Shop and Office Employees Act and Wages Boards Ordinance
The Shop and Office Employees Act regulates hours, leave and pay of shop and office staff; the Wages Boards Ordinance sets minimum wages and terms for particular trades.
Shop and Office Employees Act
The Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act of 1954 protects people employed in shops and offices: supermarkets, retail shops, banks, insurance offices, private company offices and similar workplaces. Its purpose is to make sure these employees work reasonable hours, get rest and leave, and are paid properly and on time. It is enforced by the Department of Labour, and an employer who breaks it commits an offence.
Main features of the Shop and Office Employees Act
- Limits normal hours of work per day and per week.
- Overtime: work beyond normal hours is paid at a higher rate.
- Intervals for meals and rest during the working day.
- Weekly holidays, annual holidays and casual leave with pay.
- Payment of wages within the time the Act sets; only permitted deductions from wages.
- Maternity leave and benefits for women employees.
- Special protection for women and young persons.
- Records the employer must keep and show to labour officers.
Wages Boards Ordinance
The Wages Boards Ordinance of 1941 lets the Minister set up a wages board for a particular trade, such as tea growing and manufacturing or garment manufacturing. Each board has representatives of employers, representatives of workers, and independent members appointed by the Minister. The board decides minimum wages, overtime rates, hours of work, and holidays and leave for workers in that trade. Once its decisions are approved and published in the Gazette, they bind every employer in the trade.
Main features of the Wages Boards Ordinance
- A separate board for each trade, so terms suit the trade.
- Tripartite membership: employers, workers and independent members.
- Sets minimum time rates or piece rates, overtime rates, hours and leave.
- Decisions become legally binding once published in the Gazette.
- An employer must pay at least the decided rates, keep wage records and display notices.
- Labour officers inspect; arrears can be recovered and underpayment is an offence.
The two laws compared
| Point | Shop and Office Employees Act | Wages Boards Ordinance |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1954 | 1941 |
| Covers | Employees of shops and offices | Workers in trades for which a wages board exists |
| How terms are set | Directly by the Act and its regulations | By decisions of the wages board for each trade |
| Main focus | Hours, overtime, leave, holidays, payment of wages | Minimum wages and conditions in each trade |
| Typical workplace | Supermarket, bank, office | Tea estate, garment factory |
Staff in a supermarket or bank office in Colombo work under the Shop and Office Employees Act, with set hours, overtime pay and leave. Workers on a tea estate or in a garment factory have their minimum wages and conditions set by the wages board for that trade.
Short answer: “What is a wages board?” A tripartite board set up for a particular trade under the Wages Boards Ordinance to decide minimum wages, overtime, hours and leave, binding once gazetted.
Structured question: “State the main features of the Shop and Office Employees Act.” Limits on hours, overtime pay, meal and rest intervals, weekly and annual holidays and casual leave, timely payment of wages, maternity leave, protection of women and young persons, records.
Essay: “Explain the purpose and main features of the Shop and Office Employees Act and the Wages Boards Ordinance.” Purpose and coverage of each; main features of each; compare in a table; enforcement by the Department of Labour; close on why both protect workers' pay and time.
Shop and Office Act protects time and pay: H-O-R-L-W: Hours, Overtime, Rest intervals, Leave, Wages on time. Wages boards are trade by trade and three-sided (employers, workers, independents).