High Court Test 15
10 min40 WPM required423 words
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Labour law in India comprises a large and complex body of legislation governing the rights and obligations of employers and workers in industrial and commercial establishments, providing for security of employment, regulation of wages, working conditions, social security, and the resolution of industrial disputes. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is the cornerstone of Indian labour law in the industrial sector, providing for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes and laying down safeguards against arbitrary retrenchment and layoff of workmen. An industrial dispute is defined by the Act as any dispute or difference between employers and employers, between employers and workmen, or between workmen and workmen connected with the employment, non-employment, or the terms of employment or the conditions of labour of any person. The Act establishes a tiered system of dispute settlement — conciliation by a conciliation officer who attempts to bring the parties to a settlement, referral of disputes by the government to a Board of Conciliation, Labour Court, or Industrial Tribunal for adjudication, and arbitration where the parties agree to submit the dispute to an arbitrator. Labour Courts adjudicate disputes relating to discharge, dismissal, or retrenchment of individual workmen and other specified matters under the second schedule; Industrial Tribunals adjudicate disputes relating to wages, hours of work, allowances, and other matters under the third schedule. A workman who is retrenched under Section 25F must receive one month's notice or wages in lieu thereof and retrenchment compensation calculated at the rate of fifteen days' average pay for every completed year of continuous service. Closure of an industrial establishment employing 100 or more workers requires prior permission of the appropriate government, which will not ordinarily be withheld except for reasons to be recorded in writing. The Industrial Disputes Act provides protection against unfair labour practices, listed in the fifth schedule, committed by employers or trade unions. The Payment of Wages Act ensures the timely payment of wages without unauthorised deductions; the Minimum Wages Act prescribes floor wages in scheduled employments; the Payment of Bonus Act provides for annual bonus; the Employees' Provident Funds Act establishes contributory provident fund, pension, and deposit-linked insurance schemes; and the Employees' State Insurance Act provides for medical care and cash benefits in cases of sickness, maternity, and employment injury. The four labour codes — the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security, and the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code — enacted in 2019 and 2020, consolidate and rationalise the existing multiplicity of central labour laws, and their implementation is awaited.