Series of changes proposed to the Sales Promotion Employee Rules; establishments employing 20 or more sales promotion employees, must have one or more Grievance Redressal Committee

The Ministry of Labour and Employment (“Ministry”) has in  a Notification dated 15th May, 2018, issued the draft Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Amendment Rules, 2018 (“Draft Amendment Rules”) to further amend the Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions to Service) Rules, 1976 (“Principal Rules”).

[Although the document mentions the date as  15th May, 2015, it has been verbally confirmed by Mr. Subhash Kumar; Under Secretary of Ministry of Labour and Employment over telephonic conversation that it has been made available in the public domain very recently, i.e. October, 2018].

Key highlights of the amendments proposed:

The following proposals have been made to modify the provisions to the Principal Rules:

  1. Applicability:This law will be applicable to (a) every establishment engaged in Pharmaceutical Industryand (b)Industries Notified as per the Notification numbered S.O. 217(E) as follows.
  • Cosmetics, soaps, household cleaners and disinfectants;
  • Readymade Garments;
  • Soft drink manufacturing industries;
  • Biscuits and confectionaries;
  • Ayurvedic, Unani and Homeopathic Medicines;
  • Automobiles including accessories and spare parts;
  • Surgical equipment/s, artificial prosthesis and diagnostics,
  • Electronic, computers including accessories and spares;
  • Electrical appliances;
  • Paints and Varnishes.
  1. Job Specification: As per the proposed provision, a Sales Promoter employed or engaged in an establishment will be liable to action on the following services:
  • Present, promote and sell products or services to existing and prospective customers;
  • Perform cost-benefits and needs analysis of existing or potential products and services;
  • Establish, develop and maintain positive business and customer relationship;
  • to expedite the resolution of customer problems and complaints to maximize customers’ satisfaction;
  • Achieve agreed upon sales targets and outcomes within schedule time;
  • Co-ordinate sales effort with team members and other departments;
  •  Analyze the territory, or market’s potential, track sales and status reports.
  1. Conditions of Service:

The Sales Promotion Employees have been proposed to be categorized into the following:

  1.  Permanent;
  2.  Probationer
  3. Fixed term;
  4.  Temporary; and
  5.  Apprentice or trainee

[Note:

  • A Permanent Sales Promotion Employee will be an employee who has been employed or engaged against permanent vacancy and has completed satisfactory probationary period of six months in the same or another similar occupation in the establishment which includes the periods of breaks due to sickness, accident, leave, lock-out, strike (not being an illegal strike) or involuntary closure of the establishment.
  • A Probationer Sales Promotion Employee is an employee who has been employed or engaged against a permanent vacancy and has not completed probationary period of six months and where in an establishment, a permanent sales promotion employee is employed or engaged as a probationer sales promotion employee against a new post in the establishment, then, he may, at any time during the probationary period of six months, be reverted to his pervious permanent post.
  • A Fixed Term Sales Promotion Employee is an employee who has been employed for a fixed period in an establishment under a written contract.
  • A Temporary Sale Promotion Employee is an employee in an establishment who has been employed against a temporary vacancy.
  • An Apprentice or a Trainee Sales Promotion Employee is an employee in the establishment as a learner who is paid an allowance during his period of apprenticeship or training and no person undertaking a job independently in the establishment shall be treated as an apprentice or trainee.]
  1. The employer of the Sales Promotion Employees employed in an establishment in which twenty or more sales promotion employees are employed must make arrangement of the training program of at least one week of duration in a year for enhancement of skill.
  1. The employer must provide first aid facilities equipped with essential contents conforming to the medical standards.
  1. The employer must provide crèche facility in an establishment where 50 or more sales promotion employees are employed or engaged.
  1. The employer must provide welfare facilities like supply of wholesome drinking water, washroom facilities, locker rooms, canteen facilities.
  1. An employer in an establishment may after prior permission of the Central Government, fix different opening hours and different closing hours for different duration of time periods in a year.
  1. The working hours of a Sales Promotion Employee must not exceed nine hours in a day and forty-eight hours in a week and the spread over in a day shall not exceed ten and half hours.
  1. The employer of the Sales Promotion Employee, whose minimum rate of wages has been fixed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 must pay him for every hour or part of an hour so job performed in excess, at the overtime rate which shall not be less than twice the normal rate of wages.
  1. The Employer is obligated to confirm a Permanent Sales Promotion Employee in the establishment in accordance with the terms and conditions for confirmation stipulated in his letter of employment and issue a letter of confirmation to him. Pursuant to such confirmation, the employer must enter an entry into the service record within a period of thirty daysfrom the date of such confirmation.
  1. The age of retirement/superannuation of a Sales Promotion Employee in an establishment must be agreed between the Employer and the Sales Promotion Employee and mentioned in the written agreement and where there is no such age mentioned, the retirement/ superannuation will be on completion of fifty-eight years of such employee.
  1. Every establishment, employing twenty or more sales promotion employees, must have one or more Grievance Redressal Committee for the resolution of disputes arising out of individual grievances of the sales promotion employees. The Redressal Committee must be constituted and function in accordance with the provisions contained in Section 9C of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 as it applies to, or in relation to, workmen within the meaning of that Act.

SourceMinistry of Labour and Employment

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