Você está na página 1de 10

Labour law Definitions:Labour law (or "labor", or "employment" law) is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents

which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade union employers and employees. In Canada, employment laws related to unionized workplaces are differentiated from those relating to particular individuals. In most countries however, no such distinction is made. However, there are two broad categories of labor law. First, collective labor law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, employer and union. Second, individual labour law concerns employees' rights at work and through the contract for work. The labour movement has been instrumental in the enacting of laws protecting labour rights in the 19th and 20th centuries. Labour rights have been integral to the social and economic development since the industrial revolution Laws that define the rights of employees and protect them from employer retaliation for exercising those legal rights or reporting violations to the proper authorities. Labour law defines your rights and obligations as workers, union members and employers in the workplace. Generally, labour law covers: Industrial relations certification of unions, labour-management relations, collective bargaining and unfair labour practices Workplace health and safety Employment standards, including general holidays, annual vacations, working hours, unjust dismissals, minimum wage, layoff procedures and severance pay

If you are a federally regulated employer or if you work for a federally regulated employer such as a bank, telecommunications company or interprovincial transportation company, the Canada Labour Code is the labour law that applies to you.

HISTORY History of labour law concerns the development of labour law as a way of regulating and improving the life of people at work. In the great civilizations of antiquity there were great aggregations of labour which was not solely, though frequently it was predominantly, slave labour. Some of the features of manufacture and mining on a

great scale arose, producing the same sort of evils and industrial maladies known and regulated in our own times. Some of the maladies were described by Pliny and classed as " diseases of slaves." And he gave descriptions of processes, for example in the metal trades, as belonging entirely to his own day, which modern archaeological discoveries trace back through the earliest known Aryan civilizations to a prehistoric origin in the East, and which have never died out in western Europe, but can be traced in a concentrated manufacture with almost unchanged methods, now in France, now in Germany, now in England. While much, and in some civilizations most, of the labour was compulsory or forced, it is clear that too much has been sometimes assumed, and it is by no means certain that even the pyramids of Egypt, much less the beautiful earliest Egyptian products in metalworking, weaving and other skilled craft work, were typical products of slave labour. Even in Rome it was only at times that the proportion of slaves valued as property was greater than that of hired workers, or, apart from capture in war or selfsurrender in discharge of a debt, that purchase of slaves by the trader, manufacturer or agriculturist was generally considered the cheapest means of securing labour. As in early England the various stages of village industrial life, medieval town manufacture, and organisation in craft guilds, and the beginnings of mercantilism, were parallel with a greater or less prevalence of serfdom and even with the presence in part of slavery, so in other ages and civilisations the various methods of organisation of labour are found to some extent together. The Germans in their primitive settlements were accustomed to the notion of slavery, and in the decline of the Roman Empire, Roman captives from among the most useful craftsmen were carried away by their northern conquerors.

HISTORICAL PROFILE OF MINISTRY OF LABOUR

A HISTORICAL PROFILE 1854 Public Works Department created. Industry in India being essentially of cottage type and the factory type of industry being in a rudimentary stage, the matters related to Labour assigned to Public Works Department. 1905 Labour and some other subjects transferred to new department, the Department of Commerce and Industry.

1919 International Labour Organisation (ILO) established. India becomes one of the permanent, non-elective and founding members among the ten industrially important countries. 1920 Temporary Board of Industries and Munitions set up to deal with, inter alia, matters relating to factory legislations. 1921 Separate Department of Industries created on the recommendation of the Board. 1923 Department of Industries reorganised and named as Department of Industries and Labour under the charge of a Member of Governor Generals Executive Council with a Secretary to Government as its administrative head. 1937 Department of Industries and Labour bifurcated into Department of Labour and Department of Communications. Department of Labour made responsible for labour, public works, stationery and printing, mines, electricity, boilers, explosives, inter-provincial migration, factories and matters relating to ILO. 1946 Department of Labour bifurcated into Department of Works, Mines and Power and Department of Labour. 1947 Department redesignated as Ministry of Labour under the charge of a Minister of Cabinet Rank. 1957 Nomenclature changed to Ministry of Labour and Employment. 1964 New Department of Social Security created which took over the subjects of social security schemes from Ministry of Labour and Employment. 1965 Ministry functioning in the North Block shifted to Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi from where it is functioning till date. 1966 Department of Rehabilitation merged with the Ministry of Labour and Employment and renamed as Ministry of Labour, Employment and Rehabilitation with two Departments namely Department of Labour and Employment and Department of Rehabilitation. Subjects such as Unemployment Insurance, Employees Insurance and Provident Fund earlier dealt with by Department of Social Security transferred to Department of Labour and Employment.

1971 Nomenclature of the Ministry changed to Labour and Rehabilitation. Department of Labour and Employment and Department of Rehabilitation continued to function separately. 1973 Department of Rehabilitation separated and Ministry renamed as Ministry of Labour. 1974 Work relating to Dock Workers Regulations and Employment Schemes transferred to Ministry of Shipping and Transport. 1979 Work relating to Coal Mines Welfare Fund and Coal Mines Provident Fund transferred to Department of Coal. 1981 Work relating to Emigration which was handled in Ministry of External Affairs transferred to Ministry of Labour and Division under Protector General of Emigrants created in Ministry of Labour. 1982 Ministry with separate Departments i.e. Labour and Rehabilitation renamed as Ministry of Labour and Rehabilitation. 1984 Labour Welfare Division shifted to Jaisalmer House, Mansingh Road, New Delhi. 1985 Nomenclature once again changed to Ministry of Labour. 1986 Administration of Cine Workers Welfare Fund Cess Act, 1981 transferred from Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to Ministry of Labour.

NEED FOR LABOUR LAW

1.Competition-Various arguments have been advanced over the years in support of international labour law. The argument concerning international competition was used in its most extensive form throughout the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. The argument was that international agreements in the field of labour would help prevent international competition from taking place to the disadvantage of workers, and would constitute a kind of code of fair competition between employers and between countries that competition did not prevent the main industrialized countries of Europe from adopting the first labour laws

that the cost and the competitive value of products depend on many factors other than labour costs (in fact, factors that increase labour costs, such as investments in training, safety and health, etc., can increase competitive value) that countries that are the most successful in world markets are not those where the conditions of work are the less favourable.

However, globalization (and especially trade liberalization) have again brought up discussions on the relationship of competition to very poor working conditions in developing countries and loss of jobs in developed countries. The discussion is focused mainly on developments in industries where manual labour and low skills dominate production 2. World peace-It has been pointed out that measures of social justice which provide, among other things, for trade union rights are bound to strengthen democratic regimes, which are more likely than authoritarian governments to be peace loving. Social peace within countries may also sometimes be related to international peace, inasmuch as internal tensions may have repercussions abroad. Stress has equally been laid on the positive and dynamic concept of peace, involving the establishment of stable, just and harmonious conditions both within individual countries and between different countries. This would be accomplished by eliminating, inter alia, rivalry on world markets arising out of too great a disparity in labour conditions. It has also been claimed that the establishment of international labour standards aimed at improving the condition of mankind develops a common sense of solidarity internationally, and fosters a climate of mutual collaboration and understanding that transcends racial and national differences 3. Social justice-The driving force behind the idea of international labour law was the notion of social justice. In the field of labour, the humanitarian concern originally appeared in the face of conditions of great hardship imposed on the workers by industrialization. It was the mainspring of the movement, the first achievement of which was the adoption on both the national and international levels of measures to protect children from conditions of work that had shocked the public conscience 4.Consolidation of national labour legislation Even when the labour legislation or practice of a country has reached a certain level, it may be desirable for the country to ratify a Convention that provides for a standard corresponding to the existing national situation. This is because, even if no substantial change is called for, ratification of the respective Convention could contribute to the consolidation of national labour legislation by acting as a guarantee against

backsliding. There have been cases in which the existence of international commitments based on ratified Conventions has prevented governments from adopting retrograde measures they had contemplated, particularly in times of crisis. As a result of the widespread economic, commercial, technological, social and even cultural changes that have taken place in the past two decades, governments have been amending their labour legislation to meet new needs and accommodate new circumstances. 5.Source of inspiration for national action In addition to the international commitments to which they may give rise, international labour standards can serve as a general guide and as a source of inspiration to governments by virtue of their authority as texts adopted by an assembly composed of representatives of governments, employers and workers of nearly all countries of the world. They may also for that reason provide a basis for the claims of workers and guide the policy of employers. International labour standards have thus developed into a kind of "international common law". Their influence is in many ways similar to that found elsewhere in various periods in the history of civil law for example, the influence of Roman law, or of certain later European legal codifications. Those in charge of social policies in various countries have often highlighted this role of international labour law. OBJECTIVE OF LABOUR LAW To oversee increase in prosperity To create healthy and cordial industrial relations between the labourers and employer To mediate in industrial complaints/disputes and ensure industrial peace. To enforce various labour laws, thereby ensuring welfare of the workers. To provide relief and due benefits to labourers through judicial work. To ensure education, rehabilitation and other welfare of released child labourers through National Child Labour Projects. To undertake survey and research work under various labour laws.

To generate revenue for the state by receiving registration fee under different
labour laws

LABOUR LAWS CLASSIFICATION:Labour Laws may be classified under the following heads: I. Laws related to Industrial Relations such as: Trade Unions Act, 1926 Industrial Employment Standing Order Act, 1946. Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. II. Laws related to Wages such as: Payment of Wages Act, 1936 Minimum Wages Act, 1948 Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. III. Laws related to Working Hours, Conditions of Service and Employment such as: Factories Act, 1948. Plantation Labour Act, 1951. Mines Act, 1952. Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service and Misc. Provisions) Act, 1955. Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961. Beedi & Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966. Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970.

Sales Promotion Employees Act, 1976. Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979. Dock Workers (Safety, Health & Welfare) Act, 1986. Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. IV. Laws related to Equality and Empowerment of Women such as: Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. V. Laws related to Deprived and Disadvantaged Sections of the Society such as: Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933 VI. Laws related to Social Security such as: Workmens Compensation Act, 1923. Employees State Insurance Act, 1948. Employees Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

Amendment of Labour Laws Law is a framework and its provisions need review and revision with a view to remain relevant in a changed scenario. Labour laws are no exception. Currently, amendments to the following laws are either on consultation by state with the social partners or on the basis of consideration by other concerned authorities: 1. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

2. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948. 3. Employees Provident Fund & Misc. Provisions Act, 1952. 4. The Employees State Insurance Act, 1948. 5. Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970. 6. The Factories Act, 1948. 7. The Mines Act, 1952. 8. The Workmens Compensation Act, 1923. 9. Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of Service) Act, 1979. Minimum wages Act, 1948 : Minimum wages Act, 1948 A tripartite Committee Viz.,"The Committee on Fair Wage" was set up in 1948 to provide guidelines for wage structures in the country. The report of this Committee was a major landmark in the history of formulation of wage policy in India. Its recommendations set out the key concepts of the `living wage', "minimum wages" and "fair wage" besides setting out guidelines for wage fixation. Article 39|- The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing (a) that the citizen, men and women equally shall have the right to an adequate livelihood and (b) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.

Factories Act, 1948 : Factories Act, 1948 a social legislation which has been enacted for occupational safety, health and welfare of workers at work places. being enforced by technical officers i.e. Inspectors of Factories, Dy. Chief Inspectors of Factories who work under the control of the Chief Inspector of Factories and overall control of the Labour Commissioner, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Applicability : Applicability The industries in which ten (10) or more than ten workers are employed on any day of the preceeding twelve months - engaged in manufacturing process being carried out with the aid of power or twenty or more than twenty workers employed in manufacturing process being carried out without the aid of power. Salient features :

Salient features Approval of Factory Building Plans before construction/extension, under the Delhi Factories Rules, 1950 Grant of Licences under the Delhi Factories Rules, 1950, and to take action against factories running without obtaining Licence. Renewal of Licences granted under the Delhi Factories Rules, 1950, by the Dy. Chief Inspectors of Factories Inspections of factories by District Inspectors of Factories, for investigation of complaints, serious/fatal accidents as well as suo moto inspections to check compliance of provisions of this Act relating to :-Health, Safety, Welfare facilities, Working hours, Employment of young persons and annual Leave with wages etc.

Você também pode gostar