Labor Laws
MINIMUM WAGES ACT, 1948
The minimum Wages Act1948 is a welfare
legislation enacted for statutory fixing the minimum remuneration payable to
workers employed in industries where the payment was and substantially lower
than that of similar industries.
The purpose of minimum wages Act is to
provide that no employer shall pay to workers in certain categories of
employment wages at rates less than the minimum wages prescribed by
notifications under the Act. The provisions of minimum wages act are intended
to achieve the object of doing Social Justice to workmen employed in the
scheduled employments by prescribing minimum rates of wages for them.
The object of the Act is to provide for
fixation of minimum wages in certain employments to prevent exploitation of ignorant
or less organized or less Privileged members of society by Capitalist
Class.
Background
The minimum Wages Act is an off-shoot of the
resolution passed at the minimum Wages Fixing Machinery Convention (1928) of
the International Labor Organization.
A
tripartite Committee Viz.,"The Committee on Fair Wage" was set up in
1948 to provide guidelines for wage structures in the country. The report of
this Committee was a major landmark in the history of the formulation of wage
policy in India
Enactment
of the Minimum Wages Act
Criteria
for notification of scheduled employment
The
appropriate Government fixes the minimum wage in respect of only those
scheduled employments where the number of employees is 1000 or more.
Under the
Act, Central and State Governments are appropriate Governments to
(a)
notify scheduled employment
(b)
fix /revise minimum wages
The Act
contains list of all these employments for which minimum wages are to be fixed
by the appropriate Governments.
Fixation/revision of minimum wages
Norms
(i) 3 consumption units for one earner.
(ii)
Minimum food requirements of 2700 calories per average Indian adult.
(iii)
Clothing requirements of 72 yards per annum per family.
(iv) Rent
corresponding to the minimum area provided for under Government's Industrial
Housing Scheme .
(v) Fuel,
lighting and other Miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of the
total Minimum Wages.
Other
parameters
(i)
"Children education, medical requirement, minimum recreation including
festivals/ceremonies and provision for old age, marriage etc. should further
constitute 25% of the total minimum wage." This judgment was delivered by
the Supreme Court of India in 1991 in the case of Reptakos Brett and Co.Vs.its
workmen.
(ii)
Local conditions and other factors influencing the wage rate.
Methods for fixation/revision of
minimum wages
Fixation
Section 3
empowers appropriate Government to fix the minimum rates of wages in the
scheduled employments.
Revision
Revise
the Minimum rates at an appropriate interval of not exceeding five years.
Procedure
for Fixation/Revision
In
Section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, two methods have been provided for
fixation/revision of minimum wages. They are Committee method and Notification
method.
Under
this method, committees and sub-committees are set up by the appropriate
Governments to hold enquiries and make recommendations with regard to fixation
and revision of minimum wages, as the case may be.
Notification
method
In this
method, Government proposals are published in the Official Gazette for
information of the persons likely to be affected thereby and specify a date not
less than two months from the date of the notification on which the proposals
will be taken into consideration.
After
considering advice of the Committees/Sub-committees and all the representations
received by the specified date in Notification method, the appropriate
Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix/revise the
minimum wage in respect of the concerned scheduled employment and it shall come
into force on expiry of three months from the date of its issue.
Variable
Dearness Allowance (VDA)
It was
recommended in the Labour Ministers' Conference held in 1988, to evolve a
mechanism to protect wages against inflation by linking it to rise in the
Consumer Price Index. The Variable Dearness Allowance came into being in the
year 1991. The allowance is revised twice a year, once on 1st April and then on
1st October. In the State Sphere, 22 States/Union Territories have provisions
for Variable Dearness Allowance , at present.
Enforcement Machinery
The
enforcement of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act in the Central Sphere is
secured through the officers of Central Industrial Relations Machinery. In so
far as State Sphere is concerned, the enforcement is the responsibility of the
respective State Government/Union Territory.
The Workmen's Compensation
Act, 1923
-The
passing of The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923 was the first step towards
social security of workmen. The main object of the act is to provide for the
payment of compensation by certain classes of employers to their workmen in the
event of an accident arising out of and in course of employment.
-the Act
provides special machinery to deal with cases of compensation in the event of
accident and to make arrangement for prompt compensation to the injured workmen
who can not afford to go to the courts of law. The injured workmen or, in the
case of his death his dependents may either file a civil suit for damages
against the employer or claim compensation under the Workmen's Compensation
Act.
-‘Disablement’
has been defined as loss of capacity to work or to move. Disablement of a
Workman may result in loss or reduction of his earning capacity. In the latter
case, he is not liable to earn as much as he used to earn before his Disablement.
It may be partial or total. Further it may be permanent or temporary (Sec.2) Thus there can be four
combinations of disablement:
(a) Temporary Partial Disablement (TPD) -
is, one which reduces the earning capacity of a workman in any employment in
which he was engaged at the time of accident which resulted in such
disablement.
(b) Permanent Partial Disablement (PPD) -is, one which reduces the earning
capacity of a workman in every employment which he was capable of
undertaking at the time of injury.
(c) Temporary Total Disablement (TTD) –incapacitates
a workman for a certain period of time for all work which he was capable of
performing at the time of accident resulting in such disablement.
(d) Permanent Total Disablement (PTD) - –incapacitates a workman forever for all work which he was capable
of performing at the time of accident
resulting in such disablement
- An
employer is liable to pay compensation to a workman if a personal injury is
caused to him by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment
(Sec.3)
The phrase ‘In the course of employment’ refers to the time
when the accidental injury was caused, where as the phrase ‘Out of
employment’ emphasizes that there must be a causal connection between the
employment and the accidental injury.
-The
amount of compensation payable to a workman Depends on:
(i) The
nature of injury caused by accident,
(ii) The
monthly wages of the workman concerned, and
(iii) The
relevant factor for working out lump -sum equivalent of compensation amount as
specified in Schedule IV.
-There is
no difference between an adult and a minor worker with respect to the amount of
compensation.
-
Compensation is payable for-
(i) Death
(ii) Permanent Total Disablement
(iii)
Permanent Partial Disablement
(iv)
Temporary Disablement, whether total or partial. (Sec.4 r/w Schedule IV)
Where temporary disablement, whether total or partial, results from the injury,
the amount of compensation shall be a half monthly payment of the sum
equivalent to 25% of monthly wages of the workman, i.e 25% of monthly wages of
the workman shall be payable every half month. The half monthly payment is
payable on the 16th day -
(i)
From the date of Disablement
where such disablement lasts for a period of 28 days or more, or
(ii)
After the expiry of a waiting
period of 3 days from the date of disablement where such disablement lasts for
a period of less than 28 days. Thereafter, the compensation shall be payable
half monthly during the disablement or during a period of 5 years, whichever is
shorter.
The Comissioner
for workmen’s is empowered to review, On application by the workman, the
half-monthly payments and he may, thereon (i) continue , (ii) increase (iii)
decrease, (iv) end, or (v) convert the same into a lump-sum. The half monthly
payments can be Commuted by agreement between the Parties. (Secs . 6&7)
-The Act
provides For distribution of Compensation among the claimants in the event of a
fatal accident. (Sec.8)
- No
compensation whether lump-sum or half-monthly -payable under the act is capable
of being assigned or charged or be liable to attachment or pass to any person
other than the workmen by operation law, nor shall any claim be set against the
same.(Sec.9)
- No
claim for compensation shall be entertained by the commissioner unless the
notice of accident has been given by the workman in writing the prescribed
manner Claim for compensation shall be preferred before the commissioner within
two years of the occurrence of the accident, or in case of death within two
years from the date of death. ( Sec.9)
Industrial Dispute Act, 1947
Industrial
Dispute Act, 1947 is a piece of social legislation enacted to provide for
investigation and settlement of Industrial dispute and for certain other
matters. It is an Act calculated to ensure specific justice to both employers
and workmen and advance the progress of Industry by bringing about harmony and
cordial relationship between the parties.
-The Act
applies to all Industrial establishments. The benefit of the dispute settlement
machinery provided under the Act can be availed of by those industrial
employees who answer to the definition of ‘workman’.
The Act
provides for settlement of industrial disputes through conciliation,
arbitration and adjudication.
Conciliation is simply mediation by a
third party who intervenes in the dispute. A conciliation officer does not
enjoy any statutory power to decide the dispute. His role is essentially one of
‘enabler’ in the sense he brings the parties to the negotiating table,
facilitates negotiation ,offers his expert advice to the parties and does all
that is necessary to make the disputes arrive at an amicable settlement.
Conciliation proceedings are held by the Labour Commissioner and/or his
officers.
Adjudication is the
process of trying and determining a case judicially ; the application of law to
the facts and an authoritative declaration of the result. Labuor Courts and
Industrial Tribunals adjudicate industrial disputes on a reference made by
Government.
Adjudication differs from Arbitration in several respects. While
the former is the determination of matters in dispute by the decision of a
competent Court, the latter refers to the determination of such matters by the
decision of an arbitrator or a team of arbitrators. Likewise, while the court
derives its power and authority from legislation and is compulsory in nature,
an arbitrator derives his power and authority from the voluntary agreement or
says the free will and consent of the parties to the dispute.
- The Central Government is the appropriate
Government in respect of an Industrial dispute arising in any industry carried
on by or authority of the central Government or by a railway company or in a
Dock labour Board, IFCI, ESIC, EPFO, Indian Airlines, Air India, LIC of India,
ONGC, DICGC Ltd, CWC, UTI, Food Corporation of India, IAAI, RRB, ECGC Ltd,
IRCI, Banking Service Commission, a banking or an insurance company, a mine, an
oil field, a cantonment board, or a major port. In all other cases, The State
Government is the appropriate Government. (Sec.2a)
-‘Industry’ means any business, trade,
undertaking, manufacture or calling of employers and includes any calling,
service, employment, handicraft, or Industrial occupation or avocation of
workmen. (Sec.2j)
- ‘Industrial Dispute’ means any dispute or
difference between employers and employers, or between employers and
workmen, or between and workmen, which
is connected with the employment or non employment or the terms of employment
or with the conditions of labour , or any person. (Sec.2k)
-Under Sec33B Where any money is due to a
workmen from an employer that is to be provided to the workmen himself or any
person authorized by him in writing in his behalf, or, in the case of the death
of the workmen, his assignee or heirs without prejudice.
- Sec 25D this Sec requires the employer
to maintain up-to-date a muster roll to make entries therein. Entries are to be
made by the workmen who are presenting themselves.
- Sec 25T No employer or workmen or a
trade union, whether registered under the Trade Unions Act, 1926( 16 of 1926),
or not, shall commit any unfair labour practice . Any person who commits any
unfair labour practice shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to 6 months, or with fine which may extend to Rs1000 or with both.
-Penalty
for breach of settlement or award
Any
person who commits a breach of any term of any settlement or award, this is
binding on him under this Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which may extend to 6 months, or with fine, or with both.
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