Page 166 - DMGT306_MERCANTILE_LAWS_II

Unit 9: Minimum Wages Act, 1948

5. Under Section 20(1) of the Act, the Appropriate Government may appoint any Notes
Commissioner for Workmen‘s Compensation; any officer of the Central Government
exercising functions as Labour Commissioner for any region; and/or any officer of the
State Government as an authority to hear and decide cases related to …………………
6. The Act provides that ………………… Minimum Wage rate may be fixed for a) different
scheduled employments
7. Minimum wages payable under this Act shall be paid in …………………

Notes “What the Minimum Wages Act purports to achieve is to prevent exploitation of
labour and for that purpose empowers the appropriate Government to take steps to
prescribe minimum rates of wages in the scheduled industries. In an underdeveloped
country which faces the problem of unemployment on a very large scale, it is not unlikely
that labour may offer to work even on starvation wages. The policy of the Act is to prevent
the employment of such sweated labour in the interest of general public and so in prescribing
the minimum rates, the capacity of the employer need not to be considered. What is being
prescribed is minimum wage rates which a welfare State assumes every employer must
pay before he employs labour.”

Task Discuss the object and scope of the Minimum Wages Act.

9.2 Important Definitions

Appropriate Government [Section 2(b)]

Appropriate Government means-

(i) in relation to any scheduled employment carried on by or under the authority of the Central
or a railway administration, or in relation to a mine, oilfield or major part or any corporation
established by a Central Act, the Central Government, and
(ii) in relation to any other scheduled employment, the State Government.

Employee [Section 2(i)]

Employee means any person who is employed for hire or reward to do any work, skilled or
unskilled, manual or clerical in a scheduled employment in respect of which minimum rates of
wages have been fixed; and includes an outworker to whom any articles or materials are given
out by another person to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, repaired,
adapted or otherwise processed for sale purpose of the trade or business of that other person
where the process is to be carried out either in the home of the out-worker or in some other
premises, net being premises under the control and management of that person; and also includes
an employee declared to be an employee by the appropriate Government; but does not include
any member of Armed Forces of the Union.

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