Understanding Labour laws in India

For a community to be considered civilized, it must ensure that the working class has the freedom to live as human beings with safety and respect. The introductory sections of the League of Nations, the United Nations Organization, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all convey this perspective. On a national scale, the country's Constitution embodies the hopes of the working class.

On April 26, 1949, India ratified a constitution following its independence. The Indian Constitution is a distinct foundational national charter. In addition to outlining fundamental tenets of governance, it outlines the goals of the weaker segments of society, particularly the working classes.

Historical background

The development of India's Constitution and the socioeconomic circumstances that exist there are closely linked to the history of the nation's labour laws. Here is a quick synopsis:

Pre-Independence Era

• Under the British administration, there were few worker rights and a high rate of labour exploitation.

• The Industries Act, which sought to control working conditions in industries, was passed in 1881 and was a major first step towards labour regulation.

• Following that, several further laws were introduced to deal with certain labour-related challenges, including the Workmen's Compensation Act (1923) and the Mines Act (1901). These rules, though, were frequently criticised for being insufficient and biased in favour of employers.

Post-Independence and Constitution of India

• Following India's 1947 declaration of independence, the country's 1950 adoption of the Constitution established the country's fundamental rights as well as guiding ideals for the welfare of its workforce.

• Articles 14–16 forbid discrimination and guarantee equality before the law. Several liberties, notably the ability to organize unions or groups, are guaranteed by Article 19.

• Except for mandatory activities performed for the benefit of the public, Article 23 forbids forced labour.

• Article 24 prohibits hazardous work for minors under 14, while Directive Principles of State Policy mandate safeguarding social and economic rights like maternity leave, living wage, and decent working conditions.

Evolution of Labour Laws

• Labour laws originate in a variety of locations around the world. Labour laws were created as a result of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century. Asian scholars link work regulations back to the Babylon code of the 18th century BCE and Manu's rules.

• American authors point to the law of the Indies, which was formed in 17th-century Spain, as having a substantial impact on labour regulations. Labour laws were created as a result of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century.

• Regulations had to be put in place because of labour exploitation and the negative effects that rapid industrialization had on labour. At the same time, social justice was pushed by the French Revolution.

• Conflicts in the 18th century led to the creation of labour regulations, which were finally widely accepted in the 20th century.

• The Industrial Disputes Act (1947) was passed to establish procedures for resolving labour disputes and managing layoffs, retrenchments, and closures.

• To put an end to labour exploitation, the 1948 Minimum Wages Act established minimum wages.

Judicial Interventions

• The legal system must understand and respect labour laws since the Indian judicial system regularly enhances employee rights due to its progressive readings of the Constitution.

• The labour jurisprudence of India has been significantly shaped by seminal decisions such as the previously described Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation and Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan.

History of Labour Laws in India

• Labour restrictions in India date back to the British era, before independence. The British government enacted these restrictions to defend the interests of British businesses and industries. British textile magnates benefited from the adoption of the Factories Act by the British Parliament in 1883, which attempted to increase the expenses of Indian labour.
• An eight-hour workweek, overtime pay, the outlawing of child labour, and prohibitions on women working at night were among the rules brought about by this act. These provisions served vested interests, even if the labour market benefited from them.
• The Industrial Disputes Act of 1929 and the Trade Union Act of 1923 were introduced in India after World War I and the international talks on labour reforms.
• This legislation sought to control the interaction between employees and employers. They included clauses that protected workers' rights to form unions for collective bargaining and to protest through strikes and lockouts.
• In 1929, facing a global economic slump, increased unemployment, and ongoing agitation for independence, the British government launched the Royal Commission on Labour. The Indian labour movement strongly opposed and boycotted the commission.

Series of Labour Legislation between 1932 and 1937

• Between 1932 and 1937, it released a report that provided the framework for several labour laws. During this period, major acts were the Payment of Wages Act of 1936, which allowed employers to withhold wages for unexplained absences, and the Trade Disputes (Amendment) Act of 1938, which authorised the government to appoint conciliation commissioners to settle disputes.
• The Indian Constitution, following fundamental rights and state policy directive principles, underlines the dignity of human labour as well as the necessity to defend and safeguard workers' interests.
• In addition, court decisions on minimum wages, bonded labour, child labour, and contract labour, as well as recommendations from national committees and commissions such as the First National Commission on Labour (1969) and the Second National Commission on Labour (2002), have influenced labour legislation.

Preamble of Indian Constitution and Labour Legislation

The Supreme Court of our country pointed out in multiple rulings the significance and usefulness of the Preamble. The objectives of the Constitution are delineated in the preamble, although it cannot be upheld in court on its own.

A. Our Constitution's Preamble has two functions

1. Provides authority information.

2. Initiates goals for building and advancing.

B. The preamble promises to protect all of its residents from;

1. Indian Constitution and Labour Legislations

2. Ensuring justice and social, economic, and political rights.

3. Ensuring freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, and worship.

4. Ensuring equality of status and opportunity.

5. Upholding individual dignity and the nation's unity and integrity.

All labour and social laws are based on the ideas expressed in the Preamble to our constitution, which encourages progressive and innovative interpretation that benefits the working masses. Because of the preamble's guiding principles, our labour laws—whether they deal with protection, social security, welfare, or even industrial relations—are heavily biased in favour of the interests of the working class. These ideas give our laws the resilience and tenacity to fulfil the goals of the working class; they are like unseen golden threads running through them.

Fundamental Rights and Labour Legislation

Part III of Fundamental Rights Overview

1. Equality (Articles 14-18)

2. Freedom (Articles 19-22)

3. Right against Exploitation (Articles 23-24)

4. Freedom of Religion (Articles 25-30)

5. Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles 29-30)

6. Right to Constitutional Remedies (Articles 32-35)

Journalistic rulings tend to broaden the meaning of the term "State," as defined by Article 12 of the Constitution because Fundamental Rights have been secured to shield the public from oppressive state actions.

Important Cases Related to Labour Law in India

1. Workmen of M/S Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co. of India v. Management;

• The business that responded manufactured tyres in Bombay and supplied them from a Delhi distribution hub. The company's employees and their employer were at odds over the employees' terminations due to the results of a domestic investigation.
• The Industrial Tribunal Act was changed in 1971 while the dispute was still pending, adding Section 11A which gave the Industrial Tribunal Appellate Authority over the findings of the Domestic Enquiry.
• In this case, the Tribunal decided in the Employer's favour and declined to apply Section 11A retrospectively.

2.Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India;

• This public interest lawsuit (PIL) was brought before the Supreme Court of India under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution, requesting that the Court order the State of Uttar Pradesh (UP) to take action to prohibit child labour.
• Following that, a committee constituted by the court revealed the extent of child exploitation in the carpet business in Uttar Pradesh. The committee discovered that several children were abducted from Bihar, that the sector employed a huge number of minors under the age of 14, and that many of them had suffered physical abuse.
• The Court addressed in its ruling how safeguarding children's rights to development, health care, and education is critical to India's democratic advancement.

3.Steel Authority of India Limited v. National Union Waterfront Workers;

• The appellants, a Central Government Company and its branch manager are involved in the production and trade of diverse iron and steel materials. Additionally, it imports and exports a variety of items through its marketing division, the Central Marketing Organisation, which has a network of branches all throughout India.
• After a formal procurement process, contractors were assigned the responsibility of overseeing the goods in the appellants' stockyards. The West Bengal government published a notice on July 15, 1989, under Section 10(1) of the CLRA Act, which forbade the use of contract labour in four designated Calcutta stockyards.
• This notification was known as the prohibition notification. With a notice dated August 28, 1989, the West Bengal government put the aforementioned notification on hold for six months. From then on, the timeframe was periodically prolonged, but it was not extended past August 31, 1994.

4.People’s Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India;

• The matter of People's Union for Democratic Rights and Others v. Union of India & Ors. was presented before a panel on May 11, 1982. The decision was made by a group that consisted of Bhagwati, Baharul (J), and P.N. Islam.
• In a letter addressed to Bhagwati J., who considered it a petition, the applicants highlighted the dreadful working conditions faced by employees forced to labor in adverse environments.
• The Honourable Supreme Court has expanded the reach and scope of Article 32 with this historic ruling. It has also guaranteed that everyone has access to the Court and that any violation of laws that benefit society, like labour laws, will be considered a violation of fundamental rights. Additionally, the Court has given the terms "forced labour" and "beggar" a more lenient interpretation.

5.Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay v. Labour Appellate Tribunal of India

This is an application filed with the court by the General Manager of the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking, which is a part of the Bombay Municipal Corporation, and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay, asking for the records of the case about an order dated 13-11-1956 in Appeal (Bom) No. 289 of 1956, as well as to set aside and quash the decision and order of the Labour Appellate Tribunal under Article 236 of the Constitution or an order or direction in the exercise of the court's powers of superintendence under Article 227 of the Constitution against the Labour Appellate Tribunal.

Directive Principles and State Policy and Labour Legislation

Part IV of the Constitution contains Articles 36 through 51, which address the objectives of economic democracy, the socio-political nature of political freedom, and the idea of the welfare state. The Supreme Court gave the Directives little weight in its earlier rulings because it believed that they could not be enforced in court. However, subsequent rulings—particularly those from the Keshavanand and Bharati cases—have brought the following arguments up for discussion:
1. The Directive Principles and the Fundamental Rights do not conflict. They support one another.

2. It is impossible to guarantee even Fundamental Rights without putting Directive Principles into practice.

3. Any Fundamental Right may be amended or abolished by Parliament to allow the state to carry out directives.

The Minerva Mills v. Union of India case set the precedent that there must be a balance between Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights, without considering Directives as lesser than or subordinate to Fundamental Rights

According to Kasturi v. State of J. & K. - S.C. 1992, legislation that conflicts with a directive should also be viewed as unreasonable, but any action made to implement a directive should be viewed as reasonable.

Articles related to labour laws;

Some of the Directives, which form the foundation of employment law, may be studied against this backdrop.

Article 38-(a) - As to Article 38-(a), the state is tasked with improving the welfare of the people by upholding and promoting a social order that is based on social, economic, and political equity, and that guides all governmental establishments.

Article 39 - State Policy on Equal Livelihood and Economic Protection

1. State policy should ensure equal rights for all citizens, including men and women.
2. Community resources should be distributed for the common good.
3. Economic system operation should not lead to wealth concentration.
4. Equal pay for equal work for all.
5. Workers' health and strength should not be abused.
6. Children should have opportunities for healthy development.
7. Children should be protected against exploitation and moral and material abandonment.

Article 41 - Article 41 mandates that the state create adequate measures to provide the right to employment, education, and public assistance in circumstances of unemployment, old age, illness, and disability, as well as in other cases of unjustifiable want, within the bounds of its financial resources and Development.

Article 42 - It declares that "The Government will establish measures to ensure fair and humane working conditions and maternity support." This principle is rooted in socialism and aims to improve the social and economic well-being of the populace with the goal of turning India into a Welfare State.

Article 43 - Article 43 states that the state must make every effort to ensure that all workers in the agricultural, industrial, or other sectors have a living wage, good working conditions that allow them to enjoy their free time and all social and cultural opportunities, and appropriate laws or economic organisations.

Article 43A - Article 43A, incorporated into the Constitution as the 42nd Amendment, requires the government to implement measures to guarantee that employees are part of the decision-making processes within companies, institutions, and various entities engaged in any sector. This can be achieved through suitable laws or alternative methods. All of these are deemed acceptable. Nonetheless, neither their duty nor their ethical duty to not decelerate, collide, etc. without following legal procedures was added in the process of inserting Article 5IA - Fundamental Duties.

Judicial Wisdom of the Courts and Labour Legislation

It is important to observe that Indian courts have demonstrated judicial knowledge that is quite exceptional in creating a harmonious design of Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights. Since social justice law was under the Directive Principles, which are acceptable limitations on some fundamental rights, the courts have been able to maintain this legislation. Laws of this kind would therefore be in the public interest. There has been a significant disagreement between the legislative and the judiciary on the relative weight of the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles.

The previous 50 years have seen a solidification of labour law precedent about adjudication proceedings. Because Part IV of the Constitution prioritises the welfare of the workers, industrial adjudication has always considered social justice issues. As a result, every department dealing with labour legislation has drawn inspiration and guidance from the provisions of the Indian Constitution, especially from Part IV.

Conclusion

It shows that workers had to fight tirelessly around the world to protect their rights, which changed the way judges viewed cases. Even though practically every country has good legislation outlining workers' rights today, more work needs to be done before all workers can enjoy the benefits of their labour and lead respectable lives in a civilised society.

As we've seen, the Indian Constitution goes above and beyond to safeguard workers' rights and benefits, guaranteeing a respectable and honourable life. To support the workers in the unorganised sector, particularly those engaged in child slavery, bonded servitude, female sweatshop labour, and agricultural work, more needs to be done. Although the Constitution has intrinsic power, its implementers have fallen short of expectations and failed the Constitution. Thus, despite the Constitution's best intentions, labourers in these areas continue to be exploited even after fifty years of freedom.