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Labour Laws – Scope, Objective, History and Application

Scope
• The relationship between the employer and its employees is termed as Industrial
Relations.
• Labour law sets standards for employer and employee conduct in the workplace.
• Labour law also known as employment law prescribes legal rights and obligations
of employers and employees of an organization.
Objectives
• To improve Industrial Relation i.e. employee-employer relations.
• Minimise the Industrial Disputes.
• Protect workers form exploitation.
• Help workers in getting fair wages.
• Minimise the labour unrest & reduce conflicts and strikes etc.
• Ensure job security for workers.
• Promote healthy environment conditions in workplace.
• Provide compensation to workers in case of accidents.
History & Application
• History of labour legislation in India relates back to the British colonialism.
• British Parliament introduced Factories Act in 1883 and introduced the following
reforms:
1. to increase the cost of Indian Labour, favoring British textile
2. 8 hours a day work
3. overtime wages
4. abolition of Child Labour, and
5. restriction of women working at night
• British government established the Royal Commission on Labour in 1929.
• Payment of Wages Act, 1936 empowered employers to deduct wages of employees
absent from work without reasonable cause.
• Trade Disputes (Amendment) Act 1938, which authorized government to
appoint conciliation officers to settle disputes.
• Labour Laws & Industrial Relations includes Certification of Trade Unions, Labour
‐ Management relations, Collective Bargaining and Unfair Labour practices, Health
and Safety of workmen at workplaces, General holidays, Annual leave, Working
hours, dismissals from work, Minimum wage.
• Various Acts were passed in the Post-Independence era namely, The Mines Act,
1952, Employees Provident Fund and Misc. Provisions Act, 1952, Maternity
Benefit Act, 1961, Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, Contract Labour (Regulation &
Abolition) Act, 1970, Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, Equal Remuneration Act,
1976, Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
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Some of the important enactments for the unorganized sectors in India are as
follows:
1. Plantation Labour Act 1951: This Act sought to provide for the welfare
of labour and to regulate the conditions of workers in plantations. Under this law,
the State Governments have been empowered to take all feasible steps to improve
the lives of the plantation workers.
2. Mine Act, 1952: This Act contains provisions for measures relating to the health,
safety and welfare of workers in the coal, metalliferous and oil mines.
3. Transport Workers Act, 1961: The Act aims to provide for the welfare of the
Motor Transport Workers and to regulate the conditions of their work.
4. Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966: An Act to provide for the welfare of
the workers in beedi and cigar establishments and to regulate the conditions of
their work and for matters connected therewith.
5. Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976: This Act provides for the abolition of
the bonded labour system, with a view to preventing the exploitation of
vulnerable sections of society. This Act prohibits, criminalises and extinguishes
any system of debt bondage, whether by agreement, custom or contract.
6. Interstate Migrant Workers Act 1979: An Act to regulate the employment of inter-
State migrant workmen and to provide for their conditions of service and for
matters connected therewith.
7. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986: The main object of the Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is to address the social concern and
prohibit the engagement of children who have not completed 14th year of age in
certain employments.
8. Building and Construction Workers Act 1996: This Act aims to provide for
regulation of employment and conditions of service of the building and
other construction workers as also their safety, health and welfare measures in
every establishment which employs ten or more workers.

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