Deductions for absence from duty

Section 20 of the Code on Wages, 2019 deals with deductions for absence from duty. Deductions may be made under clause (b) of subsection (2) of section 18 only on account of the absence of an employee from the place or places where by the terms of his employment, he is required to work, such absence being for the whole or any part of the period during which he is so required to wo The Act was enacted on 08 Aug 2019.

(1) Deductions may be made under clause (b) of subsection (2) of section 18 only on account of the absence of an employee from the place or places where by the terms of his employment, he is required to work, such absence being for the whole or any part of the period during which he is so required to work.

(2) The amount of such deduction shall in no case bear to the wages payable to the employed person in respect of the wage-period for which the deduction is made in a larger proportion than the period for which he was absent bears to the total period within such wage-period during which by the terms of his employment he was required to work:

Provided that, subject to any rules made in this behalf by the appropriate Government, if ten or more employed persons acting in concert absent themselves without due notice (that is to say without giving the notice which is required under the terms of their contracts of employment) and without reasonable cause, such deduction from any such person may include such amount not exceeding his wages for eight days as may by any such terms be due to the employer in lieu of due notice.

Explanation.-- For the purposes of this section, an employee shall be deemed to be absent from the place where he is required to work if, although present in such place, he refuses, in pursuance of a stay-in strike or for any other cause which is not reasonable in the circumstances, to carry out his work.

Section 20, The Code on Wages, 2019 (Act 29 of 2019).