Advantage ......Employer Or Employee Under The Indian Employment Laws?

Indian labour laws and regulations covers over fifty central laws and many more state-level laws. Keeping in mind nearly 60% of the citizens belong to the service sector, Indian Government has always sought to ensure a high degree of protection for workers through enforcement of labour laws. Rights enjoyed by the employees depend on the nature of the establishment and the category of work undertaken by an employee. However, to give a broad perspective employees are generally divided into two main categories i.e. workmen and non-workmen.

Employee Benefits are commonly offered based on Legislations covered hereunder-

The Minimum Wages Act 1948 of India gives the government the power to set minimum wages for the categories of employees listed in the schedule to the Act, this includes the minimum wages that must be paid to skilled and unskilled labours.

The Factories Act, 1948 has been enacted to regulate the working conditions in factories and to ensure provision of the basic minimum requirements for safety, health and welfare of the workers as well as to regulate the working hours, leave, holidays, employment of children, women, etc.

The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 requires employers in industrial establishments to clearly define the conditions of employment by issuing standing orders duly certified. Model standing orders issued under the Act deal with classification of workmen, holidays, shifts, payment of wages, leaves, termination etc.

Wokmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 holds the object of safeguarding any casuality or accident occurred during the course of employment and in accordance with the Act, and stated that the employer must pay compensation in case of death or temporary/permanent incapacity.

Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provides for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes in an industrial establishment relating to lockouts, layoffs, retrenchment etc. It provides the machinery for the reconciliation and adjudication of disputes or differences between the employees and the employers. Industrial undertaking includes an undertaking carrying any business, trade, manufacture etc.

Payment of Bonus Act, 1965

This Act has been enacted to provide & regulate the payment of bonus to employees in certain specified establishments either on the basis of profits or on the basis of productivity of the establishment.

o  Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 is applicable on employees drawing wages / salary up-to 10,000/- PM.

o  Only those employees are entitled for bonus, who have worked for at least 30 working days in an accounting year.

Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972

The object of this Act is to provide for a uniform scheme for payment of gratuity to industrial workers throughout the country. Gratuity is payable to employees who have rendered continuous service of at least 5 years.

Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

The objective of maternity benefits is to protect the dignity of “Motherhood” by providing the complete & health care to the women & her child when she is not able to perform her duty due to her health condition. There is need for maternity benefits so that a woman is to be able to give quality time to her child without having to worry about whether she will lose her job and her source of income.

Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

This Act was enacted to give effect to the provision of Article 39 of the Constitution of India which contains a directive principle of equal pay for equal work for both men and women. The Act provides for the payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for the same work or work of a similar nature and for the prevention of discrimination on the ground of sex against women in the matter of employment.

Employees Provident Fund and Misc. Provisions Act, 1956

The Act provides for establishments of a contributory Provident Fund in which employees’ contribution shall be at least equal to the contribution payable by the employer. Minimum contribution by the employees shall be 10-12% of the wages. This amount is payable to the employee after retirement and could also be withdrawn partly for certain specified purposes.

Rights of Employee not se grossly discussed-

Appointment letters acting as Employment Agreements

A majority of private employment in India is bound by the terms and conditions mentioned in the appointment letter. The letter forms the base of the contract between the employee and the employer and is enforceable both ways under the Indian Contract Act 1872. It is advisable to carefully read the entire employment letter before signing on the dotted line as this saves them trouble later.

Food Coupons-Non Taxable

Big companies like MNC’s provide lunch for their workers through a canteen on site. There are also a few companies who provide their employee food coupons as an alternative. Under current income tax rules, coupons are non-taxable up to Rs 50 per meal. Hence, assuming 22 working days in a month and one meal per day, an employee can claim Rs 1,100 as non-taxable income and the employer can claim the same as business expenses.

Paid Leaves

The following are the leave’s which are most likely to be paid depending upon the Organisation-

• Casual Leave ( Weekly/ National/ Festive holidays),
• Sick Leave,
• Privilege or Earned Leave,
• Maternity Leaves

Apart from these Wellness initiatives like sports and fitness and higher education as career rights are also adopted in the recent past by my companies which are focused towards a younger population, as they want to understand recent trends and tackle with cases where employees are prone to early stage health hazards.

Our Observation

Although Employers in India hold a dominant position, government by way of enacting various legislations have been successful in enacting legislations favoring employees. However, is not expected out of every employee to know his employment right, awareness of these rights can determine that they are not oppressed.