Standing order is an instruction of the rules and condition of the employment to promote the fair industrial practice. This Industrial Workerâs Standing Orders Act is enacted to draw uniform standing orders for all employees in respect of their working relationship such as classification of workmen, shift working, attendance, termination, suspension of employees etc. It helps in ensuring that the terms and condition of employment are known to each employee and thus to minimize exploitation of workers and employers. This Act provides for the conditions for which standing orders to be made and approval of such standing order by prescribed Authority.
Apprentices Act enacted to regulate apprentices training. Apprenticeship training is a course of training in any industry or establishment which includes basic training (theoretical instructions) and practical i.e. on the job training at actual work place. It enables apprentices to learn more about their field work and thus become skilled workers which helps them in getting better job or self-employment. Apprentices also get stipend at the prescribed rates during the training. This Act provides for qualifications of apprentice, apprenticeship contract, health-safety and welfare of apprentice, duties of employer and apprentice, authorities as well as payment to apprentice.
Industrial dispute is the dispute between employer and employee or employee and employee in relation to employment or non-employment such as low wage, poor working condition, dismissal etc. When industrial dispute occurs, the management of the industry and the employees try to pressurize each other. In such a situation, the management may take recourse of lock out where employees involve in strike, picketing etc. So, the Industrial Dispute Act is enacted to investigation and settlement of industrial disputes. This Act aims at proper adjustment of labour class and capital class to maintain industrial harmony. Apart from that, the Act provides for prior permission of appropriate Government for laying off or retrenching the workers or closing down, payment of compensation to the workman in case of closure or lay off or retrenchment, unfair labour practices on part of an employer or a trade union or workers and their consequences.
The Payment of Wages Act 1936 is enacted to protect the employeeâs rights from exploitation of the employer. The main objective of the Act is to regular and timely payment of wages without any unnecessary delay and to prevent unauthorized deductions from the wages. This Act restricts the employer from imposing fine without giving an opportunity to the employee to show cause against the fine. Other provisions of this Act are fixation of wage period by employer, restricts payment of wages in kind, restricts unauthorized deduction from wage. However, statutory deduction such as contribution towards PF, ESI and deductions for absence from duty, recovery of advances, loans etc are allowed by this Act.
Minimum wages Act has been enacted to secure welfare of the worker by fixing minimum rate of wage for employment. The main purpose of the minimum wage is to prevent exploitation of labour class in the hand of capitalist class and to preserve his efficiency as worker. Thus, base level of pay is fixed as per the Minimum Wages Act and employers should not pay less than the base level wage to his employees. For some specified types of employment, the central government is responsible to fix the minimum wage rate and for other areas of employment, the state government establishes the minimum wage. The wage rate may be fixed daily, hourly, or even monthly. However, in fixing minimum wage, Government always stays concerned about the rates of wages depending upon market situation, demand and supply, productivity, education , medical requirements and other amenities because employeeâs standard of living is connected with the amount of remuneration they get.
Whatever rules and regulations to be followed in a factory are mentioned in the Factories Act. The Factories Act is enacted to regulate working condition in the factory which is appropriate and beneficial for the factory workers. The aim of the law is to safeguard the interest of workers and protect them from exploitation and concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work. Thus, this Act deals with standards regarding safety, welfare and working hours, leaves of workers etc. This Act also helps to put an end to unfair labour practices and provides for the rights, privileges, obligations, and responsibilities of the workforce.
The Maternity Benefit Act 1961 is enacted to improve the working conditions for working women in India. This Act aims at ending unfavorable work conditions and lack of support at the workplace which led the working mother to quit their jobs and put an end to her career aspiration. So, because of this legislation, a working woman may maintain a balance between her work life and family life and continue to enjoy her own identity. Thus, this Act provides for paid maternity leave for 26 weeks, maternity leave to adoptive and commissioning mother, option to work from home, creche facility in the workplace etc to preserve the welfare of the workplace.
Bonus simply means an extra sum of money paid to the employees. It is actually a distribution of profit of the company. The Payment of Bonus Act has been enacted to provide payment of bonus to employees on the basis of profit or productivity of the establishment. The minimum amount of bonus is 8.33% and the maximum amount of bonus is 20% of the salary of the employee which is to be paid within 8 months from the close of the accounting year.
The Equal Remuneration Act protects woman employee from sexual discrimination in the matter of payment of remuneration. The Equal Remunerations Act is based on the principle of gender justice that for the same or similar work, i.e. when a man and a woman performed work of similar nature under similar working conditions, with same skill, effort, and responsibility, both are entitled to get same remuneration. Employer is thus entrusted with duty to pay equal remuneration to man and woman. Thus, main purpose of this Act is to prohibit the discrimination between man and woman in the matter of payment and employment.
This Act has been enacted for protection of woman from sexual harassment at workplace, provide her a safe, secure and dignified working environment, free from all forms of harassment, and to deal with and settle complaints relating to sexual harassment at workplace. A woman victim under the Act is a woman of any age, whether employed or not (for example- customer or client), who has been subjected to any act of sexual harassment whether physical or verbal can claim protection under this Act. This Act also defines sexual harassment and lays down provision for compulsory set up of complaint committee in the workplace.
This Act has been enacted to protect contract labours from inferior labour status, casual nature of employment, lack of job security and poor economic conditions. Contract labours are also suffering exploitation as they are not employed directly under the employer. So the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 is passed to provide legislative protection to these workers who has no rights to claim what they deserved like wage, socio-economic protection, basic amenities, urinals, drinking water facility etc. This Act provides for responsibilities to the employer and contractor which they should follow for welfare of the contract labours and establish Boards to deal with the claim of contract labour.
Gratuity is an additional payment like gift given to an employee as thanks and reward for rendering five or more years of continuous service. Gratuity is payable at the time of superannuation, retirement; or resignation or on death or disablement due to accident or disease; or termination due to retrenchment or layoff. As per the Payment of Gratuity Act, formula for gratuity calculation is- Basic wage + Dearness Allowance divided by 26*15*no. of years of service. Thus, gratuity is a retiring benefit to the workman who have rendered long and unblemished service to the employer and thereby contributed to the prosperity of the employer.
Profession Tax is a state-level tax payable by the salaried employees and independent professionals such as Chartered Accountant, doctors, journalists who enjoying a monthly income above a certain amount declared by the state. So, the Professional Tax Act is enacted by states to regulate the payment of professional tax. Professional tax is the source of revenue for the state which can be used by state for welfare of general public. So, the Act makes rule that a person is liable to pay Professional tax to the state in which the person is employed.
Krishnan:
The 190/240 days in the 5th year includes Saturday and Sunday.