Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The Department of Labour and Occupational Security of the Government of Nepal has drawn the attention of various private hospitals, banks and financial institutions to the serious violation of labour laws in course of monitoring.

Issuing a press release today, the Department warned of stern legal action against those establishments not abiding by the existing Labour Act and Regulations.

According to the department, during the recent monitoring, it was found that doctors, health workers and workers working in private hospitals were not paid for overtime.

Similarly, they have been found to be working for long hours continuously and not providing them with the minimum wages fixed by the government. The department has also instructed the institutions found to be deficient in such cases to rectify them within the stipulated time.

According to the department, similar problems have been seen in the case of security personnel and workers supplied to banks and financial institutions. The Department has written to these organizations for the implementation of the existing legal provisions after receiving complaints that they were not paid minimum wages, made them work for long hours and not provided with festival expenses.

According to the press release, the Department carried out labour inspection of 3,267 establishments from 2082 BS to mid-June 2083 BS. In the same period, 3,137 enterprises were inspected and 3,390 labour audit reports were received.

Similarly, labour inspection was carried out in 761 enterprises and 679 labour audit reports were received in the last short period (from Chaitra 13 to Asadh 2083).

According to Rule 56 of the Labour Regulations-2075, every establishment should compulsorily have to carry out the labour audit within mid-January of every year. Similarly, Clause 59 of the Labour Act-2074 BS states that the licensed companies are allowed to supply workers only in the specified services such as security, sanitation, business support and domestic help.

The Department has appealed to all establishments to fully implement the provisions of the Labour Act-2074 BS and the Labour Regulations-2075 BS. Necessary action will be taken if the existing legal provisions related to labor are not followed, said the spokesperson of the department, E. Maninath Gop said in a statement.