1976 PLP 417 (PLC)

Akhtar Hussain with Kh. Iftikharul Haq for Respondent. This is a petition under section 50 of Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 for interpretation of clauses 1 and 18 of a settlement dated 20‑11‑1974 arrived at between the parties.

2. Clause I of the settlement reads as follows :‑ "The Management has agreed to pay bonus to the employees equal to the amount of 12 %of the salaries immediately after one month of the signing of this settlement. An additional amount of 3% of the workers shall be paid as bonus only when the Factory functions in normal condition." Clause 18 of the settlement reads as follows:‑ "The Management further assures that the factory shall not be closed either totally or partially for an indefinite period. It has also been ensured that no worker of the mill shall either be retrenched or laid off during the operation of this settlement."

3. From the perusal of clause 1 of the settlement I find that there is no ambiguity or difficulty which arises as to the interpretation of the said clause. The learned counsel. for the petitioner, however, contended that under section 10‑C of the West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance, 1968, every employer making profit in a particular year has to pay bonus to its workers within 5 months of that year in accordance with the formula prescribed therein, therefore bonus was dependent on the profit made during that particular year and that if no profit was earned no bonus was payable. He, therefore, argued that clause 1 was against the statutory provisions of section 10‑C of the Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance, 1968, and as such was not enforceable. In this connection he relied on a judgment of this Tribunal given in the case "Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Employment Union (Registered) v. Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry". On the perusal of the judgment referred to above I find that the settlement was to the effect that bonus was to be paid as laid down in clause 10‑C of the West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance, therefore, the bonus was dependent on the profit made and since the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry was a non‑profit earning Organisation under section 36 of the Companies Act, the said clause of tee settlement was held to be not enforceable. In the present settlement, however, there is no mention of clause 10‑C of the Ordinance and, therefore the bonus is not dependent on the profit `I made during a year and as such this clause c f the settlement is enforceable.

4. Clause 18 of the settlement, I find, is against the statutory provisions of Standing Order 11 of the West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial, Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance, 1968, which reads as follows :‑ "Stoppage of work.‑(1) The employer may, at any time, in the event of fire, catastrophe, breakdown of machinery or stoppage of power supply, epidemics, civil commotion or other cause beyond his control, stop any section or sections of the establishment, wholly or partially for any period or periods without notice. (2) In cases where workmen are laid off on account of failure of plant, a temporary curtailment or production or any stoppage of work for reasons mentioned in clause (i), they shall be paid by the employer an amount equal to one‑half of their daily wages during the first fourteen days of lay‑off as compensation, when the workmen have to be laid‑off for an indefinite period beyond the above mentioned fourteen days, their services may be terminated after giving them notice or pay in lieu thereof. From the perusal of the above it is clear that an employer can stop any ‑ section of the establishment wholly or partially for any period or periods without notice and that when workmen had been laid‑off for an indefinite period beyond the period of 14 days, their services can be terminated after giving them due notice or pay in lieu thereof. Thus clause 18 of the settlement is again, t the statutory provisions and as such is void and cannot be enforced.

5. In the result the petition is partly accepted.