Indian Railway Codes and Manuals-Mechanical code (Rolling stock )-Chapter- 3 (III)

 

CHAPTER 3

Employees' Duties and Responsibilities

301. Hours of Work Railway Workshops that come within the definition of "Factories" or declared to be "Factories" in The Factories Act, 1948 are regulated by the provisions contained in this statutory act. The General Manager shall appoint the Chief Workshop Manager or any other officer by designation as “The Occupier of the Factory”. The occupier shall be vested with ultimate control over the affairs of the factory, in order to fulfill all the relevant provisions in the said Act.

302. Working Hours Working hours of labour in Railway Workshops are normally eight and a half hours on week days and five and a half hours on Saturdays, thus making a total working week of 48 hours which translates into an 8-hour day on a six day week. Any departure from an 8-hour day involving payment of a day's wages for less than 8 hours work requires the specific sanction of the Railway Board, but the actual working hours and their distribution between the days of the week may be altered in accordance with local requirements subject to the limitations in Para 403 below:

303. Important limitations in Working Hours imposed by The Factory Act, 1948 in Chapter 6 Sections 51-56 are: a. Weekly Hours-- No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week. b. Weekly Holidays.—No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in factory on a Sunday unless he has or will have a holiday for a whole day on one of the three days immediately before or after that Sunday. c. Where any worker works on Sunday and has had a holiday on one of the three days immediately before it, that Sunday for the purpose of calculating his weekly hours of work should be included in the preceding week. d. Daily Hours—No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day. e. Intervals for Rest. The periods of work of adult-workers in a factory shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed five hours and that no worker shall work for more than five hours before he has had an interval for rest of at least half an hour. State Government may, however, grant exemption so that the total number of hours worked by a worker; without an interval does not exceed six. f. Spread Over—The periods of work of an adult 'worker in a factory shall be so arranged that inclusive of his intervals for rest, they shall not spread over more than ten and a half hours in any day.

304. If “The Occupier of the Factory” considers it necessary that certain staff has to be exempted from the above conditions on some occasions, the sanction of concerned state Government should be obtained through the General Manager in terms of Section 64 of Factories Act 1948 before such exemption is given effect to.

305. Gate Attendance System: A modern “Gate Attendance System” for workshop applications must fulfill the following bare minimum requirements:- a. Entry and exit of every person (no matter, how high in the hierarchy) through the main gates should be verified and recorded except the time of mass entry/exit at the beginning/end of each session of work. Such records should be immune to manipulation. b. A person entering the main gate cannot exit except when the work session ends, unless and until he passes through the verification system which records his time of exit. c. The employee alone can mark his attendance for him and not others. Impersonation should not only be impossible but also monitor able. d. All workshop main gates should be adequately manned when fully open during the peak hours of entry/exit. During the rest of the time these gates should be closed and sealed, leaving only one manned access controlled wicket gate permanently open during all hours for entry/exit with special authority. e. The number of identification-cum GA marking devices should be such that all the designated employees can use the system in not more than 15 minutes at the beginning and end of sessions of work, handling the peak hour rush. f. CCTV should be fixed in all main gates as well as locations where computerized ‘identification cum GA marking’ is done. g. In order that no data gets lost due to disasters such as crashing or hacking of the system, there should be proper data security and backup arrangement. The system should conform to a defined disaster recovery plan and also should be able to withstand prolonged periods of power cuts. h. The system should provide online information to the management, about number of workmen inside the workshops shop-wise, at any point of time. i. The data captured should be integrated with the enterprise application for making wage payments. j. It should be impossible to have duplicate recording and there should be an automated system to take care of such errors. k. The wicket gate provided at the main gate for entry/exit on occasions other than the beginning/end of work sessions should be access controlled to allow entry/exit only with Smart Card, supported by the requisite authority. This also should be linked with the computerized GA system. l. In order that the employees are motivated to carry their personal mark of identification (such as the smart card), it should be made multi-purpose i.e. the employee’s pass, medical identity, provident fund, leave and other data should be implanted in such device. m. The gate of entry for shunting and receipt/ dispatch of rolling stock (both conventional as well as DPRS) shall be monitored and kept closed and sealed during rest of the times. n. The system should give out exception statements of violations of any statutory working hour limitations (Para 402), pertaining to:-  Total daily Hours·  Total Weekly Hours·  Sunday working rules·  Weekly Holidays·  Rest Intervals.·  Spread Over· o. The GA marking system should have a dual verification method, either through smart card combined with biometric authentication or through biometric verification alone to be available as a standby. p. All entry and exit points of the workshops should have security cameras along with data retrieval and storing facilities for any review on a later date. The data should be stored at least for a month.

306. Deliverables of a modern “Gate Attendance System” A modern “Gate Attendance System” for workshop applications must fulfill the following bare minimum requirements:- a) Entry and exit of every person (no matter, how high in the hierarchy) through the main gates should be verified and recorded except the time of mass entry/exit at the beginning/end of each session of work. Such records should be immune to manipulation. b) A person entering the main gate cannot exit except when the work session ends, unless and until he passes through the verification system which records his time of exit. c) The employee alone can mark his attendance for him and not others. Impersonation should not only be impossible but also monitor able. d) All workshop main gates should be adequately manned when fully open during the peak hours of entry/exit. During the rest of the time these gates should be closed and sealed, leaving only one manned access controlled wicket gate permanently open during all hours for entry/exit with special authority. e) The number of identification-cum GA marking devices should be such that all the designated employees can use the system in not more than 15 minutes at the beginning and end of sessions of work, handling the peak hour rush. f) CCTV should be fixed in all main gates as well as locations where computerized ‘identification cum GA marking’ is done. g) In order that no data gets lost due to disasters such as crashing or hacking of the system, there should be proper data security and backup arrangement. The system should conform to a defined disaster recovery plan and also should be able to withstand prolonged periods of power cuts. h) The system should provide online information to the management, about number of workmen inside the workshops shop-wise, at any point of time. i) The data captured should be integrated with the enterprise application for making wage payments. j) It should be impossible to have duplicate recording and there should be an automated system to take care of such errors. k) The wicket gate provided at the main gate for entry/exit on occasions other than the beginning/end of work sessions should be access controlled to allow entry/exit only with Smart Card, supported by the requisite authority. This also should be linked with the computerized GA system. l) In order that the employees are motivated to carry their personal mark of identification (such as the smart card), it should be made multi-purpose i.e. the employee’s pass, medical identity, provident fund, leave and other data should be implanted in such device. m) The gate of entry for shunting and receipt/ dispatch of rolling stock (both conventional as well as DPRS) shall be monitored and kept closed and sealed during rest of the times. n) The system should give out exception statements of violations of any statutory working hour limitations (Para 402), pertaining to:- i. Total daily Hours ii. Total Weekly Hours iii. Sunday working rules iv. Weekly Holidays v. Rest Intervals. vi. Spread Over o) The GA marking system should have a dual verification method, either through smart card combined with biometric authentication or through biometric verification alone to be available as a standby. p) All entry and exit points of the workshops should have security cameras along with data retrieval and storing facilities for any review on a later date. The data should be stored at least for a month.

307. Modernization of “Gate Attendance” using smart card and biometrics In a rapidly changing world, technologies available for identifying staff and visitors are continually emerging. And to meet the challenges posed by frauds, criminals and terrorists, workshops should keep pace with these technological changes. The best of today’s technology may become obsolescent tomorrow and therefore workshops should keep upgrading their “attendance and payroll systems”,. It shall be mandatory to introduce computerized Gate Attendance System using Smart Cards and Biometrics at all workshops, production units and open line establishments with security walling in a time bound manner on priority.

308. Biometric System of “Gate Attendance” This system is best suited for sectional attendance verification without supervision as a replacement of the present supervisor assisted attendance. All work sections should be provided with biometric readers in adequate numbers to automate the process of sectional attendance verification. Gate Attendance Rules with Biometric or with any modern systems. Implementation of biometric attendance will be mandatory in depots, sheds and workshops. Apart from Finger print recognition, face / Iris recognition machines will be introduced in gradual manner. Attendance by manual registers shall be completely withdrawn and adequate redundancy should be built into the system to take care of breakdown of a particular equipment, server, power supply etc. to ensure that attendance is permitted only through Digital Biometric mode.

309. Time Office The “Time Office” is responsible for maintaining the initial records of Attendance which are also eventually the records of payment. The time-keeping and timebooking functions have been integrated and the organization decentralized shopwise so that the attendance of the employee as-well as his employment on various jobs are recorded on the shop floor by the clerks of time office. The Time Offices under the control of a senior subordinate designated 'The Head timekeeper' are placed under the administrative control of the Workshop Accounts Officer who is responsible for correct payment as well as correct accountal of wages from the very moment these transactions are initiated. All differences between the initial records of payment and of allocation (viz. attendance records derived electronically from the system, Time sheets / job cards) are brought to the notice of Workshop Accounts Officer and set right. Head Time Keeper ensures that necessary information is filled in Muster roll cum Labour Pay Sheets and these are transmitted promptly to the Pay Bill Section of the Chief Workshop Manager’s office for completion and submission to the Workshop Accounts Office for internal check and arranging payment. Once biometric systems are in place, time office functions should shift entirely to the machine. (i) Apart from this, Biometric attendance should be made the basis for recording works, costing and incentive by time clerk in the time office. (ii) Time office is not in existence in new workshops as well as the workshops in which biometric systems has already been implemented. In such workshops, the biometric machine are connected with central server of Gate Attendance System(machine) and the machine generated attendance record is being used for wage and incentive calculation.

310. Opening and closing of workshop gates Clocks will be prominently displayed in all the gates. These clocks must be GPS based as also with the Smart Card/biometric entry/exit GA time recording systems, wherever located. Half an hour before work commences in the morning, the workshop siren should be automatically sounded by a timer activated from the clock in the Main gate, which in turn should enable opening of all the gates. While the main gate will be kept open half an hour before for mass entry/exit of staff and closed half an hour after every shift, during the other occasions same will remain closed, allowing only restricted entry/exit through wicket gates. The siren should be programmed to automatically sound 15 minutes before the work starts in the morning or later shifts, before meal hour commences, before meal hour ends etc and at any other times as locally decided. In these days of improved staff literacy and the implications of noise pollution caused by the sirens, the need for a siren itself may be reviewed in consultation with staff.

311. Late Attendance The payroll system which is networked with the Biometric equipment should automatically regulate payments so that those who came late after 5 minutes but up to half an hour in the first period are treated as late by half an hour in that period and lose wages only for half an hour, while those who came late by over half an hour lose half a day's pay in the case of shifts with two sessions of working and full day in the case of shifts with single session working. Workmen coming late after expiry of the concession of 5 minutes in the second period shall be treated as absent in that period.

312. The Head Time Keeper of shop is responsible for seeing that all the rules and regulations issued by the Chief Workshop Manager for the opening and closing of the gates are strictly complied with..

313. Work during meal hour and on Sundays For technical reasons, a few of the staff such as furnace or Forge men may with the sanction of the State Government under paragraph 404 may be required to work during meal interval. Similarly Millwright staff, Crane Drivers, Boiler Firemen and Boiler makers may be required to work during meal hour and on Sundays, when engaged on work of repairs to plant and equipment. The Head Time Keeper should maintain a register of the men so employed, till eventually the IT based system takes over this function.

314. Attendance of Supervisory Staff All supervisors should be in their respective shops at least five minutes before the final siren sounds or starting of duty hours. If GA marking is supervised, concerned supervisor in charge of ‘GA marking in’ should attend the shop 15 minutes before the work session commencement hours. He may leave the shop 15 minutes before the closing hours of that work session. Another supervisor who is in charge of ‘GA marking out’ for the same session may come late at the beginning of the session, but leave the shop late by 15 minutes..

315. Working Hours of Shop Clerks Shop clerks should work to workshop hours.

316. Employee’s Biometric Identity Number (BIN) Every workshop staff including officers and supervisors will be allotted a Biometric validated Identity Number (BIN), as reflected in his/her Smart card and all other financial documents. The biometric system should give the shop management the number of staff inside the shop on each shift or any such data specially asked by the occupier. The system should also eventually modify the absence records as absence without intimation, various types of leave and rest under Factory Act so as to enable print outs of “Habitual Absentee” statements, shop wise, every quarter, arranging the list in the order of irregularity to enable managers to initiate suitable action.

317. Acceptance of medical certificate for absence will be governed by the extant Establishment/Railway Medical Manual rules.

318. The following procedure should be followed in dealing with cases of unauthorized absence. In case of absence of less than three days duration, the shop in charge will decide the action to be taken. For absence between 3 and 6 days the Assistant officer and for absence over 6 days the Senior Scale officer concerned will take disciplinary action against the absentee. The Shop in charge will be responsible to see that each case of unauthorized absence receives the attention at the appropriate level as stipulated above.

319. Leaving shops during working hours All staff other than the shop in charge wishing to leave the workshops during working hours for any reason whatsoever should be in a possession of a machine numbered 'Gate Pass' (Form M.319). If anyone has to leave the shop during working hours, he/she should obtain a slip from the superior (supervisor) and present it to the Time-clerk for issue of a gate pass, in which reason for exiting should be recorded. Before the Time Clerk gives the signed Pass to the worker, this form should be presented in the gate before recording his exit, reason for which will be linked to this machine number on this permit. Finally the gate pass has to be returned to SSE office that issued the said pass. Form M 319 GATE PASS No............... Dated............20 Railway................ Shop No............... Workshop.............. Ticket No............. going on official / private work / to Hospital for .... hours, the remaining part of the day from............O'clock. …………………….. SSE/Shop Incharge; Shop No ……. Note: The gate passes should be prepared in duplicate and the duplicate copy retained as block copy. In case of Biometric attendance system, if an employee desires to leave the workshop during shift hours, he must punch out in the biometric system and again punch in on the return (If the same is permitted) during the same shift.

320. Duty Certificate In the case of a worker going on an official duty (and not for his personal work such as obtaining passes and PTO’s etc.) outside the works, he will be provided by the SSE/SE’s Office with the Duty Certificate (Form-M 320). On the presentation of the Duty Certificate the Time Clerk will prepare a Gate Pass after ensuring that the work order to cover the period of duty is clearly quoted, and will observe the same procedure as described in the para 420. When the worker exits through the gate and later enters the shops, the machine number of the Form M-420 should be keyed in the Biometric system. These 'Duty Certificates' should be kept filed (in order of date of return from duty) with the Time Booth of the shop concerned. Form M-320 Railway............ Workshop.......... DUTY CERTIFICATE Date of leaving Works W.O. No. of the job left. W.O. No. of the job for ‘time on duty' Brief Descript ion of Duty. No. of Hours each date on duty Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Hours. Date 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Hours. Date 27 28 29 30 31 Hours. Date of completion of duty Date of return to Works SSE/SHOP INCHARGE Signature &, Designation of the Official Supervising work on Duty

321. Gate Passes for Private Purposes—Gate passes for private purposes may be issued during either the first period or the second period, subject to the condition that re-entry into works will not be allowed during that period and the period of absence will be treated as leave for half a day if there are two periods on that day or leave for a day if there is only one period on that day. Gate passes should also be given to men attending railway dispensaries as outdoor patients. When, however, they are advised by a railway medical officer to go to other medical hospitals, such as a dental hospital they should return to the workshops and apply for leave to do so.

322. If workmen leave the shops to go to hospital for treatment and are detained for more than half an hour they should be paid for the time, provided the medical officer in charge of the dispensary certifies that they were unavoidably detained; otherwise, the absence should be treated as leave for full or half a day as the case may be, with allowances (if due) or without allowances as the workmen may choose payment being allowed at the ordinary rate for the actual hours of work put in by the workman during that period. Such payments should be restricted to six such occasions in a year. But this should be eventually simplified with the use of “enterprise health system” application, integrated with the workshop application. If a person enters the shops merely for the purpose of taking leave, he should not be paid for the time taken to do so.

323. Gate passes issued to persons injured on duty should show the time at which they met with the accident and bear the remark "hurt on duty".

324. Night Shift When it is found necessary to work night shifts, the SSE of the shop should submit applications to the Dy. CME/Works Manager indicating the no of staff section wise and their smart card numbers with necessary justification for the night working. Copies of this should be given to the concerned night shift supervisor and the time office. Here again the workmen attending night shift should key in the machine number of Form M- 324 so that the payroll system recognizes this for the purpose of night shift allowance. Form M-324 Railway …..……… Workshop …………. Shop No. …………. Persons Required to work night shift during the week ……… to ………. REQUIRED FOR NIGHT SHIFT ON …....... Section BIN Justification Employee Identification No.(BIN) (if available) of the previous worker, if a job in progress or a suspended job is to be continued. …….. …………………….. SSE/ SHOP INCHARGE Sanctioned/ Not sanctioned ………………… Works Manager When a worker works on a shift which extends over midnight, the following day for him shall be deemed to be the period of twenty four hours beginning when such shift ends, and the hours he/she has worked after midnight shall be counted in the previous day.

325. Overtime Requisition In any workshop, long term planning and day to day activity planning must ensure that the outturn is achieved without overtime working. Overtime working is not in the best interests of the employees’ health and hence no overtime should be booked except in very exceptional and urgent circumstances, that too after exploring the possibility of rescheduling jobs that are urgent ahead of those not so urgent. Employees who work on over-time should also “punch in and punch out” in the gate attendance system. There shall be no overtime booking on sections under incentive schemes (Para 526 refers).

326. In case staff are to be booked on overtime, prior sanction of the Chief Works Manager should be obtained in writing by the SE/SSE by submitting an Overtime Requisition (Form M. 326) in duplicate one copy being sent to the Time Office and the other to the Accounts Office. This will show the Ticket (read Smart card) Nos. of the men required, the supervisor under whom they would work, and justification for overtime. The number of such hours booked with reasons should be put up to HOD/PHOD at HQrs for approval. Instructions issued by the Railway Board from time to time in this regard should be strictly followed. Overtime worked in one week should not be counted against 'short' time worked in another. No overtime should ordinarily be worked in shops unless under the supervision of a junior engineer. Form M-326 OVERTIME REQUISITION Date : …………. Over Time requisition of Shop No. ……………. Workshop ………… for …… Sl. No. BIN Designation Rate of pay Name of Supervising JE Hours to be worked Reasons of of working overtime …………………………… SSE/SHOP INCHARGE Shop No.... Sanctioned/ Not sanctioned …………………… Works Manager

327. Overtime Register a. Overtime is not booked for work spanning less than half an hour. All overtime worked will be listed in an OVERTIME REGISTER (form M-327) which will be put up to the SE/SSE for attestation. All additions, deletions and corrections in this Register should be made only under attestation of the SE/SSE. b. In case a workman gets hurt on duty or leave the works on a Gate Pass during the period of over-time suitable remarks showing the exact time of leaving the Works should be recorded in the O.T. Register to ensure drawal of overtime allowance for the number of hours actually worked. c. If overtime is worked not in continuation of the normal shop working hours but after being allowed rest in terms of the Factories Act, the workmen should make suitable biometric exit and entry, for which provision of equipment can be made in the shop for the convenience of those not wishing to go out of the shop during the rest time. Form M-327 Railway .……….. Workshop. ……… REGISTER SHOWING OVERTIME WORKED IN SHOP No...........ON.......... BIN No. of Hours on Overtime Reference to sanctioned Overtime Requisition From To No. of Hours Details of staff booked on overtime. ……………………………………………………… Time Booth Clerk. SSE/SHOP INCHARGE.

328. Overtime Allowance In regard to grant of overtime allowance, Section 59 of “Factories Act, 1948” provides as under:- a. Where a worker works in a factory for more than nine hours in a day or for more than forty eight hours in any week, he/she shall be paid in respect of overtime work, wages at the rate twice his/her ordinary rate of wages. Overtime under Section 59(1) of the Factories Act, 1948 should be calculated on a daily basis or weekly basis, whichever is more favorable to the employee. b. Supervisory staff employed in railway workshops as are specifically made eligible for payment of overtime under Section 64 of the Factories Act, 1948, may be paid overtime for extra hours worked in excess of the statutory hours of work prescribed under the Act as per the provisions made in sub-para (1) above. c. The total number of hours of work for overtime work of a worker shall not exceed the limit laid down for any quarter ending March, June, September and December in the Factories Act of 1948 or that, if any, as laid down by the appropriate State Government. Note: Ordinary rate of wages means the basic wages plus such allowances including dearness allowance, compensatory (city) allowance and house rent allowance as also including the cash equivalent of the benefit accruing through the concessional sale to workers of food grains and other articles, as the worker is for the time being entitled to, but does not include a bonus.

329. Subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph the following rules should be observed in regard to the grant of overtime allowance to the extent these rules are not inconsistent with any existing rules or orders issued by the Railway Board for any particular railway:— a. Workmen may be paid overtime for the actual number of hours worked beyond shop hours in the interest of service at the rate of I/208th of the monthly pay including Dearness Allowance and Additional Dearness Allowance for every hour so worked. For the purpose of calculating overtime, fractions of an hour in the total of the overtime worked in a wage-period should be ignored if they are less than 30 minutes and those of 30 minutes or more should be counted as an hour. b. Workmen sent out from shops temporarily to work at their headquarters station should not be allowed overtime allowance unless they work beyond shop hours. c. Workmen sent out from shops with engines and vehicles on trial trips as well as staff sent out from shops to work at outstations temporarily, should be paid overtime for the actual number of hours worked beyond shop hours. This should be taken as illustrative and not exhaustive. Any staff sent out from the workshop on duty should be allowed overtime, if otherwise entitled to at single rate. No distinction should be made between staff sent on duty with engines or vehicles on trial trips and others sent on duty as, for instance, for attending to cash safes etc. Irrespective of whether such staff are actually engaged in work, the total period during which they remain on duty beyond shop hours should be counted as duty for allowing overtime at single rate. d. Workshop staff who are required to proceed to outstations on duty either with materials which are required to be supplied to the stations where required or to fetch them from outstations, should also be paid overtime in the same way as is admissible in the case of workshop staff sent out from shops with trial engines or vehicles provided that the time spent in journeys is not taken into account for computing the hours of work for payment of overtime. e. Since daily allowance and overtime allowance are given for different sets of conditions, both these types of payment should be made provided the conditions prescribed are satisfied in each case. f. A record of overtime worked must be kept.

330. Material Gate Passes When material is required to be sent out of the shops, a ((mmaacchhi iinnee nnuummbbeerreedd)) gate pass (M. 330) must be issued, with a complete list of the material passing out. Form M-330 MATERIAL GATE PASS S. No. ……………. ……………………….Workshops ………………………….Railway Pass T/S No. Name Designation Item No. Description of the articles No. of package No. and date Of voucher or other authority on which the material is sent Work order No. To whom sent & purposes for which sent Unit Qty. 1 2 Items …………only Signature SSE/Shop Incharge Shop No…. Office ……… Date.............. Note: The Gate Passes should be prepared in duplicate and the duplicate copy retained as block copy.

331. Material gate passes may be issued by SSEs for the material going out of workshop gate. Some of these materials are non-returnable and some are returnable to shops. The indication to this effect should be given on the material gate passes. Such gate passes should be collected at the gate by the R.P.F. staff who should see that the tools and materials in excess of those authorized by the pass do not go out of shops. The collected material gate passes should be sent by the R.P.F. staff to the Workshop Accounts Office. The Gate Passes received in the Accounts Office should be paired off with the counterfoils of the SE/SSE’s books of the respective shop& and checked to see that:— a. Shops have indicated 'Returnable'/'Non-returnable' on the material gate passes. b. When returnable materials are received back, the shop supervisor has given the remark on the block foils of the concerned material gate passes under his dated initials. c. Accounts Office should check the continuity of material gate passes received from R.P.F, gate office by pairing the machine numbers. d. While pairing the collected copies of the material gate passes with the block foils, the Accounts Office should give indication of pairing on the collected foils and block foils. The block foils of returnable material should be specifically seen to ensure that materials have been received back within reasonable time. Discrepancies if any found should be pointed out to the Works Manager for taking necessary action.

332. Muster Roll cum Labour Pay Sheet Accounts of Labour employed should be maintained in the workshops in two series; one for the purpose of payment and the other for the allocation of labour charges to the jobs upon which the workmen are employed. For the first purpose Gate Attendance captured by the Bio-Metric system is treated as the initial record of attendance, taking the place of Muster Rolls. The result of attendance of each staff for each day will be recorded at the close of the month in the system in appropriate columns, viz. 'Time lost/gained' (as relevant to the incentive scheme if any) and 'overtime'. The processes of entering the Total time gained/lost', 'Total Hours worked during the month, Total time for deductable absence from the wages', Deductable absence for 'DA', 'OT due under the Factories Act' and 'other overtime' will then be completed after which necessary information will be copied out in the columns concerned of the Labour Pay sheet, which will then be passed on to the Pay Bill section of the Executive Office for completion and submission to the workshop Accounts Office for internal check and arranging payment.

333. The labour Pay Sheets showing the name, BIN and other particulars of each employee and deductions to be made from each should be kept ready long before the last day of the month. These should be completed in respect of the hours attended and the gross and net wages and overtime earned from the information contained in the attendance system. This pay sheet must be automatically generated by the “Pay Roll System” based on inputs from Time office and “Bio-metric system”. Head Time Keeper who will be held responsible for the correct preparation of the Labour Pay Sheets in all respects and for their punctual submission according to the schedule laid down.

334. The Head Time Keeper working under the Workshop Accounts Officer will be responsible for the completion of Muster Roll cum Labour Pay Sheets up to the stage of recording of 'deductable absence' and Overtime including the rate of pay and D.A. against each employee’s BIN, daily and monthly reconciliation of the time booked as per time sheets/job cards with the time as was done with Muster Rolls/G.A. system. In the Workshop Accounts Office the Labour Pay Sheets should be subjected to a cent per cent internal check in respect of the deductions.

335. Deductions for Absence Deductable absence should be shown in Muster-Roll-cum-Labour Pay Sheet in days and hours. a. For absence for less than a day except a half-day—Deductions from the monthly pay will be made at the rate of 1/208th of the monthly pay for every hour. b. For absence for half a day or full day: A half a day will be the first or second period of work on any day on which the workshop remains open for both the periods. Deductions for half a day or full day will be at 1/60th or 1/62nd etc. 1/30th or 1/31st etc. of monthly pay, as the case may be.

336. Chart of Labour Charges After the Muster Roll-cum-Labour Pay Sheets have been checked, the gross amount of wages charged in the Pay Sheets for each shop should be entered in the Chart of Labour Charges (M-336) which should be put up to the Workshop Accounts Officer along with the checked Labour Pay sheets. Before signing the Accounts enfacement on the Labour Pay Sheets, the Workshop Accounts Officer should see that there are no large fluctuations in the amounts charged in the Labour Pay Sheets of a shop from month to month. Form M-336 CHART OF LABOUR CHARGES Shop to which Labour Pay Sheet relates Labour Charges April May June and so on Amount Amount Amount Amount Shop No. 1 Shop No. 2 and so on Initials of Workshop Accounts Officer.

337. Extract Pay Sheet - In the case of men who have to be settled up, payment should be arranged for an "Extract Pay Sheet" and an appropriate remark should be made against the entries in the main pay sheet which should be neatly cancelled by a line in red ink drawn across them.

338. Inter-shop Transfers The wages of the workman who is transferred from one shop to another will be drawn only in the shop in which he is employed on the last working day of the month on the basis of report from the Gate Attendance system and advice of Transfer (Form M. 338) received by the Time Clerk of the shop to which the workman has been transferred. Form M-338 Railway.…. … Workshop…….. ADVICE OF TRANSFER Name BIN Designation Rate of Pay Date of Transfer Reference to the authority for transfer ……………………… Head Time Supt. (Wherever biometric systems are in position, gate attendance statement can be obtained from computer both at the relieving and reporting shops and there is no need to enclose this statement)

339. Staff Register A staff register will be maintained showing for each workman his latest rate of pay. This register will be made use of for entering rates of pay in the Labour Pay Sheets. A copy of each notification affecting rates of pay of workers will be supplied by Establishment section of the CWM’s Office to the Time Booth Clerk with all promptitudes and not later than the date from which the change in rule is to take effect. This register should be reviewed and signed by Head Time Keeper every month. Locomotive sheds and Carriage and wagon Depots (LCDs)

340. Hours of work Locomotive sheds and Carriage and wagon Depots (LCDs) are situated in the open line Divisions. Work schedule of employees in LCDs including payment of overtime allowance are governed by the Railway Servants (Hour of Work and period of rest) rules 2005 circulated under RBE No. : 131/2005 dated 09.08.2005. According to these rules, employees in the open line are divided in four categories depending upon the nature of work with a different set of rules for each of these categories in respect of working hours. Employees in LCDs generally fall into the following three categories: a. Essentially intermittent b. Excluded c. Continuous. Some of the important provisions of these rules for these three categories are given in Annexure-4.1

341. Exemptions to limitation of hours of work Temporary exemptions to these limitation of hours of working may be made by the officer controlling the depot or shed if he/she is of the opinion that such temporary exemptions are necessary to avoid serious interference with the ordinary working of the railway or in cases of accident, actual or threatened, or when urgent work is required to be done to the rolling stock ( both conventional as well as DPRS) or in any emergency that could not have been foreseen or prevented, or in other cases or exceptional pressure of work.

342. Remaining on duty Wherever due provisions have been made for the relief of an employee, he/she shall remain on duty until relieved, notwithstanding the provisions in these rules.

343. “Attendance in LCDs” Presently, entry and exit of employees in LCDs are recorded by dropping of tokens witnessed by a supervisor and later correlated by time clerks for claiming of salary overtime etc. In order that the provisions of the IR Act are scrupulously adhered, and staff payments are linked to their attendance and work output, every major LCD (employing 500 employees and above) needs to put in place a fool proof/Tamper proof “Attendance System”. Such a system becomes all the more important in LCDs, where staff punctuality has a direct bearing on the punctuality of the trains and the image of the Railway. LCDs are also constantly exposed to risks of sabotage by terrorists, thefts of material form rolling stock (both conventional as well as DPRS) before dispatch leading to unsafe condition etc.

344. Modern Gate Attendance Systems for LCDs In the interests of the installation security, better control and on line integration with enterprise applications, all major LCDs should be equipped with a boundary wall and a biometric system in a phased manner. The system should fulfil conditions set out in Para 406 above, with minor modifications to suit local conditions.

345. Disaster Management Disasters occur at any time with no prior warning and the attendant tragedy often numbs the employees at the site into inaction. Disasters can be due to natural causes such as floods, earthquake etc or man- made like railway accidents, collapsed structures etc. Staff assigned with breakdown duties thus has a crucial “life-saving” responsibility to provide relief and rescue to the victims at the site apart from restoring rail traffic.

346. Accident Relief & Medical Equipment Train In order to minimize death and injuries, relief teams should make all efforts to reach the site within the Golden Hour (within an hour after the injury occurs) and extricate accident victims to expedite trauma care. Towards this end, each Railway Division should be equipped with an appropriate Accident Relief and Medical Equipment train (ARME) positioned at the divisional Headquarters to enable the Divisional officers and break down staff to proceed to the site of accident along with Doctors. Operation/maintenance of such trains shall be governed by the safety/medical manuals in vogue.

347. Accident Relief Trains In addition, an all- purpose Accident Relief Train (ART) must be stationed either at the Divisional HQrs at a junction point, where a major LCD is situated. This train formation shall have a high capacity Breakdown diesel crane and not more than 8 vehicles. The ARME/ARTs must be cleared for running at least at the maximum permissible sectional speed of the section and maintained as such at all times by giving timely POH and other schedules as prescribed. All relief trains should be equipped with food, water, power and communication facilities that can sustain at least for a week without replenishment so as to withstand prolonged isolations that occur in natural disasters.

348. Breakdown staff An accident at an accident site such as the toppling of the crane or snapping of wire rope etc is the worst image-wrecker that any Railways can ever afford. It is the direct responsibility of the Divisional administration to select and train for every ART at least two teams of Breakdown staff and to ensure a. That every member of the Breakdown staff is certified as competent and fit b. That there is an existence of record of such assessment undergone by the employee. c. Suitable arrangements are in place to examine this record periodically and update the assessments. d. That every BD staff is issued with means of identification and e. Staff undergoes refresher courses at the periodicity prescribed. f. The breakdown staff should have extra monthly allowance to attract efficient and committed personnel for rescue and relief operations. They must also be provided with the benefit of modern communication facilities individually such as wireless sets/ mobile connectivity.

349. Accident checklist The Accident and Crane manuals published by Railways contain checklists with duties and responsibilities of the senior most mechanical officer, the control and maintenance staff and the BD staff in the unfortunate event of an accident. It is necessary that copies of these checklists are not only given to the BD staff, but also prominently displayed in the control office, ARTs/ARMEs/SPARTs.

350. Reprovisioning in ART/ARME After every accident, equipments and supplies in the relief trains will need immediate repair or replenishment, in order instantly to restore their “battleworthiness”. Towards this end, immediate reprovisioning of spares and supplies must be done and the relief trains must be kept in a state of readiness for the next emergency that may be lurking in the corner. Adequate financial powers must be vested with the Divisional authorities and the ART in charges to effect such purchases by the use of extant rules for ‘spot purchase’ and ‘procurement without tender’. Thus Zonal SOP should specifically delegate powers to divisional Store officers under these categories to take care of the material requirements for effective Disaster Management. Annexure-3.1 Important provisions of “Hours of Work and Period of Rest” Rules-2005 3.1.1. Essentially Intermittent category An employee is said to be on "essentially intermittent(EI)" roster, when it has been declared to be so by the prescribed authority on the ground that the daily hours of duty of the railway servant normally include periods of inaction aggregating to fifty percent or more (including at least one such period of not less than one hours or two such periods of not less than half an hour each) in a total of twelve hours duty (on the average over seventy-two consecutive hours), during which the railway servant may be on duty, but is not called upon to display either physical activity or sustained attention; A railway servant whose employment is essentially intermittent shall not be employed for more than seventy-five hours in any week. Staff on EI rosters shall be granted a rest of not less than twenty-four consecutive hours including a full night for every week commencing on a Sunday. 3.1.2. “Excluded” category An employee is said to be on "excluded” roster, if he/she is employed in a managerial or confidential capacity or in duties that are supervisory. 3.1.3. “Continuous” category All other employees in LCDs are on "Continuous" rosters. A railway servant whose employment is continuous shall not be employed for more than fifty-four hours a week on an average in a two weekly period of fourteen days. Staff on continuous rosters shall be granted a rest of not less than thirty consecutive hours for every week commencing on a Sunday.

Multiple choice questions:

1. In case staff are to be booked on overtime, whose prior sanction is required in writing by the SE/SSE? a. Chief Engineer
   b. Chief Works Manager
   c. Head of Department
   d. Time Office
   Answer: b. Chief Works Manager
2. Which form is used for submitting an Overtime Requisition? a. Form M-326
   b. Form M-327
   c. Form M-330
   d. Form M-338
   Answer: a. Form M-326
3. Who is responsible for the attestation of the Overtime Register? a. Workshop Manager
   b. SE/SSE
   c. Head Time Keeper
   d. Accounts Officer
   Answer: b. SE/SSE
4. According to the Factories Act, 1948, at what rate should overtime wages be paid for work beyond nine hours a day or forty-eight hours a week? a. At the ordinary rate of wages
   b. Twice the ordinary rate of wages
   c. One and a half times the ordinary rate of wages
   d. Three times the ordinary rate of wages
   Answer: b. Twice the ordinary rate of wages
5. What does "ordinary rate of wages" include for the purpose of calculating overtime? a. Only basic wages
   b. Basic wages plus allowances
   c. Basic wages plus dearness allowance and compensatory allowance
   d. Basic wages plus allowances, but not including a bonus
   Answer: d. Basic wages plus allowances, but not including a bonus
6. What should be done if a workman gets hurt on duty during overtime? a. Leave the workplace immediately
   b. Record suitable remarks in the Overtime Register
   c. Notify the Accounts Office
   d. Stop working overtime immediately
   Answer: b. Record suitable remarks in the Overtime Register
7. What should be made in duplicate and one copy retained as a block copy? a. Overtime Register
   b. Overtime Requisition
   c. Material Gate Pass
   d. Labour Pay Sheet
   Answer: c. Material Gate Pass
8. In which form are the details of the Labour Pay Sheet entered after it has been checked? a. Form M-326
   b. Form M-327
   c. Form M-330
   d. Form M-336
   Answer: d. Form M-336
9. Who is held responsible for the correct preparation and punctual submission of the Labour Pay Sheets? a. SE/SSE
   b. Head Time Keeper
   c. Workshop Manager
   d. Accounts Officer
   Answer: b. Head Time Keeper
10. For how many hours per week can a railway servant on an "essentially intermittent" roster be employed? a. 40 hours
    b. 54 hours
    c. 75 hours
    d. 60 hours
    Answer: c. 75 hours
11. In case of temporary exemptions to the limitation of hours of work, who can authorize such exemptions? a. Chief Works Manager
    b. Head of Department
    c. Officer controlling the depot or shed
    d. SE/SSE
    Answer: c. Officer controlling the depot or shed
12. What must be kept for recording the time booked and actual hours worked by each employee? a. Overtime Register
    b. Labour Pay Sheet
    c. Chart of Labour Charges
    d. Muster Roll cum Labour Pay Sheet
    Answer: d. Muster Roll cum Labour Pay Sheet
13. What must the Workshop Accounts Officer check in the Labour Pay Sheets to ensure correctness? a. Deductions
    b. Attendance
    c. Overtime hours
    d. All of the above
    Answer: d. All of the above
14. When should the Extract Pay Sheet be arranged? a. At the end of the month
    b. For men who have to be settled up
    c. After every quarter
    d. Annually
    Answer: b. For men who have to be settled up
15. What should be done if there are discrepancies found in the material gate passes? a. Notify the Head Time Keeper
    b. Notify the Works Manager
    c. Correct the entries in the register
    d. Disregard the discrepancies
    Answer: b. Notify the Works Manager

16. Who appoints the "Occupier of the Factory" in Railway Workshops?

• a) Chief Workshop Manager
• b) General Manager
• c) Railway Board
• d) State Government

Answer: b) General Manager

17.What is the normal duration of working hours for labor in Railway Workshops on weekdays?

• a) Eight hours
• b) Eight and a half hours
• c) Nine hours
• d) Seven hours

Answer: b) Eight and a half hours

18.Which act regulates the working hours and conditions in Railway Workshops?

• a) The Labour Act, 1978
• b) The Factories Act, 1948
• c) The Employment Act, 1961
• d) The Industrial Act, 1950

Answer: b) The Factories Act, 1948

19.How many hours can an adult worker legally work in a factory in one week?

• a) 40 hours
• b) 45 hours
• c) 48 hours
• d) 50 hours

Answer: c) 48 hours

20.What is the maximum number of hours an adult worker can work in a factory in one day?

• a) 8 hours
• b) 8.5 hours
• c) 9 hours
• d) 10 hours

Answer: c) 9 hours

21.What must be provided to workers after a maximum of five hours of work?

• a) A meal break of one hour
• b) An interval for rest of at least half an hour
• c) A tea break of 15 minutes
• d) A rest period of 10 minutes

Answer: b) An interval for rest of at least half an hour

22.What should the maximum spread-over of working hours, including rest intervals, be in any day?

• a) 9 hours
• b) 10 hours
• c) 10.5 hours
• d) 12 hours

Answer: c) 10.5 hours

23.Under which section of The Factories Act, 1948, can exemptions to working hour limitations be sanctioned by the state government?

• a) Section 51
• b) Section 56
• c) Section 64
• d) Section 70

Answer: c) Section 64

24.What is a mandatory feature of a modern “Gate Attendance System” in Railway Workshops?

• a) Entry and exit through manual logs
• b) Automated recording immune to manipulation
• c) Supervisor-assisted attendance marking
• d) Open gates without verification

Answer: b) Automated recording immune to manipulation

25.What technology is recommended for identifying staff in a modern Gate Attendance System?

• a) Manual log books
• b) Smart cards and biometrics
• c) Supervisor verification
• d) Employee signatures

Answer: b) Smart cards and biometrics

26.What should be done in case of a discrepancy between initial records of payment and allocation?

• a) Ignore the discrepancy
• b) The employee should be penalized
• c) It should be brought to the notice of the Workshop Accounts Officer
• d) Adjust the records without reporting

Answer: c) It should be brought to the notice of the Workshop Accounts Officer

27.Who is responsible for maintaining the initial records of attendance in Railway Workshops?

• a) General Manager
• b) Chief Workshop Manager
• c) Time Office
• d) Workshop Supervisor

Answer: c) Time Office

28.How should attendance be marked if an employee wants to leave the workshop during working hours?

• a) By signing a log book
• b) By obtaining a gate pass
• c) By informing a colleague
• d) By calling the supervisor

Answer: b) By obtaining a gate pass

29.How should biometric attendance be handled in the event of equipment or power failure?

• a) Switch to manual registers
• b) Cease attendance tracking
• c) Have built-in redundancy to ensure continuous digital attendance
• d) Allow employees to self-report attendance

Answer: c) Have built-in redundancy to ensure continuous digital attendance

30.What is the consequence for employees coming late after 5 minutes but up to half an hour in the first period?

• a) Lose a full day's wage
• b) Lose half a day's wage
• c) Treated as late by half an hour and lose wages for half an hour
• d) No consequence

Answer: c) Treated as late by half an hour and lose wages for half an hour

31.Who decides the action to be taken for unauthorized absences of less than three days?

• a) General Manager
• b) Assistant Officer
• c) Shop In-Charge
• d) Senior Scale Officer

Answer: c) Shop In-Charge

32.What is required for employees working night shifts to get their night shift allowance recognized?

• a) Manual log entry
• b) Verbal confirmation from the supervisor
• c) Key in the machine number of Form M-324 in the payroll system
• d) Submit a written application to the time office

Answer: c) Key in the machine number of Form M-324 in the payroll system

33.Under what conditions can workers be required to work during meal intervals?

• a) With approval from the General Manager
• b) With sanction from the State Government
• c) With the consent of the employee
• d) Without any specific conditions

Answer: b) With sanction from the State Government

34.What should the Head Time Keeper do if a worker is injured on duty?

• a) Ignore the injury
• b) Issue a gate pass marked "hurt on duty"
• c) Send the worker home without recording
• d) Inform the General Manager immediately

Answer: b) Issue a gate pass marked "hurt on duty"

35.How should unauthorized absence of over 6 days be handled?

• a) By the Shop In-Charge
• b) By the Assistant Officer
• c) By the Senior Scale Officer
• d) By the General Manager

Answer: c) By the Senior Scale Officer

 

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