Section 8 in The West Bengal Factories (Welfare Officers) Rules, 1971
8. Conditions of service.
(1)The Chief Welfare Officer, or the Welfare Officer, where there is only one, shall be given the same status as is enjoyed by the other departmental heads in the factory, and he shall work directly under the control of same executive of the factory under whom the other departmental heads work.(2)Every other Welfare Officer shall be given appropriate status corresponding to the status of an officer holding a position next below the other departmental heads in the factory.(3)The Welfare Officer may be employed either on tenure basis, or on a permanent basis. Where he is appointed on tenure basis, the term shall not be less than three years and the period of probation shall be six months; and where the appointment is on permanent basis, the period of probation shall not be less than one year or more than two years. Any such officer appointed on tenure basis shall ordinarily be entitled to a renewal of such periodical contract.(4)(a)The occupier of a factory who possesses either to terminate the services of a Welfare Officer otherwise than by way of penalty in terms of sub-rule (5) or to withhold the renewal of contract shall give three months' notice to such officer stating reasons thereof and giving reasonable opportunity of making representation against such proposed action.(b)The occupier shall not take a final decision without giving due consideration to such representation and intimating such final decision in writing to the Welfare Officer concerned.(5)(a)The occupier may impose upon any Welfare Officer any or more of the following punishments :--(i)suspension,(ii)removal or dismissal from service,(iii)reduction in rank,(iv)withholding of increment,(v)censure,(vi)warning;Provided that no Welfare Officer shall be punished as aforesaid except, after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of the charges and where it is proposed, after such an inquiry, to impose on him any such penalty, until he has been given a reasonable opportunity of making representation on the penalty proposed, but only on the basis of the evidence adduced during such enquiry.(b)Any Welfare Officer who is awarded any one or more of the punishments referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (5) shall, within thirty days of the communication of the order of punishment to him, be entitled to appeal against such order to the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal :Provided that the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, may, on sufficient cause being shown for the delay, extend the aforesaid time limit to a period not exceeding six weeks.(c)On being satisfied that a Welfare Officer intends to prefer an appeal under clause (b) of sub-rule (5) the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, may stay the enforcement of the order of punishment to be appealed against, for such period and on such terms, if any, as he may think just and proper.(d)The Chief Inspector of Factories may call for any information and may require by a written order the production, at such place as may be specified in the order, of any register or record or document which is considered necessary for disposal of the appeal.(e)The Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, shall after giving both the parties a reasonable opportunity of being heard, by an order for reasons to be recorded in writing, dispose of the appeal as expeditiously as possible. While disposing of the appeal the Chief Inspector of Factories, West Bengal, may confirm, modify or set aside the order appealed against.
