Page 34 - DCOM207_LABOUR_LAWS

Unit 3: Labour Laws: Concept, Origin, Objectives and Classification

A legislation regarding working conditions such as the factory legislation or laws regarding Notes
payment of wages or compensation for work injury or employment of women or children
impinge upon the individuals as workers and the employers. On the contrary, a law regarding
ownership of property or a law relating to the marriage or sales tax affects him as a citizen.
Individuals have different roles to perform and different laws are designed for regulating the
different roles. It is the role-relation that determines whether a particular legislation falls under
the category of labour legislation, social legislation or general legislation. All these legislations
try to meet the specific objectives of their respective target groups- that is:
(a) to provide subsistence,
(b) to aim at abundance,

(c) to encourage equality, and
(d) to maintain security.
As labour legislations are to regulate the conditions of labour, in the industrial milieu, it
is required to be adjusted as per the changing requirements of industry. This has to be done
more frequently than the general legislation where changes are not that swift. Unless ‘ labour
legislations are subjected to frequent revision and not left to continue as they are, they become
obsolete and irrelevant. The Indian Labour Legislations are the best example. Most of them have
become outdated as the required revisions have not been affected and gaps have been created
between the expectations of industrial so the institution of labour legislation.

Example: Labour is a concurrent subject in the Constitution of India implying that both
the Union and the state governments are competent to legislate on labour matters and administer
the same. The bulk of important legislative acts have been enacted by the Parliament.

3.1.2 Principles of Social Justice, Social Equality, Social Security, National
Economy and Labour Legislations

Labour Legislations contain the principles of social justice, social equity, social security and
national economy in their concept. Social justice implies two things:

l z First, equitable distribution of profits and other benefits of industry between owner and
workers.

l z Second, providing protection to workers against harmful effect to their health, safety and
morality.
Social equality provides the flexibility in labour legislations to adjust to the need of the industrial
society. Social security envisages collective action against social risks which constitute the crux
of the labour legislation. National Economy provides the standards to be set for the labour
legislations. Human Rights principles and human dignity postulates provide the broader base for
the concept of labour legislations. Thus, these principles are the fundamentals for understanding
the concept of Labour jurisprudence.

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Caselet Labor Unrest at Toyota India
n January 08, 2006, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKM) announced
an indefinite lockout of its vehicle manufacturing plant at Bidadi located near
OBangalore, Karnataka. The decision was taken following a strike, which had
entered its third day, by the Toyota Kirloskar Motor Employees Union (Employee Union),
Contd...

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