Page 10 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS
P. 10

Unit 1: Labour Welfare and Concept




                 circumstances. Therefore, they are specific and not general in orientation, philosophy, and  Notes
                 concept.
            2.   Labour legislation regards individuals as workers, whereas the general legislation regards
                 him a citizen. The principles governing labour legislations are more influenced by  the
                 postulates of social justice than general justice. Workers are the weaker class of industrial
                 society and have suffered long at the hands of employers. Therefore, these sets of legislations
                 go out of the way in protecting workers and securing justice to them. The influences of
                 'discriminative justice' and 'distributive justice' can  be clearly seen over them. All the
                 labour legislations are heavily skewed towards labour and they are specifically designed
                 like that.
            3.   Labour legislation seeks to deal with problems arising out of occupational status of the
                 individual. Consequently, such problems as hours of work, wages, working conditions,
                 trade  unions, industrial  disputes  etc.  come  to  be  the  main  subject  matter  of  labour
                 legislations. Thus, the behaviour of the individual or his groups is the function of labour
                 legislation as  of any other legislation.  But under  labour legislation,  the individual is
                 affected in the capacity of a  worker or  an employer.  Therefore, the persons who are
                 neither the employers nor the workers are least affected directly by labour legislation. To
                 make the point clear, a few examples are necessary. A  legislation regarding  working
                 conditions  such  as  the  factory legislation  or  laws  regarding payment  of  wages  or
                 compensation for work injury or employment of women or children impinges 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.
            4.   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
                 are (a) to provide subsistence, (b) to aim at abundance, (c) to encourage equality, and (d) to
                 maintain  security.
            5.   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 expectation of industrial society and the institution of
                 labour  legislation.
            6.   (a)  Not  only  contractual  obligations, but  beyond  it  by  creating  new  rights  and
                     obligations.
                 (b)  Labour Law can operate along with General Law. A 'theft' can be dealt by Labour
                     Law as well as IPC
                 (c)  No jurisdiction of civil courts

            1.5 Principles of Modern Labour Legislation

            The principles of labour legislation have been categorized as social justice, social welfare, national
            economy and international solidarity.

            1.   The principle of social justice includes: abolition of servitude,  freedom of association,
                 collective bargaining and industrial conciliation.





                                             LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY                                    5
   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15