Section 9A of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 - Notice of Change
Section 9A protects workmen against specified unilateral changes in conditions of service. Where an employer proposes a change concerning a matter listed in the Fourth Schedule, the employer ordinarily must give the affected workmen notice in the prescribed manner and cannot effect the change within the statutory waiting period.
- The proposed change must concern a condition of service relating to a matter in the Fourth Schedule.
- Notice must be given to workmen likely to be affected, in the prescribed manner.
- Under the central provision, the change cannot be effected within 21 days after notice.
- Notice is not required where the change is made in pursuance of a settlement or award.
- The statutory proviso also excludes specified categories of workmen governed by listed service rules or other rules notified by the appropriate Government.
- State amendments may modify the central rule and must be checked for the relevant State.
Section 9A - Notice before changing service conditions
No employer proposing to change conditions of service applicable to a workman in respect of a matter specified in the Fourth Schedule may effect that change without giving the workmen likely to be affected notice, in the prescribed manner, of the nature of the proposed change.
Under the central text, the employer also cannot effect the proposed change within 21 days after giving the notice.
When does Section 9A apply?
Section 9A applies when an employer proposes to alter a condition of service applicable to one or more workmen and the subject of the proposed alteration falls within the Fourth Schedule. Both the nature of the service condition and the statutory schedule are therefore important when deciding whether notice is required.
What does the Fourth Schedule cover?
The Fourth Schedule identifies conditions of service for which notice of change is required. It includes matters such as wages and the period and mode of payment; employer contributions to provident or pension funds; compensatory and other allowances; hours of work and rest intervals; leave with wages and holidays; commencement, alteration or discontinuance of shift working otherwise than in accordance with standing orders; classification by grades; withdrawal of customary concessions or privileges or changes in usage; introduction of new rules of discipline or alteration of existing rules except where provided in standing orders; rationalisation, standardisation or improvement of plant or technique likely to lead to retrenchment; and increases or reductions in the number of persons employed or to be employed in an occupation, process, department or shift, otherwise than by circumstances over which the employer has no control.
Prescribed manner of notice
Section 9A requires notice to be given in the prescribed manner. The applicable Industrial Disputes Rules should therefore be checked for the establishment concerned. Under the Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957, Rule 34 addresses notice of change and prescribes Form E for notice under Section 9A in establishments to which the Central Rules apply.
Twenty-one day waiting period
Under the central provision, merely serving notice does not permit an immediate change. Section 9A(b) prevents the employer from effecting the proposed change within 21 days after giving the notice. State amendments may prescribe a different period.
Exceptions where notice is not required
Change pursuant to settlement or award
The first proviso exception applies where the change is effected in pursuance of a settlement or award. A settlement is defined in Section 2(p), while an award is defined in Section 2(b) of the Industrial Disputes Act.
Specified government service rules
The second proviso exception covers workmen to whom specified service rules or regulations apply, including the Fundamental and Supplementary Rules, Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, Revised Leave Rules, Civil Service Regulations, Civilians in Defence Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, the Indian Railway Establishment Code, or other rules or regulations notified for this purpose by the appropriate Government in the Official Gazette.
State amendments retained from the source
Andhra Pradesh
The source records Andhra Pradesh Act 32 of 1987 as substituting 42 days for the central 21-day period in clause (b) of Section 9A. Applicability should be checked against the current State text and territorial history relevant to the establishment.
West Bengal
The source records West Bengal Act 57 of 1980 as substituting 42 days for 21 days in clause (b) of Section 9A.
Maharashtra
The source records Maharashtra Act 23 of 2006 as adding a further exception relating to specified updating or replacement of machinery, computerisation, increase in immovable property and increase in production, subject to statutory conditions concerning total wages, hours of work and provision of legitimate and required facilities such as training for acquisition of skills for the new job.
Section 9B - Power of Government to exempt
Section 9B is closely connected with Section 9A. It empowers the appropriate Government, where the statutory conditions concerning serious repercussions on the industry and public interest are satisfied, to notify that Section 9A will not apply, or will apply subject to specified conditions, to a class of industrial establishments or a class of workmen.
Related definitions and provisions
Section 2(a) - Appropriate Government: determines whether the Central Government or the State Government exercises functions under the Act in the circumstances covered by the definition.
Section 2(b) - Award: broadly covers an interim or final determination of an industrial dispute or a question relating to it by a Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal or National Industrial Tribunal, and includes an arbitration award under Section 10A.
Section 2(p) - Settlement: covers a settlement arrived at in conciliation proceedings and, subject to the statutory requirements, a written agreement between employer and workmen arrived at otherwise than in conciliation proceedings.
Official sources
Check the central statutory text in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 on India Code and the Ministry of Labour and Employment copy of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Rules and notifications applicable to the establishment should also be checked before acting on a proposed change.
This article presents the statutory position within the stated historical cut-off. State amendments, applicable rules, notifications, settlements, awards and judicial decisions should be checked for the relevant establishment, State and period.