Comparitive Study of Indian Labour law with International Labour Law

Indian labour law refers to laws regulating employment in India. There are over fifty national laws and many more state-level laws. Traditionally Indian governments at federal and state level have sought to ensure a high degree of protection for workers. So for instance, a permanent worker can be terminated only for proven misconduct or for habitual absence. In Uttam Nakate case, the Bombay High Court held that dismissing an employee for repeated sleeping on the factory floor was illegal - a decision which was overturned by the Supreme Court of India. Moreover, it took two decades to complete the legal process. In 2008, the World Bank has criticized the complexity, lack of modernization and flexibility in Indian regulations. Collective labour law

The Industrial Disputes Act (1947) requires companies employing more than 100 workers to seek government approval before they can fire employees or close down. In practice, permissions for firing employees are seldom granted.

Trade Unions Act 1926 Provisions of the Factories Act, 1948

Individual labour law All India Organisation of Employers points out that there are more than 55 central labour laws and over 100 state labour laws.

The Contract Labour Act (1970) aims at regulating employment of contract labour so as to place it at par with labour employed directly. Women are not permitted to work night shifts.

Minimum Wages Act 1948 Weekly Holidays Act 1942 Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966 The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 The Workmens Compensation Act, 1923

The Factories Act, 1948

Constitutional Framework Under the Constitution of India, Labour is a subject in the concurrent list where both the Central and State Governments are competent to enact legislations. As a result, a large number of labour laws have been enacted catering to different aspects of labour namely, occupational health, safety, employment, training of apprentices, fixation, review and revision of minimum wages, mode of payment of wages, payment of compensation to workmen who suffer injuries as a result of accidents or causing death or disablement, bonded labour, contract labour, women labour and child labour, resolution and adjudication of industrial disputes, provision of social security such as provident fund, employees state insurance, gratuity, provision for payment of bonus, regulating the working conditions of certain specific categories of workmen such as plantation labour, beedi workers etc.

Definition of international law International labour law is one category of international law. International law is the body of legal rules that apply between sovereign states and such other entities as have been granted international personality by sovereign states. Concerning labour law, the most important entity is International Labour Organization. The rules of international law are of a normative character; that is, they prescribe standards of conduct. They distinguish themselves, however, from moral rules by being, at least potentially, designed for authoritative interpretation by an independent judicial authority and by being capable of enforcement by the application of external sanctions. These characteristics make them legal rules. European labour law The European Working Time Directive limited the maximum length of a working week to 48 hours in 7 days, and a minimum rest period of 11 hours in each 24 hours. Like all EU Directives, this is an instrument which requires member states to enact its provisions in national legislation.

Although the directive applies to all member states, in the UK it is possible to "opt out" of the 48-hour working week to work longer hours. In contrast, France has passed more strict legislation, limiting the maximum working week to 35 hours (but optional hours are still possible). The controversial Directive on services in the internal market (aka

"Bolkestein Directive") was then passed in 2006.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

http://labour.nic.in/ http://www.actrav.itcilo.org

National labour law

British labour law British labour law The Factory Acts (first one in 1802, then 1833) and the 1832 Master and Servant Act were the first laws regulating labour relations in the United Kingdom. The vast majority of employment law before 1960 was based upon the Law of Contract. Since then there has been a significant expansion primarily due to the "equality movement"and the European Union. There are three sources of Law: Acts of Parliament called Statutes, Statutory Regulations (made by a Secretary of State under an Act of Parliament) and Case Law (developed by various Courts). The first significant modern day Employment Law Act was the Equal Pay Act of 1970 although as it was a somewhat radical concept it did not come into effect until 1972. This act was introduced as part of a concerted effort to bring about equality for women in the workplace. Since the election of the Labour Government in 1997, there have been many changes in UK employment law. These include enhanced maternity and paternity rights, the introduction of a National Minimum Wage and the Working Time Directive which covers working time, rest breaks and the right to paid annual leave. Discrimination law has also been tightened, with protection from discrimination now available on the grounds of age, religion or belief and sexual orientation as well as gender, race and disability.

Canadian labour law Canadian labour and employment law In Canadian law, 'labour law' refers to matters connected with unionized workplaces, while 'employment law' deals with non-unionized employees. Chinese labour law Chinese labour law Labour Law in the People's Republic of China has become a very hot issue with the soaring numbers of factories and the fast pace of urbanization. The basic labour laws are (promulgated

on 5 July 1994) and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Employment Contracts (Adopted at the 28th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress on June 29, 2007, Effective from January 1, 2008). The administrative regulations enacted by the State Council, the ministerial rules and the judicial explanations of the Supreme People's Court stipulate detailed rules concerning the various aspects of the employment relationship. Labour Union in China is controlled by the government through the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, which is also the sole legal labour union in Mainland China. Strike is formally legal, but in fact is discouraged. French labour law French labour law In France the first labour laws were Waldeck Rousseau's laws passed in 1884. Between 1936 and 1938 the Popular Front enacted a law mandating 12 days (2 weeks) each year of paid vacation for workers, and a law limiting the work week to 40 hours, excluding overtime. The Grenelle accords negotiated on May 25 and 26th in the middle of the May 1968 crisis, reduced the working week to 44 hours and created trade union sections in each enterprise. The minimum wage was also increased by 25%. In 2000 Lionel Jospin's government then enacted the 35-hour workweek, down from 39 hours. Five years later, conservative prime minister Dominique de Villepin enacted the New Employment Contract (CNE). Addressing the demands of employers asking for more flexibility in French labour laws, the CNE sparked criticism from trade unions and opponents claiming it were lending favour to contingent work. In 2006 he then attempted to pass the First Employment Contract (CPE) through a vote by emergency procedure, but that it was met by students and unions' protests. President Jacques Chirac finally had no choice but to repeal it.

Mexican labour law Mexican labour law governs the process by which workers in Mexico may organize labour unions, engage in collective bargaining, and strike. Current labour law reflects the historic interrelation between the state and the Confederation of Mexican Workers, the labour confederation officially aligned with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (the Institutional

Revolutionary Party, or PRI), which ruled Mexico under various names for more than seventy years. While the law, on its face, promises workers the right to strike and to organize, in practice it makes it difficult or impossible for independent unions to organize while condoning the corrupt practices of many existing unions and the employers with which they deal. Swedish labour law Swedish labour law is from an international perspective comparatively 'thin'. This is because many of the issues and areas that in other countries are regulated through state or federal law, e.g. working hours, minimum wage and right to overtime compensation, in Sweden instead are regulated through collective agreements between trade union and employer organization representatives.

_____________________________________________________________________
Labour Legislation from 1911encyclopedia.org, Encyclopedia Britannica's 1911 edition Indian Labor Law

International comparison of Indian labour laws

The table below contrasts the labor laws in India to those in China and United States, as of 2011.

Relative regulations and rigidity in labor laws

Practice required by law

India

China

United States

Minimum wage (US$/month)

29.9

182.5

1242.6

Standard work day

9 hours

8 hours

8 hours

Minimum rest while at work

30 minutes per 5 hour

None

None

Maximum overtime limit

200 year

hours

per

1 hour per day

None

Premium pay for overtime

100%

50%

50%

Dismissal to redundancy allowed?

due Yes, if approved by government

Yes, approval government

without Yes, of approval government

without of

Government approval required for 1 person dismissal

Yes

No

No

Relative regulations and rigidity in labor laws

Practice required by law

India

China

United States

Government approval required for 9 person dismissal

Yes

No

No

Government

approval

for redundancy dismissal granted

Rarely

Not applicable

Not applicable

Dismissal priority rules regulated

Yes

Yes

No

Severance dismissal

pay for

redundancy 2.1 week salary 4.3 week salary None

of employee with 1 year tenure

Severance pay for redundancy dismissal of employee with 5 year tenure 10.7 week salary 21.7 week salary None

____________________________________________________________________
"Employing Workers - 2011 data (based on input from ILO, OECD, local governments and private employers)" .

The World Bank. 2012.