule 22 of Karnataka Minimum Wages Rules, 1958
• Rule 20 of Karnataka Payment of Wages Rules, 1963, and as mentioned above,
• Rule 16 of Karnataka Maternity Benefit Rules, 1963

This combined annual return has to be filed online on the government ekarmika website.

In addition to seeking information about the establishment, employer and manager, the form collects data on

• Leaves earned by the employees, and payments in lieu of earned leave,
• Benefits provided by the employer, e.g. creche, canteen / lunch facility and transportation,
•  Deductions made from salary towards fines and damages,
•  Details of contract labour.

Use the following links to view the forms,

• View Form X under Maternity Benefit Rules (only for mines & circus)
• View Form U under Shops & Commercial Establishment Law –

In case of any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us on pavan@bclindia.in or write to us on bclindia.in/contact/. We would be glad to be of your assistance.