Page 39 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Labour Legislations

Notes India ratified the Convention in 1921 on getting a special relaxation. The existing labour laws
incorporating the provisions of the Convention include: Factories Act, 1948, Mines Act, 1952,
Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966, and Plantation Labour Act,
1951.
Similar Conventions like Hours of Work and Rest Periods (Road Transport) (No.67), 1939, and
(No.153), 1979, and Night Work (Road Transport) Rec.(No.63), 1939 have been adopted in respect
of road transport. Although India has not ratified them, many of their provisions have been
incorporated in the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.

Weekly Rest

The Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention (No. 14),1921 was ratified by India in 1923. The
Convention provides that the entire personnel employed in any industrial undertaking is to
enjoy in every period of 7 days, a period of rest amounting to at least 24 consecutive hours. Most
of the protective labour laws in the country such as Factories Act, 1948, Mines Act, 1952, Plantation
Labour Act, 1951, Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966, Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, Motor Transport Workers' Act, 1961, Contract Labour
(Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 and even, Shops and Establishments Acts contain provisions
under this or similar other Conventions.

Holidays with Pay

The Holidays with Pay Convention (No.52), 1936 fixes the length of holidays at not less than 6
working days after a year's service, and for persons under 16, the annual holidays are not to be
less than 12 working days. Public and customary holidays and interruptions of work due to
sickness are not to be included in the annual holidays with pay. The Convention applies to
industrial and commercial establishments including newspaper undertakings, establishments
for the treatment and care of the sick, infirm, destitute or mentally unfit; hotels, restaurants,
boarding houses, clubs, cafes and other refreshment houses; theatres and places of public
amusements; and 'mixed commercial and industrial establishments.'
Recommendation No.93 lays down that, the minimum length of the holidays with pay should
be one working week for adults and two working weeks for persons under sixteen after a period
of one Year's, continuous service. Recommendation No.98, which applies to all employed persons
except seafarers, agricultural workers or persons in family undertakings, prescribes minimum
annual holidays with pay of two normal working weeks after one year's employment with the
same employer.
India has not ratified ILO's Holidays with Pay Conventions as the standards laid down under the
protective labour laws in the country have been higher than those prescribed under the
Conventions.

Protection of Wages

The Protection of Wages Convention (No.95), 1949 provides that wages payable in money must
be paid regularly in legal tender and deductions may be permitted only under conditions and to
the extent prescribed by national enactments, collective agreements or arbitration awards.
Protection of Wages Recommendation (No.85) adopted the same year, contains detailed rules
relating to deductions from wages, fixation of wage periods, and so forth.
Although India has not ratified the Convention, its provisions have been contained in the
Payment of Wages Act, 1936, Minimum Wages Act, 1948, Shops and Establishments Acts, Beedi
and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 and a few other protective labour
laws.

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