Labour Law

1
Sabreen Ahmed
Assistant Professor, JGLS
Week-1
 Topics Covered:

The idea of Labour Law and its philosophical

underpinnings

WEEK: 1 Historical perspectives on labour

Evolution of labour laws in India

Constitutional framework and industrial relations

 Labour law provides for a legislative
framework which governs the
relationship between –the Employees,
Basic employer and the government.
Overview:
What is
meant by Labour law can mean—a relationship
Labor between the employee and the
employer, safeguarding the interest of
Law? the worker, working conditions, leaves,
compensation, lay-offs, formations and
functioning of trade unions etc.
 Why?
Labour
Does Labor law demand actions or philosophical
Law and contemplation?

its However, it is important to articulate the philosophical

foundation to understand the aims of labour law.
Philosophi To understand what labour law does, what it needs to
cal do and whether it is successful in doing so?

foundatio This success needs to be assessed on something?

ns:
Philosophical foundations offer that normative account.
 A. Libertarian View:
• holds that Labour law is undesirable. Libertarians
assert that legal regulation of employment tends
The views: to create inefficiency and inelasticity in the labour
market by interfering with freedom of contract.
Need for • Such arguments are in favour of a simple regime
of freedom of contract and the freedom of a
Labour Law? business to conduct its affairs without detailed
regulation of employment relations. The starting
point for libertarians is the proposition that
interference with freedom of contract is
incompatible with the value of freedom or liberty
of the individual, a value that they cherish
 The basic philosophy of distributive justice says that
when two individuals perform equal amounts of
work for equal time, they are entitled to equal
amounts of resources and should be allocated to
acquire the same amount of goods accordingly.

B. Within distributive justice we have desert (merit)-

based distributive justice which supports anti-
Distributiv discrimination laws and pay equity laws ( not only
gender-based but also pay equity for part-time,
e Justice: fixed time and temporary employment)

Distribution equality theories (the systematic

attempt to account for sharing of the national
income among the owners of the factors of
production- Land, labour and capital) support anti-
discrimination and pay equity laws.
 Also support minimum wages and collective bargaining.

Rawl’s difference principle (social and economic inequalities

are to be arranged so that they are of the greatest benefit of
the least advantaged), can provide support for laws that
Continued protect the situation of low-wage workers.

: Relational equality supports minimum wage laws and

accommodation for people with disabilities.

These theories also point to the one area where they are
lacking: the distinction between full-time, long-term
employees and other employees.
 Development of labour law can be traced back to the
18th-19th century. This period shows the great turn of
events due to the increased capitalization of markets.
Capitalization lead to major shifts in terms of the

Emergenc deteriorating standard of living of the workers, their

long working hours, low wages, exploitation of the
labourers, problems of child labour etc.
e of
Labour England was one of the first countries to industrialize,
Law: hence the first to face problems related to labour
exploitation—consequently a major step in the form
of the first legislation was passed by the UK
Parliament----Health and Morals of Apprentices Aact-
that limited the working hours and abolished night
shifts. Most early efforts were towards the prevention
of child labour.
 Similar trend was followed all over the world.

Similar legislation was passed in France in 1841 as a result of the

French Revolution.

Continued Worker Compensation was introduced in Germany in 1884.

..
More industrialised countries like the USA began enacting
legislation by the late 19th century after World War-1 and the great
depression ---The National Industrial Recovery Act-later replaced
by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935
Japan adopted a full-blown factory act enforced in 1916.
 One of the major developments globally around Labour
law was the establishment of ILO (International Labour
Organisation).

Evolution Set up in 1919 as a part of the Treaty of Versailles.

of Labor
Law: This aims to provide labour standards and develop
policies and programmes promoting decent work.

The ILO became a specialized agency of the UN by 1946,

further, in 1960 an International Institute of Labour
Studies was established in Geneva and in 1965 in Turin an
International Training Centre.
 Following the developments around the world regarding
workers’ rights, India also saw tremendous changes.

Before Independence----Labour Rights, Trade Unions and

Emergenc Slavery were regulated by colonial law such as the Indian
Slavery Act of 1843, the Societies Registration Act and the
Indian Trade Unions Act of 1926.
e in India:
After Independence the existing labour legislation underwent
a change.----A partnership between the Capital and labour was
called for and it was decided that the labourers should get fair
wages and working conditions. This was in a way that the
capitalist also receive uninterrupted cooperation from the
labourers in terms of high productivity.
 Hence provisions of strikes and lockouts were also
agreed upon and thus came the first post-independence
legislation i.e. Industrial Dispute Act, of 1947. This
provided for modified conditions according to the need
of society. ( This is now replaced by the Industrial
Relation Code 2020).
Labour rights were first incorporated in the Indian
Continued Constitution by way of Fundamental Rights and the
Directive Principles of State Policy.
.
Also, it was put as a subject matter of a concurrent list—
which means that both centre and the state can make
laws related to it.
 • Labour legislation in India is influenced by
number of recommendations of various
committees and commissions along with
many judicial pronouncement and
International Conventions.
• Currently, the various labor laws have
been consolidated into 4 major codes:
Continued.. • 1. Code on Wages, 2019 (which repealed
4 acts: The Payment of Wages Act, The
minimum Wages Act, The Payment of
Bonus Act, and the Equal Remuneration
Act)
 2. Code on Industrial Relations, 2020:
This repealed the Trade Unions Act 1923, The
Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946
and the Industrial Dispute Act 1947.

3. Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working

Conditions 2020:
Continued.. It Amalgamated 13 central acts: a few of them being
The Factories Act, of 1948. The Mines Act 1952, The
Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961, The Dock
Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act 1986; and
The Building and Other Construction Workers
(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service)
Act 1996.
 4. Code on Social Security 2020:
This repealed and consolidate the following:
The Employee Compensation Act, 1923, The
Employees State Insurance Act, 1948, The
Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act, 1952, the Employees Exchange
(Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act,
Continued: 1959, The Maternity Benefit Act 1961, The
Payment of gratuity Act, 1972, The Cline-
Workers Welfare Fund Act 1981, The Building
and the Other Construction Workers Welfares
Cess Act, 1996 and the Unorganised Workers
Social Security Act, 2008.
 The code on wages 2019 has been passed by
Parliament.

Overview
The rest of the three codes were referred to the
of the Standing Committee on Labour. The Standing
Committee has submitted its report on the three
LABOUR bills and these versions have been replaced by the
2020 versions.
REFORMS
Individual reforms will be discussed at the end of
classes when you have studied all the provisions.
Constitutional
Framework for
industrial relations:

• Plays a crucial role in safeguarding the rights of workers,

promoting fair labour practices and ensuring harmonious
employer-employee relationships.
A. Fundamental Rights:
Art 14 (Right to Equality) Art 19 (Freedom of Speech and
Expression) and (Freedom of Association) and Art 23 (Right
against Exploitation).
B. Directive principle of State Policy:
Promotion of Social Justice (Art 38), Protection of Worker’s
Rights (Art 43), Participation of Workers in Management (Art
43 A), Provide for Right to Work (Art 41), just and human
conditions of work and for maternity relief (Art 42).
 Industrial Disputes
Act 1947
Legislative
Framewor Trade Unions Act,
k 1926
currently:
Code on Wages,
2019.