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Leave/Working hours for articled assistants
A trainee earns leave at the rate of one–sixth of the period actually served by him. An articled assistant shall work 35 hours per week. The articled assistant should undergo practical training in accordance with the guidelines of the Institute between 11.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. During the period, the articled assistant shall not be permitted to attend colleges/other institutions for graduation or any other course. Every articled/audit assistant shall submit, once in a year, a specific declaration duly countersigned by the Principal to the effect that he is regularly attending training and his college hours do not clash with his articles timings and that no coaching is undertaken by him between 11.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. on any working day.
The office hours of the principal for 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.
If the exigencies or nature of training so warrants, the articled assistant shall work beyond the normal office hours. However, the maximum working hours for the articled assistant should not exceed normally 35 hours in a week excluding the lunch break and in any case or circumstances should not exceed 45 hours per week. In case the articled assistant is required to work beyond 35 hours per week, he is entitled to compensatory leave calculated with reference to the number of completed hours worked over and above 35 hours per week. The principal shall ensure long working hours are not imposed on the article assistants on a regular basis and only in case of exceptional circumstances where time bound work is to be delivered the articled assistants may be required to work longer hours which will still be subject to a maximum of 45 hours per week. The principal shall be free to allow compensatory leave or off hours in lieu of extra working beyond 35 hours.
Secondment/exchange in the context of articleship training
In order to expose the trainees at large to multi-disciplinary work variety of business situations, the arrangement of secondment under articleship training is provided by which an articled assistant can work under a different member of the Institute. Under the scheme of secondment an articled assistant is shifted to another member who is eligible to train articled assistant or who is eligible to train assistant under the scheme of industrial training. However, a member is not entitled to train more than two such articled assistants under secondment basis. Under the scheme of secondment, the period of training shall not exceed twelve months under a member other than the original MIT/Principal and in aggregate total period of training under secondment shall not exceed 1 year. If the secondment is made under industrial training, the periods served on secondment should not exceed 1 year.
Work Diary
It is meant for training records to ascertain progress of the trainees. A format of the Work Diary is given in Annexure III of the Training Guide which includes inter alia details of work undertaken and training received and a Summary of the various Training Programmes — professional as well as self-development attended by an articled assistant. This Diary is to be prepared by the trainee and should be confirmed by the MIT/Principal.
Delayed submission of Form No. 103
In case Form No.103 is not submitted to the Institute’s Office within 30 days from the date of commencement of training, the procedure laid down by the Council for condonation of delay in submission of forms will apply. Delay fees to be paid 30 days beyond specified period Rs. 100.
31–180 days beyond specified period Rs. 300
Beyond 181 days Rs. 1000
Either of the following records may also be sent (if the delay is more than 181 days):
a. Attendance record of the Articled Assistant.
b. Original deed of Articles in Form 102, executed on non-judicial stamp paper.
c. Certified copy of the work diary of the articled assistant.
d. Stipend details with evidence in the form of Bank Pass Book/Statement.
Excess leave
An articled assistant who has already completed three years/three & half years of articled service and has taken leave in excess of the period allowed under Regulation 59 is required to serve for a period equivalent to the excess leave taken in order that his training may be completed. For this purpose, a supplementary deed of articles in Form No. 107 should be executed in triplicate with the same employer in continuation of the previous training on a non-judicial stamp paper or special adhesive stamp of the requisite value should be affixed on the form. The supplementary deed in duplicate along with Form 108 for the period already served should be sent so as to reach the office of the Institute within 60 days of the expiry of the normal term of articles.
In case there is a break in the continuity of training and/or there is a change in the employer and/or there is a delay in submission of the papers beyond 60 days, as referred to in the previous paragraph, an agreement in Form No.107 would not be valid. In such a case, a fresh agreement in Form 102 should be entered into and the particulars in Form 103 along with Form No.108 for the period already served, should be sent to the office of the Institute for registration within 30 days of the commencement of training.
A member may be granted an additional vacancy to engage an articled assistant whose normal term of training is over and he (the articled assistant) is found to have taken excess leave which is to be made up by an additional period of articles. It is the duty of the employer in such a case to ensure that the articled assistant completes the period of training under him including the period of excess leave. The benefit of an additional vacancy in such case is given only where it could not have been reasonably anticipated that the articled assistant would have to serve an extra period on account of the excess leave taken. Such additional vacancy may be given to the previous employer or to any other chartered accountant entitled to train articled assistant(s).
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