ORIGIN OF 240 DAYS CLAUSE
The 240 days clause has its birth from Sec.25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act which is extracted below:
25-B. Definition of continuous service: -- For the purpose of this Chapter,-
(1) a workman shall be said to be in continuous service for a period if he is, for that period, in uninterrupted service, including service which may be interrupted on account of sickness or authorized leave or an accident or a strike which is not illegal, or a lock-out or a cessation of work which is not due to any fault on the part of the workman;
(2) Where a workman is not in continuous service within the meaning of clause (1) for a period of one year or six months, he shall be deemed to be in continuous service under an employer—
(a) for a period of one year, if the workman, during a period of twelve calendar months preceding the date with reference to which calculation is to be made, has actually worked under the employer for not less than—
(i) one hundred and ninety days in the case of a workman employed below ground in a mine; and
(ii) two hundred and forty days, in any other case;
(b) for a period of six months, if the workman, during a period of six calendar months preceding the date with reference to which calculation is to be made, has actually worked under the employer for not less than—
(i) ninety five days, in the case of a workman employed below ground in a mine; and
(ii) one hundred and twenty days, in any other case;
Explanation: -- For the purpose of clause (2), the number of days on which a workman has actually worked under an employer shall include the days on which—
(i) he has been laid-off under an agreement or as permitted by standing orders made under the Industrial Employment [Standing Orders] Act, 1946 (20 of 1946), or under this Act or under any other law applicable to the Industrial establishment;
(ii) he has been on leave with full wages, earned in the previous years;
(iii) he has been absent due to temporary disablement caused by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment; and
(iv) in the case of a female, she has been on maternity leave; so, however, that the total period of such maternity leave does not exceed twelve weeks.
Continuous Service is applied in Section 25 F
25-F. Continuous precedent to retrenchment of workmen.—No workman employed in any industry who has been in continuous service for not less than one year under an employer shall be retrenched by that employer until—
(a) the workman has been given one month’s notice in writing indicating the reasons for retrenchment and the period of notice has expired, or the workman has been paid in lieu of such notice, wages for the period of the notice:
(b) the workman has been paid, at the time, of retrenchment, compensation which shall be equivalent to fifteen days’ average pay [for every completed year of continuous service] or any part thereof in excess of six months; and
(c) notice in the prescribed manner is served on the appropriate Government [or such authority as may be specified by the appropriate Government by notification in the Official Gazette.]
Both the definition and the application has been extracted.Viewers of Lawyersclubindia would need to understand the Statutory provision in its original form and reach their own understanding.
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