The Assam Form 22 Half-Yearly Return: What You Need to Know

Are you running a factory in Assam? Or are you involved in the HR compliances of a factory in Assam? Then you will need to know about the Assam Form 22 Half-Yearly Return. If it’s that time of year, then you know it’s time for the half-yearly return.

HR compliance for a business in India involves keeping up with the requirements of central and state employment and welfare laws. The Factories Act is one of these laws. It is a welfare law that regulates working conditions in factories across India. Each state has its own Factories Rules that give more specific details about compliances.

In Assam, it is the Assam Factories Rules. There are various returns you have to file to comply with the Assam Factories Rules. Most of these returns are filed annually except for one of them, which you have to file half-yearly. This is the Form 22 Half-Yearly return.

This article will help you understand the ins and outs of the half-yearly filing. It will take you through these:

What Is the Assam Form 22 Half-Yearly Return?

The Assam Form 22 Half-Yearly Return is a form you have to file to the Labour and Employment Department of Assam as a part of your labor filings for the Factories Act and Rules. It is distinct from other filings under the Rules because it needs to be filed on a half-yearly basis, as opposed to an annual filing.

In Form 22, you have to give information pertaining to the half-yearly period. This would have to be filed on or before 15th July and 15th January of each year. As a part of this half-yearly filing, you have to give details about the days worked in that period, the composition of your workforce, and the number of workers employed.

Why Do You Have to File the Form 22 Half-Yearly Return?

Section 99 of the Assam Factories Rules requires the manager of a factory to submit half-yearly returns to the Labour Department. One of these returns is the half-yearly return specified in Rule 99(3), which has to be submitted by the manager of a factory to the Chief Inspector or the concerned officer of the Labour Department. The half-yearly return has to be submitted on or before July 15th and January 15th of every year.

Does Your Business Have to File the Form 22 Half-Yearly Return?

Your business has to file the Assam Form 22 Half-Yearly Return if it is a factory under the Factories Act.

Your establishment would be considered a factory if:

It has a premise where a manufacturing process is carried on
The process uses the aid of power and uses 10 or more workers OR
The process is carried on without the aid of power and uses 20 or more workers

Keep in mind that your establishment would be considered to have premises if it has open land or land with buildings or land alone. "Premise" is a wide term.

What Details Are Needed for the Half-Yearly Return?

The details needed for this half-yearly return include:

The name of the factory
The name of the occupier
The name of the manager
The district, sub-division, and postal address
The nature of the industry
The number of days worked during that half-yearly
The number of man-days worked during that half-yearly for each of the different kinds of employees such as adults, children, men, women, boys, and girls
The average number of workers employed daily
You would have to mention the number of adults, children, men, women, boys, and girls

Things to Keep in Mind for the Half-Yearly Return

When filling up the details in the half-yearly return, you will need to know how to calculate the average number of workers employed daily. Here’s how you get the average daily number for the half-yearly:

Divide the aggregate number of employee attendance on working days by the number of working days during the half-yearly
Include the attendance of all employees in your attendance count including permanent and temporary employees as well as employees under a contractor
Attendance on separate shifts (like night and day shifts) should be counted separately
Don’t count days where an employee has worked for less than half their shift

When calculating working days for the half-yearly, don’t count days when the factory was closed, no matter why it was closed. However, if more than half of the workers attend to do certain work like maintenance, those closed days would have to be counted.

Apart from the half-yearly, there are annual returns that have to be filed under the Assam Factory Rules. These are given below.

Annual Return

The annual return has to be filed by January 15th of every year, in Form 21.

Leave With Wages

The Manager of a factory has to file this return as an annual return in Form 21. It gives details of all the cases where employees were given leave with wages.

Compensatory Holidays

The Manager of a factory has to file this return as an annual return in Form 21. It will contain details about all the holidays given to employees to compensate for holidays that they were deprived of.

Canteen

This has to be filed by every factory that normally employs more than 250 workers. It has to be submitted as an annual return in Form 21. This filing gives details about the canteen maintained for employees.

Creche

Every factory that normally employs more than 30 women workers and provides a crèche has to file this form. This has to be submitted as an annual return in Form 21. It gives details about the crèche maintained for women workers.

Shelter, Rest Rooms, and Lunch Rooms

Every factory that normally employs more than 150 workers has to submit this form as an annual return in Form 21. This form informs about the details of the shelter, restrooms, and lunchrooms provided by the factory for its employees.

Annual Return of Holidays

This has to be filed before the end of each year. The purpose of this return is to give notice of all the days on which the factory will be closed during the next year. This return has to be submitted irrespective of whether the factory is working in the preceding year.

However, your factory does not have to file this return if it regularly observes Sundays as holidays.

There are various registers and records that you have to keep under the Assam Factories Rules. These are also useful for your payrolls and taxes. Keep reading to know more about these compliances.

Muster Roll

A factory has to maintain a muster roll of all its employees in Form 25. This form will include:

The name of each employee
The nature of his or her work
The daily attendance of the worker

However, do note that if any details required in Form 25 are recorded in another register such as the register of adult workers in Form 12, then you don’t have to maintain a separate muster roll for this rule.

Inspection Book

The manager of a factory has to maintain an inspection book and produce it when the Inspector requires it.

Register for Compensatory Holidays

A manager must maintain a register that lists out the compensatory holidays for all employees in Form 9.

The Factories Act provides that workers should be given a weekly holiday. However, it also allows for certain exemptions by an order or rule. Compensatory holidays come into the picture if a factory is exempted from the requirement of weekly holidays by an order or a rule and the worker is thereby deprived of any weekly holidays. If this is the case, the worker should be allowed compensatory holidays to make up for the holidays he missed. These compensatory holidays should be given within the same month or the next two months.

Overtime Muster

The Factories Act prescribes limits on the weekly hours and daily hours that a worker can be made to work. However, it also allows for the state government to make rules or pass orders that create exemptions from these prescribed limits. If a factory is exempted from these limits or if certain employees are exempted from these limits, you have to maintain an overtime muster roll in Form 10.

An overtime muster roll records how much has been paid to the employees for overtime work done. It should record these details:

The rate per piece of work or the rate per hour
The overtime hours of work done by all the exempted workers

Register of Adult Workers

The register of adult workers has to be maintained in Form 12. This register must provide the following details:

The name of each adult worker in the factory
The nature of his or her work
The group, if any, of which he or she is a part of
If the group works on shifts, the relay that he or she works

Register of Child Workers

The format for this is in Form 14. This register must provide the following details:

The name of each child worker in the factory
The nature of his or her work
The group, if any, of which he or she is a part of
If the group works on shifts, the relay that he or she works
The number of his or her certificate of fitness

Register of Leave With Wages

The format for this register is given in Form 15. It must contain the details of leave with wages allowed to employees and the duration of such leave.

Leave Book

The employer has to provide each employee with a leave book, which should be done before January 31st of that year. The Leave Book belongs to the employee. It keeps a record of the leave availed.

Health Register

The employer has to maintain a health register (Form 17) for all employees who are involved in operations that are declared to be dangerous operations under Section 87 of the Factories Act. A Certifying Surgeon has to visit the factory and conduct a medical examination of each worker who is involved in such dangerous occupations. The results of the medical examination will be recorded in the health register, which will be kept by the factory.

It will include these details:

Nature of the occupation or job
The raw material or by-product that is being handled
Dates of medical examination by a certifying surgeon
Dates of suspension from work due to being medically unfit

Summing Up

Running a factory business in Assam comes with its own labor compliances. Keeping up with these compliances is simple once you are clear about what they involve. There are various annual returns to be filed as well as the half-yearly return which is the Assam Form 22 half-yearly return. Apart from this, you also have to maintain various registers and records.

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Key Takeaways

The Assam Form 22 Half-Yearly Return is a half-yearly form you have to file to the Labour and Employment Department of Assam
This half-yearly return is a part of your labor filings under the Factories Act and the Assam Factories Rules
The half-yearly return would have to be filed on or before 15th July and 15th January of each year
In this half-yearly filing, you have to give details like the days worked, the composition of your workforce, and the number of workers employed
These details must pertain to the half-yearly period that is ending at the time of filing
Apart from the half-yearly return, there are various annual returns you have to file