Private bank charged with violating labour laws

MUMBAI: The office of the regional labour commissioner in Mumbai has launched criminal action against the Standard Chartered Bank for allegedly violating contract labour legislation.
Several regular employees of the bank allegedly have been left idle as regular work is contracted out.
Neel Chatterjee, regional manager of the bank, denied any violation of labour laws.He said the problem had been caused by workers who refused to be relocated after a modernisation drive.
In a complaint to the 13th metropolitan magistrate at Bhoiwada, the labour department said irregularities were noticed after inspecting the bank premises, where 50 employees have been employed on a contract basis through five contractors.
The bank,which was involved in the securities scam, is alleged to have committed several irregularities including not displaying notices showing rates of wages, hours of work,wage period and date of payment. Information about the actual date of starting and finishing the work was not submitted to the department.
A register of contractors was not maintained by the bank, the principal employer. The bank had also failed to get the establishment registered.
The offences are punishable under section 23 and 24 of the Contract Labour (regulation and abolition) Act with imprisonment upto three months or a fine upto Rs 1000 or both.
The labour commissioner’s office has said that an appropriate fine may be imposed and the money awarded to the department for expenses incurred in conducting the prosecution.
Cases have also been launched against the private contractors for alleged offences that include a failure to maintain a register of employed persons and failure to issue wage slips and employment cards to workers.
The bank employees’ union has taken up the issue with members of Parliament while the All India Bank Employees Association has submitted a memorandum to Reserve Bank governor Bimal Jalan.
Dattatray Redekar, general secretary of the bank union said that several employees had been left idle in godowns over the past five years because they had refused to accept the Voluntary Retirement Scheme package. Their work has been given to contract employees.