3542.txt

The current document is a court judgment related to appeals by companies against awards given by the Industrial Tribunal in disputes with their workers regarding sick leave benefits. The workers demanded 10 days sick leave with retrospective effect and accumulation over a three-year period due to dissatisfaction with the first proviso to section 49 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, which only provided sickness benefit for the first two days of sickness except in certain cases. The companies contested the demand, arguing that the Act provided sufficient sickness benefits, and any additional benefit would place an unproductive financial burden on the industry. The Industrial Tribunal awarded sick leave with full pay and dearness allowance to the workers, with the facility of accumulation up to 21 days. The companies appealed the decision, but the court upheld the Tribunal's decision, finding that the benefits granted by the Tribunal were not similar to those admissible under the Act, and sickness benefits under the Act were not adequate for the workers' demand for sick leave on full emoluments for a period of 7 days when they were certified as ill. The court also noted that the region cure industry basis was suitable for examining the controversy and that the Tribunal could not be said to have erred in restoring the benefit that had been taken away under the mistaken impression that it had been adequately replaced by the new provisions on the coming into force of the Act. The court dismissed the appeals, and the sick leave benefits awarded by the Industrial Court in these cases are deemed legal and just, except in the case of Jyoti Ltd. In Baroda, where the sick leave benefits were not awarded with retroactive effect from January 1, 1975. The companies in question are ordered to pay the costs of the appeals and counsel's fees.