Indian labour law

                                       
Indian labour law refer to laws regulating labour in India. Traditionally Indian governments at federal and state level have sought to ensure a high degree of protection for workers, but in practice, legislative rights only cover a minority of workers. India is a federal form of government and because labour is a subject in the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution, labour matters are in the jurisdiction of both central and state governments. Both central and state governments have enacted laws on labour relations and employment issues.

Wage regulation[edit]

See also: Minimum Wages Act 1948 and Minimum wage

The Payment of Wages Act 1936 requires that employees receive wages, on time, and without any unauthorised deductions. Section 6 requires that people are paid in money rather than in kind. The law also provides the tax withholdings the employer must deduct and pay to the central or state government before distributing the wages.

The Minimum Wages Act 1948 sets wages for the different economic sectors that it states it will cover. It leaves a large number of workers unregulated. Central and state governments have discretion to set wages according to kind of work and location, and they range between as much as 143 to 1120 per day for work in the so-called central sphere. State governments have their own minimum wage schedules.

The Payment of Gratuity Act 1972 applies to establishments with 10 or more workers. Gratuity is payable to the employee if he or she resigns or retires. The Indian government mandates that this payment be at the rate of 15 days salary of the employee for each completed year of service subject to a maximum of  1000000.

The Payment of Bonus Act 1965, which applies only to enterprises with over 20 people, requires bonuses are paid out of profits based on productivity. The minimum bonus is currently 8.33 per cent of salary.

Weekly Holidays Act 1942 Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1967

Management participation[edit]

See also: Codetermination and Indian company law

It was the view of many in the Indian Independence Movement, including Mahatma Gandhi, that workers had as much of a right to participate in management of firms as shareholders or other property owners.^[19] Article 43A of the Constitution, inserted by the Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1976,^[2] created a right tocodetermination by requiring the state to legislate to "secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings". However, like other rights in Part IV, this article is not directly enforceable but instead creates a duty upon state organs to implement its principles through legislation (and potentially through court cases). In 1978 the Sachar Report recommended legislation for inclusion of workers on boards, however this had not yet been implemented.^[20]

The Industrial Disputes Act 1947 section 3 created a right of participation in joint work councils to "provide measures for securing amity and good relations between the employer and workmen and, to that end to comment upon matters of their common interest or concern and endeavour to compose any material difference of opinion in respect of such matters". However, trade unions had not taken up these options on a large scale. In National Textile Workers Union v Ramakrishnan the Supreme Court, Bhagwati J giving the leading judgment, held that employees had a right to be heard in a winding up petition of a company because their interests were directly affected and their standing was not excluded by the wording of the Companies Act 1956 section 398.Excel Wearv. Union of India A.I.R. 1979 S.C. 25, 36