(This article is written by Parul Sharma, a fourth-year BBA-LLB Student from Gitarattan international business school, Rohini, Delhi.)
Labour Law emerged because of the demand of workers for better circumstances, the right to organize, and the simultaneous demands of employers to limit the powers of workers in many companies and to continue low labour costs. Employers’ amount can rise up due to workers having their way to higher wages, or by-laws implementing requirements relating to costs, such as safety and health or equal opportunities conditions.
Labour Laws in India are dealt with by over a more than hundred acts of legislation. Therefore, in order to understand them more, the classification of labour laws is essential. One way of classifying them is on the basis of enforcement, and enactment. The other way of classifying is on the basis of the objective and the purpose of the legislation. The prior type of classification is given below
- The Labour Laws established by the Central Government; the responsibility of implementation lies entirely upon the Central Government. The Central Government enjoys the power to enact with respect to the entries given in the Union List of Schedule VII of the Indian Constitution.
- The laws established by the Central Government, the responsibility of implementation lies on both the State and Central Government. Both have the power to enact in regards to the entries given in the Concurrent List of Schedule VII of the Indian Constitution.
- The laws established by the State Government and implemented by them only.
- The laws established and implemented by various State Governments apply to respective states.
The other type of classification can be done by segregating the legislation into vast categories.
- Laws regarding industrial relations.
- Laws regarding remuneration- payment, deduction and related issues.
- Laws regarding the social security of the employees.
- Laws regarding nature and conditions of service and employment such as the issue of working hours, weekly holidays, the interval between working hours, etc.
- Laws regarding the issues of gender equality and women empowerment.
- Laws regarding social evils and prohibiting them such as bonded labour, child labour, etc.
- Laws regarding employment and training of the employees.
To have an overview of the labour laws in India, understanding the latter classification is necessary.
1) Laws regarding industrial relations
⇨ The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
This is an important law which deals with the problems of closure, industrial dispute, lock-out, retrenchment, strike, lay-off, etc. Before this act, the Trade Disputes Act, 1929 was used to solve industrial disputes. However, there were some intrinsic defects in the Act which were removed by establishing new legislation i.e., the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The fundamental features of the Act are as following:
For any conciliation, the industrial dispute has to be referred to in the very first place.
The dispute may be attributed to the industrial tribunal by the parties of the State Government. The parties refer to the dispute by an agreement related to the same. Lockouts and strikes are managed by the Act. The Act puts down few situations in which they are prohibited.
The Act also gives compensation to the workers in case of retrenchment or lay-off or transfer/closure of an undertaking.
⇨ The Trade Unions Act, 1926
Trade Unions are significant for the efficient functioning of the industry. The Trade Unions together affirm the demands of the workers and make it for them to negotiate with their employer. This is generally called ‘collective bargaining. The Trade Unions Act, 1926 provides for the enactment of the Trade Unions and sets the provisions for the registration of such Trade Unions and their rights along with the liabilities. The act puts no limits on the objects which are taken up by the Trade Unions. Trade Unions that are not registered are not governed by the Act.
2) Laws regarding remuneration- payment, deduction and related issues
⇨ Payment of Wages Act, 1936
This Act arose against the backdrop of the huge injustice for the payment of wages which was been done by the employees. There are many cases of abuse such as arbitrary deductions were made, wages being denied or delayed, huge fines were put on and mostly payment was done in kind rather than in cash. Thus, the act was established to manage the payment of ways by a few regulations such fixing wage-period, fixing responsibility for such payment and time of payment of wages, etc. It has a provision that authorizes deductions from the wages and imposing fines under some situations. There are penalties for the employer if he doesn’t follow the provisions of this Act.
⇨ Minimum Wages Act, 1948
The purpose of this Act is to give minimum wages to the workers employed in the employments given in Schedule I of the Act such as employment in any flour mill or dal mill, rice mill, employment in any tobacco factory, etc. The appropriate government is authorized under the Act to determine minimum wages and modify them on regular basis. It also sets the provisions for overtime wages. There are penalties for the employer under this Act too for not going in accordance with the provision.
3) Laws regarding the social security of the employees
⇨ Employee’s Compensation Act, 1923
The Act serves as compensation to the employees or their dependents in case of accidents happening out or in the course of employment. Such accidents might cause death or disablement of the worker. It also consists of compensation for occupational diseases i.e. the diseases acquired from employment. The Act prescribes a detailed list of the persons coming under the category of ‘dependents’ and a way of calculating the amount of compensation in different situations. Thus, the Act is inclusive legislation dealing with all the aspects of compensation and the related situations.
⇨ Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948
The Act sets down provisions to help employees such as maternity benefit, sickness benefit, disablement benefit, funeral benefit and medical benefit. Out of these, medical benefits is stretched to the family members of the employee as well and funeral benefit is given to the eldest surviving member of the family or to the person who actually acquires the expenditure on the funeral, in the absence of the eldest member. It is to be observed that all the benefits in this Act are paid in cash. The Act also administer the establishment of Committee, Corporation and Council etc., to lay down the provisions of the Act smoothly.
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, Labour Welfare Fund Act (of respective States), Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, are few other laws that come under this category.
4) Laws regarding nature and conditions of service and employment
⇨ Factories Act, 1948
The Act manages the working situation of the workers employed in the factories. It sets down the provisions to ensure sufficient safety measures are exercised in the factories for the welfare and health of the workers. The Act specifies the general duties of the occupier for the dame and duties of the manufacturers, etc. who supply or impost any material for use in a factory. Moreover, there is an individual chapter in the Act that deals with the dangerous processes in factories. There are different provisions dealing with the annual leave with wages, working hours of adults, etc. It controls the employment of women and children and restricts the employment of children who are below the age of fourteen.
⇨ The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946
This is yet another prominent legislation that was established for solving the friction between the workers and the employers. This Act needed the employer to properly determine the conditions of employment under him. The Act contains a schedule that has the list of the matters to be given in standing orders. The employer is under a duty to inform the standing orders to the workers. Further, the Act also regulates the modification and duration of such orders.
Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, Shops and Commercial Establishments Act (of respective States), The Mines Act, 1952, The Plantation Labour Act, 1951, are other laws dealing with the nature and conditions of work.
5) Laws regarding the issues of gender equality and women empowerment
⇨ Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
Equal pay for equal work has got constitutional recognition as it is included in the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy. The Act works for the payment of equal remuneration to both women and men for doing the same work or work of similar nature, and if the employer fails in this, he will be penalised. This avoids discrimination against women in the issues of payment of remuneration.
⇨ Maternity Benefits Act, 1961
Before this Act, there were various State Acts and three central Acts which dealt with the provision of maternity benefit. The Act was established to decrease the differences in different laws and give maternity protection to the women employed in all the organizations except those to which the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 apply. The Act restricts the employer from employing women during specific periods and it is the right of such women to be paid the maternity benefit.
6) Laws regarding the prohibition of social evils
⇨ Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986
The Act is consistent with other articles of the Constitution. It differentiates between ‘adolescent’ and ‘children’ and restricts the involvement of children in all jobs and the involvement of adolescents in dangerous occupations. Moreover, the Act also helps in the regulation of the environment of work of adolescents in such employment where they are allowed to work. These rules are with regard to the working hours, health, holidays and safety. Further, the Act also sets down penalties for not following the provisions of the Act.
⇨ Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
This is one of the latest legislations and was established to implement the guidelines given by the Supreme Court. It gives protection to women against sexual harassment at the workplace. There are provisions in the Act that deals with the redressal and prevention of such complaints. This Act is consistent with the soul of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which consists of the right of a woman to life, liberty and dignity.
Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition), Act, 1976, are the other Acts that come under this category.
7) Laws regarding employment and training of the employees
⇨ Apprentices Act, 1961
The movement of the Industrial Revolution created the need for trained employees and thus, the need for training apprentices. The Act is inclusive legislation which deals with the qualifications of being involved as an apprentice, their payments, obligations of apprentices, their working situations and hours and employer’s liability, etc.
There are various labour laws that deal with different labour and industrial issues. The Acts have been enacted with the objective of social and economic justice. However, they fail to achieve the objectives completely because of certain reasons.
LATEST LABOUR LAW AMENDMENTS: 2020
The images of labour laws were completely changed by the Parliament after passing three bills. The existing 29 Labour law statutes have been centralized and only this fresh law that has been passed will be governing labour laws in India. The three new bills which have been passed by the parliament are The Code on Social Security Bill, 2020, The Industrial Relations Code Bill,
2020, The Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Bill, 2020. There have been many amendments that took place in these codes which are as follows:
1) Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2020
According to the Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act of 1946, it was essential for workplaces that are hiring more than a hundred workmen to have service rules made specifically mentioning how the workers should manage themselves as well as other regulations and rules to be practised in the workplace and it is mandatory that all these rules are in knowledge of workers. Now according to the new bill, it has been raised to workplaces having more than 300 workmen. Hence, making these rules is not essential for employers if they have less than 300 workers and because of this, it makes hiring and removing an easy process for companies.
Inconsistency with the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 under Section 22, it was made compulsory for employees to give a six-week notice period before going for a strike in case any public utility, now this has been changed, and “And industrial establishment” was inserted after replacing public utility. Also, if there is any current dispute settlement in the court, the employees who are interested to go on strike have to give a 60-day notice period to their employers then even if the proceedings have ended. According to the new provision, the chance to go on strike has been decreased considerably.
Another amendment made in this Bill is under Section 83 of the Industrial Relations Code, is that a reskilling fund will be given by the employer to any worker who has been curtailed and the amount to be received by the worker will be the amount which he would be getting in the last 15 days of the work.
2) Social Security Code Bill, 2020
Section 6(1) under this bill states that a new board should be established called The National Social Security Board which would recommend the government on new schemes that would help the workers in an unorganized sector or the temporary worker.
And employers who hire a person to be a gid worker that is working on a temporary basis will have to give at least 1 or 2% of their annual income for the social security of these workers.
3) Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Bill, 2020
Section 2 (zf) gives the definition of “Inter-State migrant workers” that has changed from the 2019 Bill. Now it defines the word as to when a person voluntarily comes to another search while looking for work and has an income of Rs. 18,000 or less will be referred to as Interstate Migrant Workers. This new bill gives a lot of benefits to interstate migrant workers.
The term “Factory” has been changed from what it was in the 2019 Bill and in accordance with the bill, it excluded mining from the definition. The other amendments consist of the total working hours of a worker were fixed to 8 hours a day and women can work in any workplace and if they are needed to work in any dangerous place, then it is the duty of employers to take necessary precautions for the same.
CONCLUSION
Hence, the worker is the strong pillar in the enhancement of the economy for ages and these laws are necessary to be reconstructed with the development and needs of the working class so that the laws are also developed with the passing of time and so the rights of the workers are protected.
The new amendments were very much needed with respect to the wide crisis that was affected because of hundreds of people losing their jobs and these laws supported the strikes to create a balance in the employer-employee relationship which is very much necessary.
