Unit IV

Economic Rights
Right To Adequate Wages

In India, 422.6 (94%) million workers out of the total workforce of 457.5 million belong
to the unorganised/informal sector. These workers contribute to more than 60 per cent to
Indias GDP growth. Among other sectors, these workers work as farm labourers,
landless labourers, factory workers and construction workers. Currently the number of
scheduled employments in the Central government is 45, whereas in the state sphere the
number is 1232.

The Minimum Wage

According to the Factories Act 1948, Article 59, sub-section (1), "ordinary rate of
wages" means the basic wages plus such allowances, including the cash equivalent of the
advantage accruing through the confessional sale to workers of food grains and other
articles, as the worker is for the time being entitled to, but does not include a bonus and
wages for overtime work.
To be more accurate it is the lowest rate at which an employer can legally pay an
employee; usually expressed as pay per hour
Minimum Wages Act
The enactment of the Minimum Wages Act in 1948 is a landmark in the labour history
of India. The Act provides for fixation of minimum wages for notified scheduled
employment.
The Minimum Wage Act, 1948 provides for fixation and enforcement of
minimum wages in respect of schedule employments to prevent sweating or exploitation
of labour through payment of low wages. The objective of the Act is to ensure a
minimum subsistence wage for workers. The Act requires the appropriate government to
fix minimum rates of wages in respect of employment specified in the schedule and
review and revise the minimum rates of wages at intervals not exceeding five years.

Fixation of minimum wage

The minimum wages covers all workers in the sectors agricultural, industrial and smallscale sectors. This means:

farm labourers

landless labourers

factory workers

people working in cottage industries

Construction workers etc.

In September 2007, the national minimum floor level wage was increased to Rs 80 per
day for all scheduled employments from Rs 66 in 2004 to Rs. 45 in 1999, Rs. 40 in 1998
and Rs. 35 in 1996.
Article 43 defines the Fixation of Minimum Wages in India
Minimum rate of the wages fixed or revised consists of the following:

A basic rate of wages and a special allowance, viz., cost of living allowance ;

A basic rate of wages with or without cost of living allowance and cash value of
concessions for supplies of essential commodities ;

An all inclusive rate, i.e. basic rate, cost of living allowance and cash value of
concessions.

The Government may fix the minimum rates of wages either by the hour, by the day,
by the month or by such wage period as may be prescribed.

The minimum wage rate may be fixed at a) time rate, b) piece rate, c) guaranteed time
rate and d) overtime rate.

The Act provides that different minimum wage rate may be fixed for a) different
scheduled employments, b) different works in the same employment, c) adult,
adolescent and children, d) different locations or e) male and female. Also, such

minimum wage may be fixed by a) an hour, b) day, c) month, or d) any other period
as may be prescribed by the notified authority.

Right To Reasonable Hours of Work

Working time refers to the period of time that an individual spends at paid occupational
labor. Unpaid labors such as housework are not considered part of the working week.
Many countries regulate the work week by law, such as stipulating minimum daily rest
periods, annual holidays and a maximum number of working hours per week. In India the
working time is regulated in Factories Act, 1948, and the time refer to Indian Standard
Time.
Constitutional Framework on Right to Reasonable Hours of Work
Section 51: Weekly Hours. - No adult workers shall be required or allowed to work in a
factory for more than forty-eight hours in any week.
Section 52- sub section (1): Weekly Holidays No adult worker shall be required or
allowed to work in a factory on the first day of the week unless - (a) he has or will have a
holiday for a whole day on one of the three days immediately before or after the first day.
Section 54: Daily Hours - Subject to the provisions of section 51, no adult worker shall
be required or allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day.
Section 55 sub section (1): Intervals for Rest. The periods of work of adult workers in a
factory each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed five hours and that no
worker shall work for more than five hours before he has had an interval for rest of at
least half an hour.
Section 56 Spreadover: The periods of work of an adult worker in a factory shall be so
arranged that inclusive of his intervals for rest under section 55, they shall not spreadover
more than ten and a half hours in any day

Section 57 Night Shifts: Where a worker in a factory works on a shift which extends
beyond midnight, - (a) for the purposes of sections 52 and 53, a holiday for a whole day
shall mean in his case a period of twenty-four consecutive hours beginning when his shift
ends;
(b) The following day for him shall be considered to be the period of twenty-four hours
beginning when such shift ends, and the hours he has worked after midnight shall be
counted in the previous day.
Section 59 Extra Wages for Overtime: Where a worker works in a factory for more
than nine hours in any day or for more than forty-eight hours in any week, he shall, in
respect of overtime work, be entitled to wages at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of
wages.
Section 60 Restriction on Double Employment. - No adult worker shall be required or
allowed to work in any factory on any day on which he has already been working in any
other factory.
Section 66 Employment of Women. - No adult women worker shall be required or
allowed to work in a factory for more than nine hours in any day.
(b) No women shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between the
hours of 6 A.M. and 7 P.M.
Section 67 Prohibition of Employment of Young Children. - No child who has not
completed his fourteenth year shall be required or allowed to work in any factory.
Section 71 Working Hours for Children. - No child shall be employed or permitted to
work, in any factory - (a) for more than four and a half hours in any day;

Right to Divorce
Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the legal termination of the marriage or canceling
the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage between two people. A divorce ends the
marriage and all direct legal relationships between the couple, except those specifically
written out in the divorce announcement. These may include such things as spousal
support, parenting arrangements and support of children, division of property and
payment of debts.
The Indian Divorce Act, 1869
This Act may be called the Indian Divorce Act, and shall come into operation on the first
day of April, 1869.
Indian Constitutional Framework on the Divorce
Article 10: When husband may petition for dissolution Any husband may present a
petition to the District Court or to the High Court, praying that his marriage may be
dissolved on the ground that his wife has, since the solemnization thereof, been guilty of
unfaithfulness.
Article 10.A: When wife may petition for dissolution.-Any wife may present a petition
to the District Court or to the High Court, praying that his marriage may be dissolved on
the ground that, since the solemnization thereof, her husband has exchanged his
profession of Christianity for the profession of some other religion, and gone through a
form of marriage with another woman;

Or has been guilty of incestuous faithlessness,

Or of bigamy with adultery,

Or of marriage with another woman with adultery,

Or of rape, sodomy or bestiality,

Or of adultery coupled with such cruelty as without adultery would have entitled
her to a divorce a mensa et toro,

Or of adultery coupled with desertion, without reasonable excuse, for two years or
upwards.

Contents of petition. -Every such petition shall state, as distinctly as the nature of the
case permits, the facts on which the claim to have such marriage dissolved is founded.
Article 19. Grounds of decision. - Such decision may be made on any of the following
grounds:(1) That the respondent was impotent at the time of the marriage and at the time of the
institution of the suit;
(2) That the parties are within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity (whether natural or
legal) or affinity;
(3) That either party was a lunatic or idiot at the time of the marriage;
(4) That the former husband or wife of either party was living at the time of the marriage,
and the marriage with such former husband or wife was then in force.
Nothing in this section shall effect the jurisdiction of the High Court to make decrees of
nullity of marriage on the ground that the consent of either party was obtained by force or
fraud