LABOUR

LEGISLATIONS

Introduction
-

Labour
means
Productive
Work,
especially, physical work done for wages.

Labour Law is known as Employment Law,

It is the body of laws, administrative

rulings,

It address the legal rights of working

people and restrictions thereon.

It mediates many aspects of relationships

between
- trade unions
- employers

INTRODUCTION
- Labour Legislations covers different
aspects
1. Industrial Relations - Certification
of Unions,
Labour Management
Relations, Collective
Bargaining
and Unfair Trade Practice.
2. Workplace
health
and
safety,
conditions of work, trade unions
3. Employment
Standards
includes
general holidays,
annual leaves,
working hours, unfair dismissals,

INTRODUCTION
- Two broad categories of Labour Laws:(1)
Collective Labour Laws which is
related to the tripartite relationship
between employee, employer and
union.
(2)
Individual Labour Laws which is
related to employees rights at work
- The Labour Legislations have also
been shaped and influenced by the

INTRODUCTION
-

Under the Constitution of India, Labour is

a subject in the Concurrent List where
both the Central and State Government
are competent to enact legislations.

As a result, large number of labour laws

have been enacted catering to different
aspects of labour, namely,
1. Occupational Health
2. Safety
3. Employment
4. Training of Apprentice
5. Review and Revision of Minimum
Wages

INTRODUCTION
- The prevailing social and economic
conditions
have
been
largely
influential in shaping the Indian
Labour Legislation which regulates
various aspects of work such as.
- the number of hours of work
- social security and
- facilities provided

INTRODUCTION
-

The labour laws were influenced by

important
human
rights
and
the
conventions and standards that have
emerged from the United Nations which
includes..
1. right to work on ones choice
2. right against discrimination
3. prohibition of child labour
4. just and humane condition of work
5. protection of wages
6. redress of grievances
7. right to organize trade union
8. right to form trade union
9. collective bargaining

INTRODUCTION
- The labour laws have
influenced by the

also

been

1. deliberation of the various sessions

of the ILC
2. the
International
Labour
Conference.

Introduction
-

The ILO was the first organizations to

deal with labour issues.

The Americans made 10 proposals. Three

were adopted without change
- that the labour should not be treated
as a
commodity.
- that all the workers had the right to a
wage sufficient to live on
- that women should received equal pay
for equal
work

A proposal protecting the freedom of

speech, press, assembly and association.

Introduction
-

A proposed ban on the International

Shipment of Goods made by children
under the age of 16 instead of 14.

A proposal to require an eight hour

work a day was amended to require
the eight hour work a day or 40 hours.

Four other Americans proposal were

rejected.

Introduction
-

International
delegates
proposed
three additional clauses, which were
adopted.
1.one or more days for weekly rests
2.equality of laws for foreign workers
3.regular and frequent inspection of
factory
condition.

The Commission issued its final report

on 4th March,1919 and the peace
conference
adopted
it
without
amendment on 11 April.

Introduction
-

The first Annual Conference began on

29th October, 1919 in Washington DC and
adopted the first six International Labour
Conventions which dealt with
1. hours of work in industry
2. unemployment
3. maternity protection
4. night work for women
5. minimum age and night work for young
persons in industry.

The Prominent French Socialist, Albert

Thomas became its first Director General.

The ILO became a member of United

Nations system after the demise of the

Purpose of Labour
Legislations
meet out economic and social

- To
challenges of the modern world.
- Interaction of employers, workers and
their representatives for work related
issues
- Achieving
harmonious
industrial
relations
based
on
workplace
democracy.
- For implementing principles and rights
But experience shows that labour
legislation can only fulfills these
functions effectively, if it is responsive

Purpose of Labour
Legislations
Legislations can be categorized as follows:
1. Labour Laws enacted by the Central
Government,
where
the
Central
Government has sole responsibility for
enforcement.
2. Labour Laws enacted by the Central
Government and enforce by Central and
State Government
3. Labour Laws enacted by the Central
Government but enforce by the State
Government.

Labour Legislations
PRINCIPLES OF LABOUR LEGISLATIONS
1. Social Justice
2. Social Equality
3. International Uniformity
4. National Economy

Social Justice
- Social justice means an equitable
distribution of profits and benefits
accruing
from
Industry
between
Industrialists
and
Workers
and
affording
protection
to
workers
against harmful effects to their health,
safety and morality

Social Equality
- Legislation based on social justice
fixes a definite standard for the future,
taking into consideration the events
and circumstances of the past and the
present.
- Once a standard is laid down, it
remains in force until it is again
changed or amended by legislation.

International Uniformity
- It is necessary that labour laws should
be internationally uniform.
- An important role has been played by
the ILO in this direction.

National Economy
- In enacting labour legislation,
general economic situation of
country has to be borne in mind.

the
the

- The welfare and well being of the

industrial population must not be out
of proportion to the general economic
condition, but it should aim at
developing and improving them.

TYPES OF LABOUR
LEGISLATIONS

Type of Legislations
The different laws can be broadly classified
as follows:
1. Laws related to industrial relations
- Trade Union Act,1926
- Industrial
Employment
(Standing
Order) Act,1946
- Industrial Dispute Act,1947
2. Laws related to Wages
- Payment of Wages Act,1936
- Minimum Wages Act,1948
- Payment of Bonus Act,1965

Type of Legislations
The different laws can be broadly
classified as follows:
3. Laws
related
to
working
hours,
conditions of service and employment
- The Factories Act,1948
- Plantation Labour Act,1951
- Mines Act,1952
- Working
Journalist
and
other
Newspaper
Employees (Condition
of Service and Misc.
Provisions)
Act,1955
- Merchant Shipping Act,1958

Type of Legislations
- Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions
of Employment) Act,1966
- Contract
Labour
(Regulation
and
Abolition) Act,1970
- Dock Workers (Health and Safety)
Act,1986
- Building
and
Other
Construction
Workers (Regulation of Employment
and Condition of Services) Act,1996
- Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre
Workers (Regulation of Employment)
Act,1981

Type of Legislations
3. Laws
related
to
Equality
Empowerment of Women
- Maternity Benefit Act,1961
- Equal Remuneration Act,1976

and

Type of Legislations
4. Laws
related
to
deprived
and
disadvantaged sections of the society;
- Bonded Labour System (Abolition)
Act,1976
- Child
Labour
(Prohibition
and
Regulation)
Act,1986
- Children
(Pledging
of
Labour)
Act,1933
- The
Employment
of
Children
Act,1938

Type of Legislations
4. Laws related to social security
- Workmens Compensation Act,1923
- Employees State Insurance Act,1948
- Employees Provident Fund and Misc.
Provisions Act,1952
- Payment of Gratuity Act,1972
- Employees Liability Act,1938
- Fatal Accidents Act,1855
- Personal
Injuries
(Compensation
Insurance) Act,1963
- Personal
Injuries
(Emergency
Provisions) Act, 1962

CONSTITUTION OF
INDIA AND LABOUR
LEGISLATION

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
- The Constitution of India shows the
principles of Democracy, Socialism and
Secularism.
- These principles well articulated the
basic principles that form the corner
stone of the Indian Labour Legislation
framework.
- The specific provisions concerned with
labour and work are found in the
Fundamental Rights and Directive
Principles of State Policy.
- The Constitution also distributes the

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
The following Articles of the Constitution
of India directly related with labour
legislation and its application.
Fundamental Rights (Articles 14-17 are
relevant to labour legislations)
1.Article 14: Equality before Law
2.Article
15: Prohibition
of
discrimination on grounds of religion,
race, caste, sex and place of birth)

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
3. Article 16: Equality of opportunity in
matters of public administration.
4. Article 17: Abolition of untouchability
Right to freedom
Article 19 deals with the protection of
certain rights regarding freedom of
speech, expression, form unions and
association etc.

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Right against Exploitation
Article 21
:
Right to life
Article 23
:
Prohibition of traffic in
human beings
and forced labour
Article
24
:
Prohibition
of
employment
of
children in factories etc.

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Directive Principles of State Policy
Article 38:
State to secure a social
order
for
the
promotion of welfare for the people
Article 39:
Certain principles of the
policy to be
followed
by the State.
Article 41:
Right to work, to education
and to public
assistance in
certain cases

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Article 42:
Provision
humane conditions of
maternity relief.
Article 43:
workers

Living

for

just
work

and
and

Wage

etc.

for

Article 43A: Participation of workers in

management of
industries
Article 45:
compulsory

Provision

for free and

education for

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Article 46:
Promotion of educational
and economic
interests of
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled
Tribes and other Weaker Sections.
Article 47:
Duty of the State to raise
the level of
nutrition and the
standard of living and to
improve public health.

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Articles
affecting
Employment

Government

Article 309 refers to recruitment and

conditions of service of people employed
by government while
Article 310 specifies the
persons holding office and

tenure

of

Article 311 refers to dismissal, removal

and demotion of government employees.

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Labour Jurisdiction for Central and State
Govt.
Article 246 and 7th Schedule of the
Constitution
of
India
specify
the
distribution of powers between the
Central and State governments.
Labour is placed in the Concurrent List
where both the Central and the State
Governments are competent to enact
legislations.

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Labour Jurisdiction for Central and State
Govt.
According to one estimate,
-India has 60 central legislations in the
labour sphere and around,
-150 state legislations enacted by states
to suit their requirements.
-Each legislation has been enacted to
serve a specific objective.

Constitution of India and Labour

Legislations
Labour Jurisdiction for Central and State
Govt.
Judgments by Courts i.e. High Courts of
different States and the Supreme Court
of India, lead to clarifications, revisions
and reinterpretations from time to time.
The objective of each legislation is
specified in the legislations under the
Heading Prefatory Note Statement of
Objectives and Reasons.

Constitution of India
- In 1922, Mahatma Gandhi had put
forward the demand that Indias
political destiny should be determined
by the Indians themselves.
- The demand for Constitution for the
country being framed by its own
people without outside interference
was first made by the Indian National
Congress in 1934 and repeated several
times between 1935 and 1938.
- In 1938, Jawaharlal Nehru formulated

Constitution of India
-

On 29th August,1947, the Constituent

Assembly
appointed
a
Drafting
Committee under the Chairmanship of
Dr.Ambedkar.

This Committee came out with a draft

Constitution of India in February,1948.

The Constituent Assembly next met in

November,1948
to
consider
the
provisions of the Draft Constitution.

On 26th November,1949, the Constitution

received the signature of the President of

Constitution of India
- But the Constitution came into force
on 26th January,1950.
- The present Constitution consists of
.
1. The Preamble
2. Parts I to XII covering Articles 1 to
395.
3. Schedules 1 to 12 and
4. An Appendix

Constitution of India
- Indian Constitution is the most lengthy
and detailed constitution of the world
which is consisted of 442 Articles, 26
Parts and 12 Schedules.
- The original Constitution contained
395 Articles and 8 Schedules.
- The Indian Constitution is based on
the Government of India Act,1935
which
was
also
an
extensive
documents having 321 Sections and 10
Schedules.

Six Fundamental Rights

-

Right to equality
Right to particular freedom
Cultural and Educational Right
Right to freedom of Religion
Right against Exploitation
Right to Constitutional Remedies

Right to Equality
- The State shall not discriminate
against any citizen on grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth
or any of them.
- There shall be equality of opportunity
for all citizens in matters relating to
employment or appointment to any
office under the State. No citizen shall,
on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, descent, place of birth,
residence or
any of them, be
ineligible for, or discriminated

Right to particular freedom

All citizens shall have the rightTo freedom of speech and
expression;
To assemble peaceably and
without arms;
To form associations or unions;
To move freely throughout the
territory of
India;
To reside and settle in any part
of the
territory of India;
to practice any profession, or to
carry on
any occupation, trade

The Cultural and

Educational
Right
This right allows every citizen of India

to have a cultural and education upto

where that person wants.

- Any section of the citizens residing in

the territory of India or any part
thereof having a distinct language,
script or culture of its own shall have
right to preserve the same.
- No citizen shall be denied admission
into
any
educational
institution
maintained by the State or receiving
aid out of State funds on grounds only

The Cultural and

Educational
Right
This right allows every citizen of India

to have a cultural and education upto

where that person wants.

- Any section of the citizens residing in

the territory of India or any part there
of having a distinct language, script or
culture of its own shall have the right
to preserve the same.
- No citizen shall be denied admission
into
any
educational
institution
maintained by the State or receiving
aid out of State funds on grounds only

The Cultural and

Educational
Right
minorities, whether based

- All
on
religion or language, shall have the
right to establish and administer
educational
institutions
of
their
choice.
- The State shall not, in granting aid to
educational institutions, discriminate
against any educational institution on
the ground that it is under the
management of a minority, whether
based on religion or language.

Right to freedom of religion

- The right to freedom of religion allows
Indian citizens to choose any religion
that he / she wants to choose.
- Under Article 25 of the Constitution of
India
(1)Subject to public order, morality and
health and to the other provisions of
this Part, all persons are equally
entitled to freedom of conscience and
the right freely to profess, practice
and propagate religion.

Right to freedom of religion

- This Article guarantees that every
person in India shall have the freedom
of conscience and shall have the right
to profess, practise and propagate
religion, subject to the restrictions
that may be imposed by the State on
the following grounds, namely:(1) Public order, morality and health;
(2) Other provisions of the Constitution;
(3) Regulation of non-religious activity
associated with religious practise;
(4) Social welfare and reform;

Right against exploitation

Read Article 23 and 24
ARTICLE 23
(1) Traffic in human beings and beggar
and other similar forms of forced
labour
are
prohibited
and
any
contravention of this provision shall be
an offence punishable in accordance
with law.
(2) Nothing in this article shall prevent
the State from imposing compulsory
service for public purposes, and in
imposing such service the State shall

Right against exploitation

ARTICLE 24
No child below the age of fourteen years
shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any
other hazardous employment.

Right to Constitutional
Remedies
The right to constitutional remedies allows

Indian citizens to stand up for their rights

against anybody even the government of
India.
ARTICLE 32
(1)The right to move the Supreme Court by
appropriate
proceedings
for
the
enforcement of the rights conferred by this
Part is guaranteed.
(2) The Supreme Court shall have power to
issue directions or orders or writs, including
writs in the nature of habeas corpus,
mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and

Right to Constitutional
Remedies
ARTICLE 33
Power of Parliament to modify the rights
conferred by this Part in their application to
Forces, etc.Parliament may, by law, determine to what
extent any of the rights conferred by this
Part shall, in their application to:
(a) The members of the Armed Forces; or
(b)The members of the Forces charged with
the maintenance of public order; or
(c)Persons employed in any bureau or other
organization established by the State for
purposes
of
intelligence
or
counter
intelligence; or
(d)Persons employed in, or in connection

Right to Constitutional
Remedies
ARTICLE 34
Restriction on rights conferred by this Part
while martial law is in force in any area.
ARTICLE 35
(a)Parliament
shall
have,
Legislature of a State
shall
power
to
make

and
the
not have,
laws-

(i) with respect to any of the matters which

under
clause (3) of article 16, clause (3)
of article 32, article
33 and article 34
may be provided for by law made by
parliament.

Fundamental Duties
There
are
10
fundamental
duties
incorporated in Article 51A (Part IV A)
inserted
by
the
42nd
Amendment
Act,1976.
It shall be the duty of every citizen of
India
1.To abide by the constitution
respect the National Flag and
National Anthem.

and
the

Fundamental Duties
3. To protect the sovereignty, unity and
integrity of India,
4. To defend the country
5. To promote the spirit of common
brotherhood amongst all the people of
India
6. To preserve the rich heritage of our
composite culture
7. To protect and improve the natural
environment
8. To develop the scientific temper and
spirit of inquiry
9. To safeguard public property
10.To strive towards excellence in all

Constitution of India
- The relevance of the dignity of human
labor and the need for protecting and
safeguarding the interest of labour as
human being preserved in Chapter III
(Article 16, 19, 23 and 24) & Chapter
IV (Article 39, 41, 42, 43, 43A & 54) of
the Constitution of India.
- Labour is a concurrent subject in the
Constitution of India implying that
both the Union and the State
Governments
are
competent
to
legislate on labor matters.

Constitution of India
- The Constitution of India provides
detailed provisions for the rights of
the citizens and also lays down the
Directive Principles of State Policy.
- The Directive Principles of State Policy
provides:
1. for securing the health and strength
of
employees, men and women,
2. that the tender age of children are
not abused;

Constitution of India
4. That the government shall take
steps, by suitable
legislation, to
secure the participation of
employee
in the management of undertaking,
establishment or other organizations
engaged in
any industry.

Directive Principles of State

Policy

It is one of the important parts of the

Constitution of India which were taken
from the Constitution of Ireland.
This part is alive in the Part IV of Indian
Constitution.
There are 16 Articles, Articles 36 to 51
which contain the concept of Welfare
State.
The Articles included in Part IV of the
Constitution contain certain directives
which it shall be the duty of the State to
follow
both
in
the
matter
of
administration as well as in the making
of laws.

Directive Principles of State

Policy

Directive Principles give directions in the

nature of ideals of the State:
-The State shall strive to promote the
welfare of the people by securing a
social
order
permeated
by
social,
economic and political justice (Article 38)
-The State shall endeavour to secure just
and humane conditions of work, a living
wage, a decent standard of living and
social and cultural opportunities for all
workers.

Directive Principles of State

Policy

- The State shall endeavour to raise the

level of nutrition and standard of
living and to improve public health.
(Article 47)
- The State shall direct its policy
towards
securing
equitable
distribution of the material resources
of the community and prevention of
concentration of wealth and means of
production. (Article 39)
- The State shall endeavour to promote

Directive Principles of State

Policy

Rights of Citizen (Article 39 to 45)

-Right to adequate means of livelihood.
-Right of both sexes to equal pay for
equal work
-Right against economic exploitation
-Right of children and the young to be
protected against exploitation and to
opportunities for healthy development,
consonant with freedom and dignity.
-Right to equal opportunity for justice
and free legal aid.
-Right to work
-Right to public assistance in case of
unemployment, old age, sickness and

Directive Principles of State

Policy

Rights of Citizen
-Right to humane conditions of work and
maternity benefit.
-Right to a living wage and conditions of
work ensuring decent standard of life for
workers.
-Right of workers to participate in
management of industries
-Right of children to free and compulsory
education.