Announcement regarding working hours of the Articled Assista

Articleship 2713 views 9 replies

CA Harbinder

1245 Points Joined August 2007

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

Announcement regarding working hours of the Articled Assistants

The Council has considered the issue regarding the working hours of the articled assistants. The Council is of the view that the article training is an important part of the CA curriculum and the same needs to be carried out in accordance with the scheme framed by the ICAI in this behalf. Accordingly, to clarify the doubts being raised by various quarters about the working hours of the articled assistants and for pursuing graduation/other course, the Council decided to issue the following directions:-

1.	The articled assistants should undergo practical training in accordance with the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 as explained hereinafter. The working hours for the articled assistants shall be 35 hours in a week excluding the lunch break. The office hours of the Principal for providing article training to the articled assistants shall not be generally before 9.00 A.M. or after 7.00 P.M. The normal working hours for the articled assistants shall not start after 11.00 A.M. or end before 5.00 P.M. The working hours for the articled assistants should not exceed 35 hours in a week excluding the lunch break and normally an articled assistant be required to work during the normal working hours fixed for articled assistants. In case of the exigencies of work with the Principal, an articled assistant may be required to work beyond his/her normal working hours. However, under such circumstances, the aggregate number of working hours shall not exceed 45 hours per week. The requirement to work beyond 35 hours in a week should not be a practice but only in exceptional circumstances. Further, where the articled assistant is required to work beyond normal working hours, and aggregate of such hours exceed 35 hours per week, he/she shall be entitled to compensatory leave calculated with reference to number of completed working hours, over and above, 35 hours per week. The facility of allowing flexible office hours stands withdrawn.
2.	During the working hours, the articled assistant is not permitted to attend college/other institutions for pursuing any course including graduation. Accordingly, college timings of such course should not be such (after taking into account the time required to commute) which clashes with the normal working hours of the article training.
3.	To ensure that the working hours do not clash with the graduation or any other course, if any pursued by the article assistant, each articled assistant registered on or after 1st April, 2008 shall now be required to obtain specific permission from the ICAI for pursuing graduation or other course as permitted under the Chartered Accountants Regulation by submitting Form No.112, within one month from the date of joining the college or course to the ICAI.
4.	The articled assistant presently registered and undergoing graduation or any other course and who have not obtained specific permission shall be required to obtain the specific permission from the ICAI by submitting Form No.112 within six months of issue of these guidelines i.e. by 30th September, 2008. However those students who have already obtained the specific permission by submitting Form No. 112, need not obtain it again and the permission so granted shall continue to be valid.
5.	The Certificate in Form No. 112 indicating college timings etc. shall be counter-signed by the concerned Principal of the college with the seal and stamp of the College and also indicating the telephone number/s and full address of the College.
6.	In case a student does not comply with the above requirements or violates any of the above guidelines, his/her articleship period shall not be recognised.
7.	In this connection, attention is invited to the Regulations 65 and 66 read with Regulation 60 of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 which provide as under:- Regulation 60: Working hours of an Articled Clerk “Subject to such directions as may be issued by the Council, the working hours of an articled clerk shall be 35 hours per week to be regulated by the Principal from time to time”. Regulation 65: Articled clerk not to engage in any other occupation “Without the previous permission of the Council, obtained on application made in the *approved form, no articled clerk shall, during the period of his service as an articled clerk, take any other course of study or training, whether academic or professional, or engage in any business or occupation.” Regulation 66: Enquiries against articled clerk “(1) Where a complaint or information of any misconduct or breach of Regulation 65 or breach of any of the covenants contained in the articles is received against an articled clerk from his principal or any other person, the President or the Vice-President as the Executive Committee may decide from time to time, may cause an investigation to be made. (2) The Executive Committee may, on a consideration of the report of the investigation and after giving the articled clerk an opportunity of being heard, make any of the following orders, namely;- direct that the papers be filed and the complaint be dismissed, if the Executive Committee finds that the articled clerk is not guilty of any misconduct of breach of Regulation 65 or breach of any of the covenants contained in the articles; or if the articled clerk is found guilty, reprimand the articled clerk or cancel the registration of articles or direct that any period already served under such articles shall not be reckoned as service for the purpose of the period of practical training specified in Regulation 50. (3) The articled clerk, the registration of whose articles has been cancelled under this regulation, shall not, except with the permission of the Executive Committee be retained or taken as an articled clerk or audit clerk by any member”.

Replies (9)

CA Harbinder

1245 Points Joined August 2007

thanku

Prasad R

CA Final

2128 Points Joined March 2008

some thing to cheer for the Article Assistant's now.

Regards

Prasad.R

Darshu

1580 Points Joined September 2007

Good info,Harbinder.

Guest

440205 Points Joined August 2012

Articles will not be benefited by this becoz 35 working hours in a week excluding lunch time is equal to previous 40 working hours in a week including lunch time.. It means if 6 days a week is observed we have to present in office 7 hours per day(1 hour per day is taken for lunch) .Therefore 6*6=36 working hours per week.At present we are also giving 7 hours per day to training.So where is the change??We are only going to loose from this announcement.Flexibility in timings are withdrawn.we must have to work from 11Am to 5pm.If 6 days a week is observed then from 10Am to 5pm...but anyways it is a matter of only 3.5 years.

Guest

440205 Points Joined August 2012

Under the new guidelines, with the withdrawing of flexi hours, how a CA student can pursue his/her graduation ? Is it not a big loss ?

Joseph Alexander

CA Final Student

163 Points Joined October 2007

Yes it is a big loss VG. here i paste a series of queries with an executive of the institute.....

Respected Sir/Madam,

I am a PCC student. I have completed 9 months of articleship. I am pursuing my B. Com degree simultaneously (college hours being 08:15 AM to 01:15 PM). While joining PCC i had submitted FORM NO. 112 and am under the flexible timings scheme.But now as per the latest circular/amendments, we, CA students are not permitted to pursue graduation and have flexible office timings.

My office hours are as follows:
02:00 PM to 08:00 PM on weekdays
and
10:00 Am to 08:00 PM on Saturdays and other holidays (days when there is no college)
(Lunch break being 01:00 PM to 2:00 PM only on Saturdays and other holidays i.e. only on case two)

Hence my office hours excluding lunch breaks sums up to minimum 39 hours a week.

But now as per the new notification,
1. flexible timings are not permitted,
2. articleship can't start after 11:00 AM and
3. work in the normal course can't exceed 07:00 PM (but if it's reduced so my total hours a week would become less than 35 hours)

My parents are firm that i pursue my B. Com degree and that too only in a reputed institution like that of LOYOLA college, where i am currently doing my under graduation. Whilst i am interested to do my Chartered Accountancy. So far i have been doing my articleship taking best advantage of every facility and every opportunity which i get without any problems nor conflict and i have been fulfilling all that is necessary, for the institute, my office and my college, to the best possible level, without any complaints or problems for any one.

So please advice me on how do I hvae to go about things now and what i should do, when and how.

Looking forward for your reply and thanking you in anticipation;

JOSEPH ALEXANDER.

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Respected Sir,

I would like to remind you that i have already submitted FORM 112. Now what i would like to know is that whether the ammendment made is only for students who have applied on or after April 1, 2008 or for all. If it applies for all and that i have submitted my form 112, could i have any problem, I would like to just get this point clear as the ammendment quotes thus:

"The articled assistant presently registered and undergoing graduation or any other course and who have not obtained specific permission shall be required to obtain the specific permission from the ICAI by submitting Form No.112 within six months of issue of these guidelines i.e. by 30th September, 2008. However those students who have already obtained the specific permission by submitting Form No. 112, need not obtain it again and the permission so granted shall continue to be valid."

Looking forward for a positive reply form your side;

JOSEPH ALEXANDER.

You people are feeling it great of working less... but i tell you your attitude is wroing, please change it. its for your good...

Guest

440205 Points Joined August 2012

Dear Joseph

Thank you very much for your inputs. Please do let us know the detailed response received from the Institute for the benefit of all. I have also sent one query to the Institute which I reproduced below.

________________________________________________________

Dear Sir,
I would request you to please suggest on the following in view of changes in Articleship Training:

1) Depriving the opportunity to do regular degree course simultaneously with PCC.

2) Student who passed Nov. 07 CPT registered for PCC in the month of Jan. 2008. By that time the student finished 1st year B.Com regular. Now with the new working hours, it may not be possible to continue regular B.Com.

3. It being a toughest course, if a student could not complete CA due to any reason, he stands nowhere if he did not pursue his graduation.

4. If B.Com is seriously considered as a value addition, is it possilbe to reconsider the conditions for Articles ?

5. Will it not be ok if Articleship training of 3 1/2 years starts after 1 1/2 years of PCC registration ? This will give students an opportunity to gain some theoritical knowledge of accountancy and become mature enough to work in corporate environment.

Of course, you are the best judge to form the guidelines in the interest of students. I shall be grateful for your kind response to my queries.

With regards
Venugopal

Amar Mohta

Senior Accountant

21 Points Joined May 2008

What is the minimum working hours for an article assistant.

Guest

440205 Points Joined August 2012

My cousin has recently qualfied the entrance test for the foundation course of C.A. And he wants to pursue graduation also side-by-side of the practice of the chartered accountancy. Is it possible?