Basic Information on Indian Labour Law

Labour rights are integral part of socio-economic development of every country across the world. To protect these rights, every nation has passed certain laws addressing the restrictions and legal benefits of the labours and their organisations. These laws are commonly referred as Labour Laws.

In simple words, labour law is a legal structure or an administrative ruling that deals with the rights and restrictions imposed on the labours and their organisations by the government. Generally, it covers the demands of the employees to have better working conditions, the right to form trade union or to work independently without joining the union and other safety rights. Similarly, it also covers demands of the employers to keep control over - the use of power by the worker's organisations, the costs of labour, costly health and safety requirements of the workers, etc.

Indian Labour Law:

Like other nations, the labour law in India also covers the same fundamental labour rights that are required to maintain harmonious relationship between the employees, employers and the trade unions. However, there are certain amendments made in the laws depending on the culture, society and constitution of India.

All the commercial establishments in the country are required to implement the Central and State Government labour law enactments to be recognised as legally authorised organisations. Some of the essential Central Government enactments are as follow:

• The Employees' Provident Fund Act, 1952

• The Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948

• The Minimum Wages Act, 1948

• The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970

• The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965

• The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

• The Payment of Wages Act, 1936

• The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

The companies have to adhere to the above enactments and other allied laws for the smooth functioning of their business. Any company that doesn't follow the rules listed in these enactments is subject to punishment by the government of India. It is to be noted that the organisations with large operations across the nation find it difficult to keep account of every enactment. So, they may forget to follow one or sometimes many rules of the given enactments.

Therefore, the organisations are recommended to hire a labour law consultant or outsource their legal work related to the rights of workers to a consultancy. These consultancies offer comprehensive services, which normally include -

• Activities related to registration and licensing necessary under the labour laws,

• Calculating periodical liability,

• Maintaining records and statutory registers,

• Documenting and submitting periodical statutory reports,

• Attending periodical statutory inspections and

• Other allied services.

In short, Indian Labour Law has all the necessary provisions to maintain healthy relationship between the working people and their organisations provided both the parties strictly adhere to these legal provisions.