BA7034 - IRLW

AALIM MUHAMMED SALEGH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

AVADI, MUTHAPUDUPET, CHENNAI – 600 055

BA 7034 – INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND

LABOUR WELFARE

Prepared by:

Dr. A. PALANI

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

AALIM MUHAMMED SALEGH COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

BA 7034 – INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND LABOUR WELFARE

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UNIT I - INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Concepts – Importance – Industrial Relations problems in the Public Sector – Growth of

Trade Unions – Codes of conduct.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: The term industrial relations refer to industry and relations. Industry means

any productive activity in which an individual is engaged. Relations mean the relations that exist in the

industry between the employer and workmen.

Definitions: The term industrial relations explain the relationship between employees and management

that stems directly or indirectly from union employer relationship. V.AGNIHOTHRI.

I.R. may be referred to as an art of living together for the purpose of production J.HENRY

The concept of Industrial Relations has been extended to denote the relations of the state with the

employer, worker and their organisations.

The subject therefore, includes individual relations and joint consultations between employers and work

people at their work place. Collective relations between employers and their organisations and trade

unions and the part played by the STATE in regulating these relations.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BRITANNICA

The following points emerge from I.R.:

1. Industrial relations are the actions of the employment relationship.

2. This relationship lays emphasis need for accommodation by which the parties involved to develop

skills and methods of adjusting and cooperating with each other.

3. Every industrial relation system creates a complex of rules and regulations to govern the work place

work community with main purpose of achieving and maintaining harmonious relations between

labour and management by solving their problems through collective bargaining.

4. The Govt./State evolves, influences and shapes industrial relations with the help of laws, rules and

regulations, awards of courts, customs and traditions as well as implementation of policies and

interference through judicial machinery

Scope and Aspects of Industrial Relations:

(i) Labour Relations:

(ii) Employer-Employee Relations:

(iii) Group Relations:

(iv) Community or Public Relations:

The last two, generally fall under purview of industrial relations- Sociology- Further, the two

terms, labour-mgt relations and employee relations are synonymously uses.

The Main Aspects of Industrial Relations:

1) Development of healthy labour - management relations.

2) Maintenance of industrial peace.

3) Development of Industrial Democracy.


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1. Development of healthy labour management relations:

The existence of strong well organized democratic and responsible Trade Unions and associations of

employees.

Job Security, workers participation in management.

Give a dignified role to a labour.

These associations also tend to create vantage grounds for negotiation, consultations and discussions on

mutual basis, which ultimately lead to good Industrial Relation.

The spirit of collective bargaining and willingness to take recourse to voluntary arbitration. The C.B.

recognizes equality of status between two conflicting groups and creating an atmosphere of trust and

goodwill in the matters of common interest to both industry and labour.

"Welfare work', whether statutory or non-statutory provided by the state trade unions and employers

create, maintain and improve labour management relations and thereby contribute to industrial peace.

2. Maintenance of Industrial Peace:

The industrial peace can be nurtured through the following means:

(a) Machinery should be set up for the prevention of settlement and industrial disputes:

Trade Union Act, Industrial Disputes Act, Industrial Employment (standing industrial orders) Act, W.C.,

J.M.C., Conciliation Officer, Board, Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunal, National Tribunals and provisions

for Voluntary Arbitration.

(b ) The Govt. should have the power to refer disputes to adjudication.

(c ) The provision of the Bipartite and Tripartite forums for the settlement of disputes:

These forums act on the basis of the code of discipline in industry code of conduct, code of efficiency,

welfare and model standing orders help to create satisfaction among and employees.

3. Development of Industrial Democracy:

(a ) Establishment of the shop councils and Joint Management Councils at the floor and plant level.

(b ) Recognition of Human Rights in industry.

(c ) Increase in Labour Productivity.

(d ) The availability of proper work environments.

Components of Industrial Relations System or 3 actors of IR :

1) Workers and their organizations: - Socialist countries - state agents - workers union - sectional

bargainers - calm unions - white color class - E.union bargainers.

2) The Management:-

Exploitative authoritative system: -

Benevolent authoritative system: -

Consultative management: -

Participative style: -

3) The Government: - In this system, government acts as a regulator and judge. Further not only the

central government but also the government at the state and regional level do influence the system of

industrial relations. (Laisser Faire (19th

century), I.L.O.,I.L.C, Standing labour committee.)

Factors affecting Industrial Relations

1) Institutional Factors :- State policy, labour laws, collective bargaining agreement, labour unions,

employer organisations/Federation.

2) Economic Factors: - Economic organization (socialist, communist, capitalist) type of ownership,

individual company whether domestic or MNE, Government, cooperative ownership, nature and


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composition of workforce, disparity between groups, levels of unemployment, economic cycle will

influence IR.

3) Social Status:- Social group like joint family or caste, social values, norms, social status(high or low) '

have and have-not'.

4) Technological: - Work method, type of technology, technology change and R&D.

5) Psychological: - Attitude, perception, motivation, and mass-machine interface.

6) Political factors: - Political institutions, system of government, political philosophy, attitude of

government.

7) Enterprise related factors: - Style of mgt., prevailing in the enterprise, organizational climate, and

adaptability to change.

8) Global Factors: - International relations, global conflict, economic political ideologies, global culture

and international trade.

Trade Union - Introduction

The trade union came into an existence as an agent of workers and working class at large. It performed

and still it performs two functions. One to work for the redistribution of some the nations wealth by

raising wages and earning of its members. This enables the workers at their own to improve their living

standard and is the process become better equipped to deal with unfavorable economic conditions.

The second objective of Trade union is however more directly related to their security role, through

various types of union welfare fund and later through pressure for employees welfare Programme and

governmental social security measures. The unions aim to obtain greater benefit for its members.

About four decades ago many employers considered union as something undesirable unwanted item.

Today unions are accepted as a part of industrial relations system. They participate in decision- making on

issues relating to welfare and well being of working community. Some unions discuss on production

norms technical change, introduction of new problems.

Trade Union:

Indian trade union Act 1926 defines as “ A Trade union is any combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen employers or

between workmen and workmen or between employers and employers or for imposing restrictive

conditions on the conduct of any trade or business and includes any federation of two or more trade

unions.

Problems of Trade Unions;

Prologue:India has the largest numbers of trade unions for a single country, but they have developed very

slowly. In the beginning India employers like the British capitalists in India disliked unions. Due to

Mahatma Gandhi, B.P. Wadia efforts produced some results.

(1) Un Even Growth

The trade unionism has not influenced a variety of industries. Plantations coal mines, textile,

transport commerce are the main organized industries where the unionism has made progress.

Unionization varies from industry.


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It may be noted that the trade union activities are mostly in the large-scale industry sector that

too manual labour. Much labour problems have cropped up in the cotton mills, causing some of

the most destructive strikes. Further the leaders provided bulk labour tenders loknomde,

B.P.Wadica, G.D. Ambedkar.

Another important feature of tradu unionism is that it is mainly concentrated in few states in

bigger industrial centers in those states due to concentration of certain industries in particular

areas, Bombay, surat, indore, kempur, kerala, westbengal, T.N and assam.

The trade union development among white-collar workers and lower management cadres is

even more unsatisfactory. Hardly any trade union activity exists in small enterprises, domestic

servants and agriculture labour.

The trade unions in India could bot develop into effective voluntary organizations for certain

reasons.

(A) The unrealistic policies of the Govt, irrelevant notions of morality.

(B) More idealism about goals

(C) The Govt, set more ambitious goals, schemes like workers education, workers in management

etc, without creating an atmosphere for its applicability.

Inspite of their slow growth trade unions have brought about some economic, political and

social changes for the better conditions of the workers.

Socially, they have emerged as a unique force of national integration in spite of the

hinderances of illiteracy rural back ground of workers and their migratory character, on the

basis of communication, casterism.

In fact a century old trade union movement is suffering problems like small size, poor finance

outside leadership, domination of political parties inter-union rivalry, multiciplity of unions.

(2) Small Size of Unions:

Though trade unions are of various sizes including both small and local associations and large ones with

thousand members like that of the labour textile association of ahmedabad , yet most of them are

characterized by their small size and small membership.

The small size of trade unions is due to various factors namely

(i) The fact that any seven workers may form a union under trade union act of 1926 and get it

registered, so the large number of small unions have grown.

(ii) The women workers who form a substained part of workforce are not allowed to join trade

unions on account of various reasons.

(iii) The rivalry among the leaders and the central organizations has resulted in a multiplicity of

unions, thereby reducing membership.

(iv) The unionization in India started with the big employers and gradually apread to small

employers. Though the number of unions and union membership is increasing however their

average membership has been declining.


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Because of their small size, unions suffer from lack of adjucate funds and find it difficult to engage

the services of experts to advice them in time of need. Further they cannot face the challenges of

employers for a long because of their weak bargaining power.

(3) Financial Weakness:

The trade union suffer frome financial weakness the average yearly income of a union has been

rather low and inadequate.

The average income of the trade unions has been low not because of the poverty of the workers but

due to certain other factors.

(i) the workers are apathetic towards trade unions and do not want to contribute a part of their

hard-earned money.

(ii) Members, instead of making regular payments to the unions make ad-hoc payments if a

dispute arises which shows lack of commitment to the union.

(iii) Due to multiciplity of unions, unions keep low subscription fee to increase the membership.

The primary source of income of a trade union is from membership fee poor financial position

adversely affects their working. They cannot undertake any welfare activities for their

members,now they can successfully launch a strike. Due to lack of finance, unions cannot make

use of competent and adequate salaried staff. Honorary workers cannot safeguard the interest of

individual workers and they cannot devote full-time attention to it. So paid union employees need

to be employed to improve the situation.

(4) Multiciplity of Unions:

The multiciplity of rival unions and the inter-union rivalry are an important features and one of the

great weaknesses of the Indian trade union movement. The multiple unions are mainly the result

of political outsiders wanting to establish unions of their own wih a view to increasing their

political influence. The existence of different conflicting or rival organizations, with divergent

political views, is largely responsible fot eh inadequate and unhealthy growth of the movement.

Within a single organization, one comes across a number of groups comprising insiders and

outsiders, new comers and old timers, northern and southern, moderates and radical high and low

caste people.

Inter union rivalry undermines the strength and solidarity of the workers in many ways.

The multiplication of trade unions at plant level does not enjoy the confidence of the most

of the employees.

Most of the trade unions.

Importance f Industrial Relations

1. Industrial relations patterns, organized sector and its impact on unorganized sector.

2. Unions are important force in the Indian political system.

3. Varying patterns of industrial relations.

4. Status difference in the workers of public and private sector.


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The Code of Discipline (Conduct)

Evolution of the Code

The 15th

Indian labour conference held in July 1957 laid down general principles

There should be no lockout or strike without notice.

No unilateral action should be taken in connection with any industrial matter.

There should be no recourse to go-slow tactics.

No deliberate damage should be caused to plant and machinery or property.

Acts of violence, intimidation, coercion, instigation should not be resorted to

The existing machinery should be properly utilized

Awards and agreements should be speedily implemented

Any agreement which disturbs cordial industrial relations should be avoided

These principles were accepted with modification and code of conduct or discipline was evolved. It

came into four central national labour organization INTUC, AITUC, HMS, UTUC on behalf of the

workers and by the employers federations of India.

Objectives of Code of Conduct

Aim of the code is to establish cordial relations between management and workers on voluntary basis

to promote industrial harmony.

To ensure that employers and employees recognizes each others rights and obligations.

To constructive cooperation between the parties concerned at all levels.

To secure settlement of disputes and grievances by negotiation, conciliation and voluntary arbitration.

To eliminate all sorts of coercion, intimidation and violence in industrial relations.

To avoid work stoppage

To facilitate the free growth of trade unions and

To maintain discipline in industry.

Main Features of the Code

The code of discipline is applicable to both public and private sector units. The important features of code

of conduct are as follows,

1. It prohibits strikes and lockouts without prior notice and also intimidation, victimization and its

adoption of ‘ go slow’ tactics by workers. 2. No one sided (unilateral) action can be taken by either party in any industrial relation matter.

3. All disputes are to be settled through the existing machinery provided for this purpose by the Govt.,

4. The employer neither will nor increases the workload without prior agreement with workers.

5. A common grivance procedure for the settlement of grievances of the workers after full

investigation has been provided for

6. The employers will provide all facilities for the “ unfettered” growth of trade unions. 7. Prompt action will be taken against those officers whose conduct provokes indiscipline among the

workers.

8. The workers will not indulge in any trade union activity during the working hours. They will not

engage in any activity or demonstration which is no peaceful.

9. The workers will implement their part of the awards and settlements promptly and will take action

against those office bearers of the union who have violated the code.

10. The unions will discourage negligence of duty, careless operations, damage to property,

insubordination and disturbance in normal productive activities


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Causes of poor Industrial Relations:

Industrial relations scene is not satisfactory and it is visible from frequent strikes, gherao, lockout

and other forms of industrial disputes. Several economic, social, psychological, technological, and political

factors are responsible for poor industrial relations.

1. Economic Causes: Poor wages and poor working conditions are the main reasons for

unhealthy relations among management and labour. Unauthorized deductions from wages, lack

of fringe benefits, absence of promotional opportunities, dissatisfaction with job evolution and

performance appraisal methods, Faculty incentive schemes are other economic causes. When

employers deny equitable and fair remuneration and good working and living conditions to the

working class, trade unions agitate and industrial peace is disturbed .Inadequate infrastructural

facilities, worn-out plant and machinery poor layout, unsatisfactory maintenance and other

physical and technical causes also contribute to industrial conflict.

2. Organisational causes: Faculty communication system, dilution of supervision and command,

non-recognition of trade unions, unfair practices violation of collective agreements and

standing orders and labour laws are the Organisational causes of poor relations in industry.

3. Social: Uninteresting nature of work is the main social cause. Factory system and

specialization have made worker a subordinate to the machine. Worker has lost scene of pride

and satisfaction in the job. Tension and conflict in society, break up of joint family system,

growing intolerance have also led to poor industrial relations. Dissatisfaction with job and

personal life cultimates into Industrial conflicts.

4. Psychological Causes: Lack of job security, poor Organisational culture, non-recognition of

merit and performance, authoritative administration and poor interpersonal relations are the

psychological reasons for unsatisfactory employer-employee relations.

5. Political Cause: Political nature of trade unions, multiple unions and inter-union rivalry

weaken trade union movement. In the absence of Strong and responsible trade unions,

collective bargaining becomes ineffective. The union’s status is reduced to a mere strikes

committee. The outsider’s who become unions leader by making wild promises to workers make excessive demands on employers. When employers do not accept their demands conflicts

arise spoiling the industrial relations climate in the country.

Suggestions to improve industrial Relations:

The fundamental principles or requirements for sound industrial relations are given below:

1. Sound Personnel Policies: Policies and procedures concerning the compensation, transfer, promotion, etc. of employees

should be fair and transparent. All policies and rules relating to industrial relations should be clear

to everybody in the enterprise and to the union leaders. Top management must support them and

set an example for other managers. Practices and procedures should be developed to put personnel

policies into practice. Sound policies and rules are of little help unless they executed objectively

and equitably.

2. Constructive Attitudes: Both management and trade unions should adopt Positive attitudes towards each other.

Management must recognize union as the spokesmen of workers’ grievances and as custodians of their interests. The employer should accept workers as equal partners in a joint endeavor, unions

and workers, on their part, must recognize and accept the rights of employers.


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3. Collective Bargaining: Employers’ organizations as well as trade unions should be able and willing to deal with

mutual problems freely and responsibly. Both should accept collective bargaining as the

cornerstone of good industrial relations. A genuine desire on the part of employers to bargain with

employees on the basis of equality is necessary. Governmental agencies should assist the two sides

in public interest. Problem centered negotiations rather than a legalistic approach is desired.

Widespread union management consultation and information sharing are helpful.

4. Participative Management: Employers should associate workers and unions in the formulation and implementation of

personnel policies and practices. Management should convince workers of the integrity and

sincerity of the company. Management should not interfere in the internal affairs of the unions.

Instead of trying to win workers’ loyalty away from unions management should encourage right type of union leadership. A strong union is an assert to the employer.

5. Responsible Unions: Unions should adopt a responsible rather than political approach to industrial relations. Unions

should accept private ownership and operations of industry. They must recognize that the welfare

of workers depends on the successful operations of industry. A strong democratic and responsible

union alone can ensure that workers honor the agreement with their employer.

6. Employee welfare: Employee should recognize the need for the welfare of workers. They must ensure reasonable

wages, Satisfactory working conditions, opportunities for training and development, and other

necessary facilities for labour. A Genuine concern for the welfare and betterment of working class

is necessary.

7. Grievance Procedure: A well-established and properly administered system for the timely and satisfactory redressal of

employees’ grievances can be very helpful in improving industrial relations. It provides an outlet for tensions and frustrations of workers. Similarly a suggestion scheme will help to satisfy the

creative urge of workers. A code of discipline if properly adhered to by both the parties will help to

avoid unilateral and violent actions on either side.

Trade union Movement in India

Trade union movement in India started quite late. Bombay mill hands association founded in 1890

by Shri. N.M.Lokhanday, a factory worker, is said to de the first trade union in India. In subsequent years

a numbers of unions were formed such as the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India and

Burma (1897), The printers’ union (1905), The Bombay union (1907), the kamgar Hitwardhak sabha (1909), and the social service league (1910).

These unions were loose and sectarian organization set up by social reformers rather than by

workers. They were friendly societies or welfare bodies.

There was a remarkable growth in labour movement between 1904 and 1917 and several strikes

were organized. But trade unions remained confined by and large to the upper ranks and educated sections

of the working class. Political developments like the partition of Bengal and swadeshi movement helped

the trade union movement. However, the unions were largely local and loose dependent on external

philanthropy.


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At the end of world war-I, growing economic hardships, the Russians Revolution, the

establishment of the ILO and other factors gave Philip to trade union movement. As a result, many unions

were formed. The Textile Labour Association (1920), The All India Trade Union Congress(AITUC)

(1920), Indian Seamen’s Union, Railways Workers’ Union, The Indian Colliery Employees’ Association, The Madras Textile Union Were Some Of The Unions. The all India trade unions congress a loose

federation was given authority for selecting delegates to represent Indian labour at the ILO Conference.

Workers’ unions sprang up in jute, cotton, textiles, railways and port industries all over the country. The Trade Unions Act 1926 gave legal status to registered trade unions and conferred on them special

privileges. Therefore, this law was an important landmark in the history of trade union movement in India.

The Great Economic Depression, failure of the Bombay Textile strike of 1929 and Royal Commission on

labour(1929) brought a lull in trade union activity. Communists acquired a hold in the working class

movement and the AITUC emerged as the sole representative of the working class in India. Several major

strikes were organized. A section of the leaders separated and formed the Red Trade Unions Congress

(RTUC). The all Indian Railway men’s Federation emerged another major body of workers. The labour movement remained divided.

Thirties was a period of unity in trade union movement. The National Federation of Labour was

formed in 1933 to facilitate unity. The AITUF and the Railway unions amalgamated to form the National

Trade Unions Federation (NTUF). The RTUC merged into the AITUC. In 1940 the NTUF merged with

the AITUC. In 1941 radicals in the AITUC formed a new central federation called Indian Federation of

Labour.

After Independence, there was speedy growth in trade unions due to support from both the

Government and the Society at large. However, several splits occurred in central organizations of labour.

In 1947, Moderates in the AITUC separated and formed the Indian National Trade Union Congress

(INTUC). Hindustan Mazdoor sevak sangh (HMSS) and Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (ATLA)

became very active. Socialists broke away from INTUC and formed the Hindustan Mazdoor Panchayat

(HMP). HMP and Indian Federation of labour came together and formed the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).

A section of HMS later on formed the United Trade Union Congress (UTUC) in 1949. A few unions

recorded forms the HMS in 1959 and established the Hind Mazdoor Panchayat. In 1962, a new

organization called the Confederation of Free Trade Unions (NCCTU) to provide a common platform for

trade union activities. The basic aim was to isolate the CITU which retaliated by setting up a United

Council Of Trade Unions (UCTC).

At present there are about 48000 registered trade unions and ten central labour organizations in

India. Some important features of these unions are given below:

(i) Workers in India are unionized mainly on the basis of plant (industrial unions) rather than

on the basis of crafts (Crafts unions). Craft unions are formed among non-industrial and

professional workers e.g, taxi drivers, journalist, teacher, bank employees, etc. on the basis

of hierarchy there are three types of unions: (a) Primary unions which operate at the plant

level; (b) regional federation which work at the regional level, and (c) Central labour

organization which function at the national level.

(ii) The extent of unionization is not uniform in all industries. Workers in some industries are

better unionized than in others. For instance, about 70% of the workers in textile industry

are unionized whereas only 21% of about workers in chemicals are unionized. Similarity,

there is heavy concentration of unions in some states but in there exists only few unions.

(iii) Most of the unions in India are small in size as they are of the ‘one shop’ type. Due to small size the financial condition of unions is weak.


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(iv) Unionization is not limited to blue collar employees. White collar workers are also

unionized.

(v) The primary unions are affiliated to a number of central unions.

(vi) There is very close link between trade unions and political parties most of the central labour

organizations are under the control of one political party or the other.

Traditionally trade unions in India have been playing the role of bargainers and agitators. But in future

they will have to play new roles to meet the changing aspirations of the working class. There new

activities are: (a) Counseling (b) education and training (c) Communication (d) employee welfare (e)

family and vocational guidance (f) research and publications (g) human resource development, and (h)

employee ownership

RIGHTS OF A REGISTERED TRADE UNION:

1. A registered trade union is a body corporate having a perpetual succession and a common seal.

It acquires a legal personality separate from its members. It can acquire and hold a property and

can enter into contracts in its own name. it can also sue and be sued in its own name.

2. A registered trade union has a right to maintain general funds and spend them for certain

specified purposes.

3. A registered trade union can constitute a separate fund for political purposes.

4. The act provides immunity to office bearers and m members of a registered trade union from

liability to punishment in respect of any agreement made between the members for the purpose

of furthering its objects as specified in section 15 unless the agreement is an agreement to

commit an offence.

5. A registered trade union enjoys immunity from civil action in respect of any act done in

contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute to which a member of the trade union is a party

on the ground only that such act induces some other person to break a contract of employment

of some other person to dispose of his capital or his labour as he wills.

6. A registered trade union can represents workmen to the works committee.

A registered trade union has the following liabilities.

To appoint only those persons as office bearers who do not suffer from the disqualification

prescribed under the act.

To maintain books of accounts and the list of members

To keep books and the list open for inspection by members.

To submit annually to the registrar of trade union duly audited statements of receipts and

expenditure and assets and liabilities.

To furnish correct information to persons intending to become members.

RIGHTS OF A RECOGNISED OF TRADE UNION:

Annexure B of the Code of Discipline mentions the following rights of a recognized union.

1. It can raise issue and enter into collective agreements with employers on general questions

concerning the terms of employment and conditions of service of workers in the establishment.

2. It can collect membership fees from the members within the premises of the undertaking.

3. It can put up a notice board on the premises of the undertaking and use it for announcement

relating to meetings, etc.

4. For the purpose of prevention or settlement of an individual dispute:


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It can hold discussions on the premises of the undertaking with the employees who are

members of the union.(But this should not interfere with the normal working of the

undertaking)

It can discuss with the employer or with any other person appointed by him in that behalf

the grievance of employees in the undertaking.

It can inspect any place in the undertaking where any member of the union is employed.

It can appoint its nominees on (a) Joint management councils (b) Grievance Committee,

and (c) any other non-statutory bipartite committee, canteen committee, house allotment

committee, etc.

PROPORTION OF WORKERS INVOLVED IN INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

Data pertaining to the proportion of workers involved in industrial disputes to the total number of

persons employed during 1973 and 1995 reveals that the percentage of workers involved in industrial

disputes in the public and the private sectors has shown a mixed trends. In 1973, 69% of the workers

involved in industrial disputes belonged to the private sector. It decreased to 48% in 1983, 33% in 1988

and 32% in 1990. It again rose to 55% in 1993. Over the recent years, the percentage share of public

sector in the total mandays lost in industrial disputes has shown a rising trend because of strikes of Banks,

Air India, Insurance employees, and post and telegraph employees.

NUMBER OF MANDAYS LOST AND AVERAGE NUMBER OF WORKERS INVOLVED PER

DISPUTE

Though the total number of workers employed in the public sector has been nearly double the

number employed in the private sector, the mandays lost in industrial disputes in the public sector was

barely 17% during 1973. The highest figure of the share of mandays lost in the public sector was in the

year 1974 when the railways strike took place and next in order was in the year 1981. In both these years

some major public sector undertakings were involved in the industrial dispute. Despite this, the share of

the public sector in the total mandays lost never exceeded 33% , it was as low as 7% in 1976 the year

following the emergency. However, it has been around 14 to 18% in most of the subsequent years. In

1986, it was only 8% and declined to 6% in 1994. It again increased to 12 and 15% during 1996 and 1997

respectively. From this point of view, the public sector has an edge over the private sector in the

maintenance of better industrial relations.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF MANDAYS LOST PER WORKER

The data relating to average number of mandays lost per worker reveals that in the public sector,

there is comparatively much less time required for resolving a dispute, but in the private sector, it has

taken much longer. For instance, during the period of 1973 and 1997 (but for 1981 and 1982), the average

number of mandays lost per worker has remained between 4 and 10 in the public sector, but during the

same period, in the private sector, the average loss of mandays per worker has been between 10 and 87.

Perhaps the reason for lower average number of mandays lost in the public sector lies in the fact that the

Government, being a pace-setter in the payment of wages, allowances and perquisites agrees to the

demands for higher wages, bonus, allowances, etc. of the workers without much loss of time.

TRENDS IN INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS


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To have a comparative view of the trend in industrial relations in the public and private sectors, the

following indicators may be used:

(i) The proportion of workers involved in industrial disputes to the total number of workers.

(ii) The total number of mandays lost and the average number of workers involved per dispute.

(iii) The average number of mandays lost per worker in an industrial dispute.

PROPORTION OF WORKERS INVOLVED IN INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

Data pertaining to the proportion of workers involved in industrial disputes to the total number of

persons employed during 1973 and 1995 reveals that the percentage of workers involved in industrial

disputes in the public and the private sectors has shown a mixed trends. In 1973, 69% of the workers

involved in industrial disputes belonged to the private sector. It decreased to 48% in 1983, 33% in 1988

and 32% in 1990. It again rose to 55% in 1993. Over the recent years, the percentage share of public

sector in the total mandays lost in industrial disputes has shown a rising trend because of strikes of Banks,

Air India, Insurance employees, and post and telegraph employees.

NUMBER OF MANDAYS LOST AND AVERAGE NUMBER OF WORKERS INVOLVED PER

DISPUTE

Though the total number of workers employed in the public sector has been nearly double the

number employed in the private sector, the mandays lost in industrial disputes in the public sector was

barely 17% during 1973. The highest figure of the share of mandays lost in the public sector was in the

year 1974 when the railways strike took place and next in order was in the year 1981. In both these years

some major public sector undertakings were involved in the industrial dispute. Despite this, the share of

the public sector in the total mandays lost never exceeded 33% , it was as low as 7% in 1976 the year

following the emergency. However, it has been around 14 to 18% in most of the subsequent years. In

1986, it was only 8% and declined to 6% in 1994. It again increased to 12 and 15% during 1996 and 1997

respectively. From this point of view, the public sector has an edge over the private sector in the

maintenance of better industrial relations.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF MANDAYS LOST PER WORKER

The data relating to average number of mandays lost per worker reveals that in the public sector,

there is comparatively much less time required for resolving a dispute, but in the private sector, it has

taken much longer. For instance, during the period of 1973 and 1997 (but for 1981 and 1982), the average

number of mandays lost per worker has remained between 4 and 10 in the public sector, but during the

same period, in the private sector, the average loss of mandays per worker has been between 10 and 87.

Perhaps the reason for lower average number of mandays lost in the public sector lies in the fact that the

Government, being a pace-setter in the payment of wages, allowances and perquisites agrees to the

demands for higher wages, bonus, allowances, etc. of the workers without much loss of time.


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UNIT II - INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS

Disputes – Impact – Causes – Strikes – Prevention – Industrial Peace – Government

Machinery – Conciliation – Arbitration – Adjudication.

INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS / DISPUTES

Industrial conflict is a rather a general concept. When it acquires specific dimension, it becomes an

industrial dispute. The various terms, such as industrial dispute, labour dispute, or trade dispute are

used in different countries to identify the differences between employers and workers. For the purpose

of the study we refer as industrial dispute. Conflict or disputes are equally regarded.

DEFENITION:

According to the industrial dispute act 1947 section 2(k) “industrial disputes mean any dispute or

differences between employer and employer or between employers and workmen or between workmen

and workmen, which is connected with the employment or no-employment or terms of employment or

with the conditions of labour of any person.

CLASSIFICATION OF INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES:

(i) INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES:

These disputes are also called conflicts of interest or economic disputes. They generally

correspond to what in some countries are called collective labour disputes. In general, they relate to

the determination of new terms and conditions of employment for the general body of workers.

(ii) GRIEVANCE OR RIGHTS DISPUTES:

These disputes are also known as conflicts or legal disputes. They involve individual workers only

or a group and correspond largely to what in some countries are called individual disputes. They

generally arise from day to day working relations in the undertaking, usually as a protest by the worker

or workers concerned against an act of management that is considered to violate their rights.

The grievance typically arise on such questions as discipline and dismissal, the payment of wages

and fringe benefits, working time, overtime, promotion, demotion, transfer rights of seniority, rights of

supervision, job classification problem, collective agreements and the fulfillment of obligations relating

to health and safety. Grievance disputes are also called as interpretation disputes.

(iii) DISPUTES OVER UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES:

The most common unfair labour practices in industrial relations are attempts by the management of

an undertaking to discriminate against workers on the ground that they are trade union members or

participants in trade union activity. In most cases, the object of the discriminatory treatment are union

officials or representatives employed in the undertaking and trade union members who have actively

participated in strikes.

Other unfair labour practices are generally concerned with interference, restraint, or coercion of

employees where they exercise their to organize, join or assist union; refusal to bargain collectively, in

faith, with the recognized union; recruiting new employees strike which is not an illegal strike; failure

to implement an award, settlement or agreement; indulging in acts of force or violence etc.


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(iv) REFERENCE DISPUTES:

This type of dispute arises when the management of an undertaking or employer’s organization refuses to recognize a trade union for the purpose of collective bargaining.

Issues in recognition disputes differ according to the cause, which has led the management to refuse

recognition. It may be that the management dislikes the trade union; the problem is their attitude as in

case of trade union victimization. However, the management’s refusal may be on the other ground that

the union refusing recognition is not sufficiently representating or that there are several unions in

undertaking making conflicting claims to recognition. Law need not necessarily lay down rules; they

may be conventional or derived from prevailing practices in the country.

CAUSES OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS:

Although a multitude of causes lead to industrial conflicts, it is not always easy in specific instances,

to ascertain the particular cause or causes involved. It has been pointed by industrial relations experts

that the management are usually the same wherever capitalist economy prevails.

Industrial relations may be harmonious or strained and acrimonious. In the latter case, there may be

many causes, which are roofed, in historical, political and socio economic factors and in the attitude of

workers and their employers.

Industry related factors

Management related factors

Government related factors

Other causes

(i) INDUSTRIAL RELATED FACTORS:

Under this category, some of the causes of dispute may be: the industry related factors pertaining to

employment work, wages, hours of work, privileges, the rights and obligations of employees and

employers, terms and conditions of employment including matters pertaining to

Dismissal or non-employment of any person

Registered agreement, settlement or award and

Demarcation of functions of an employee.

Disputes often arise because of: relatively higher growth of population and labour force

led to a sharp increase in the quantum of unemployment from one plan period to another.

High quantum of job seekers in the employment market would create serious industrial

relations problems.

Further the policy liberalization that call for the adoption of high tech in industries would

further complicate the problem.

Rising prices of essential commodities, shortage and their non-availability, all these erode

the value of money.

The existing inadequate and unjustified wage structure, which has been chaotic; and

failure to pay a need-based wage and D.A. All these have created dissatisfaction among

workers and constrained them to demand higher wages.

The attitude and temperament of industrial workers have changed because of their

education, their adoption of urban culture and the consequent change in social values,

progressive legislations enacted benefits. They are, therefore, very conscious of their

rights and will not put up with any injustice or wrong done to them.


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The trade unions at large have failed to safeguard the interest of working class on account

of the following reasons.

The growing inter union rivalry and multiplicity of trade unions have destroyed the solidarity of

the working class

Non recognition of some trade unions as bargaining agents of their members

The trade unions generally are organized on the basis of caste, language or communal

considerations, which divide rather than unity of workers.

Trade unions generally do not bother about any aspect of the lives other than the workers

wages.

MANAGEMENT RELATED FACTORS:

Management generally is not willing to talk over any dispute with the employees or their

representatives or refer it to arbitration even when trade unions want it to do so.

The management’s unwillingness to recognize a particular trade union and dilatory tactics to

which verifying the representative character of any trade union have been a fruitful source of

industrial strife.

Even when employers they do not in a number of cases have recognized the representative trade

unions, delegate enough authority to their officials to negotiate with their workers, even though

the representatives of labour are willing to commit themselves to a particular settlement.

When, during negotiations for the settlement of a dispute the representatives of employers

unnecessarily and unjustifiably take the side of the management, tensions are created, which

often lead to strikes, go slow or lock outs.

The management is alone responsible for recruitment, promotion, transfer, merit awards etc,

and there is no need to consult employees in regard to any of this matter, it annoys workers and

causes for non-cooperation and disputes.

The services and benefits offered by the management to its workers in most of the cases are far

from satisfactory, which naturally leads to conflicts.

GOVERNMENT REALTED FACTORS:

The changes in economic policies also create many disputing situations. For instance, policies

of liberalization and privatization have caused many strikes in the country.

Most of the labour laws have lost their relevance in the context of changing industrial climate.

Improper and inadequate implementation of labour laws by most of the employers.

Few inherent difficulties in monitoring the working of various labour laws.

The growing irrelevance of government’s conciliation machinery because:

Both the employees and employers have little faith in it.

Both have become litigation minded

The officers associated with conciliation proceedings have very little training in

handling the problems or disputes, which are referred to them.

OTHER CAUSES:

The trade union movement is highly politicalised. Quite often politicians and political parties

instigate strikes, gheraos and bandhs to demonstrate political strength. Naturally the political

party, which is in power, will attract the trade unions, as a result number of dispute arise.

The political immaturity and the strained center-state relations are reflected in industry,

resulting in conflicts.

The tense inter union rivalry among less important and dominant trade union invariably sparks

off disputes.


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Other potential factors, such as corruption in industry and public life, easy money, character

crisis and general break down in national social values and social norms- all these can and have

perpetuated all kinds of unrest including industrial unrest.

STRIKES

In the words of C.W. Doten “strikes are merely symptoms of more fundamental maladjustments, injustices and economic disturbances”.

Patterson views a strike as “a temporary cessation of work by a group of employees in order to express their grievance or to enforce a demand concerning changes in work conditions.

DEFINITION:

Section 2 (g) of the industrial disputes act 1947, defines a strike a “creation of work by body of persons employed in any industry acting in combination or a concerted refusal under a common

understanding of a member of persons who are or have been so employed to continue to work or to

accept employment.

In this above definition, a strike postulates three main elements namely (i) plurality of workmen

(ii) cessation of work or refusal to do work (iii) combined or concerted action.

Cessation of work implies that mere absence from work is not sufficient but that cessation of work

or refusal to work should be the result-concerted action on the part of workmen for the purpose of

enforcing a demand.

TYPES OF STRIKES:

Generally speaking a strike can be viewed at various ways as a course of action determining the

psychology of men at work or as an action for some economic cause or to serve some political ends.

For whatever purpose or in whatever form they are, strikes may be broadly classified into primary and

secondary strikes.

PRIMARY STRIKES: Primary strikes are generally aimed against the employer with whom the

dispute exists. They may take form in many ways.

SECONDARY STRIKES: Secondary strikes are in which the pressure is applied not against the

primary employer with whom the primary workers have a dispute but against some third person who

has good trade relations with him, which are served, and the primary employer incurs a loss. Such

strikes are popular in the U.S.A. but not in India.

TYPES OF PRIMARY STRIKES:

(i) STAY AWAY STRIKE: In this type of strike, workmen simply do not come to the work place

during the prescribed working hours. Instead, they organize rallies and demonstrations with view

to drawing the attention of the employer to their grievances.

(ii) SIT DOWN AND STAY IN STRIKE: A sit down strike is said to have occurred whenever a

group of employees or others interested in attaining certain objectives in a particular business take

possession of property of that business, establish themselves in the plant, stop its production and

refuse access to the owners or to others desiring to work.


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(iii)TOOLS DOWN STRIKE/PEN DOWN STRIKE: The workers and office employees resort to

these kinds of strikes respectively. In such a strike, the strikes lay down their tools or pen and

refrain from doing work though they remain on the job in the work place.

(iv) TOKEN OR PROTEST STRIKE: This kind of strike is of a very short duration strike and is in the

nature of a signal for the danger ahead. Such a strike is really accompanied by threats of a strong

dose of direct action on the part of workmen, and their purpose is simply to convey the employer

about the feelings of the employees against any decision taken by him.

(v) LIGHTNING OR CAT CALL STRIKE: This type of strike is suddenly announced. Generally by

way of surprise without notice or at very short notice and therefore the issues in dispute are

discussed. Such a strike takes place because of some provocation and the real cause may be some

discontent on the more employer and employee relations. These strikes are said to be legal except

where a notice is required to be given.

(vi) GO SLOW: It is a deliberate delaying of production by workmen pretending to be engaged in the

factory and is one of the most illegal practices that workmen sometimes resort to. The go-slow is

a technical word, which is used to describe the tactics of workers when they intentionally reduce

the speed of work, to adopt dilatory tactics to reduce production or efficiency while pretending to

be engaged in the factory.

(vii) PICKETING: Picketing is an act of posting pickets and implies marching or patrolling or

workmen in front of the premises of the employer, carrying and displaying signs, banners and

placards in connection with disputes for the purpose of preventing others from entering the place.

(viii) BOYCOTT: Boycott aims at disrupting the normal functioning of the enterprise. It is an appeal

for all voluntary with drawl of co-operation and so it is persuasive in nature , but negative in

approach.

(ix) GHERAO: It is a physical blockade of a target by encirclement, intended to block a particular

office, workshop, factory or residence or forcible occupation. The target may be a place or person

or persons, usually the managerial or supervisory staff of an industrial establishment. The

blockade may be complete or partial, and is invariably accompanied by wrongful restraint and or

wrongful confinement, criminal trespass, mischief to person and property, and various other

criminal offences. Some of the offenses are cruel and ill human like confinement in a place with

out light or fan and for long periods without food or communication with the out side world. The

person confined are beaten, humiliated with abuses.

(x) HUNGER STRIKE: A hunger strike is resorted to either by leaders of the union or by some

workers, all at a time or in small batches, for a limited period or by all workers at some stage of

the dispute. The purpose is to create sympathy of the employer and to attract the attention of the

public.

(xi) SYMPATHETIC: It is a strike in which the striking workmen have no demands or grievances of

their won against their employer but they may go on strike for the purpose of directly, aiding or

supporting others in their cause.

In other words, the workers have no direct interest in the advancement of the cause of them

strikers. Such a strike is unjustifiable invasion of rights of employers and is generally unlawful.


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WHEN STRIKES ARE JUSTIFIED:

All strikes are not justified, nor all the strikes are unjustified. There are some requirements, which

must be fulfilled before it can be claimed that a strike is justified.

It should be launched only for economic demands, such as basic pay, dearness allowance,

increment, leave and other fringe benefits, which are the primary objectives of a trade union.

But if a strike is launched for political or other reasons and not for any trade union objective, it

would be unjustified.

The demands of workmen should be reasonable and legitimate so that there is a prima facie

justification for the demands. The demands should not be raised for ulterior reasons. When

demands are excessive, unreasonable or when an agitation is launched through demands had

already been settled or try be reagitated then any strike to enforce the said demands cannot be

said to be justified.

When existing facilities are summarily withdrawn, or when the provident fund is closed and

rations benefit withdrawn, a strike would be justified.

If there is any unfair labour practice on the part of management a strike would be justified.

When there is no response from the management in spite of referring a demand and issuing a

reminder, a strike is justified.

STEPS TO PROMOTE INDUSTRIAL PEACE

Industrial peace is an ideal situation for industrial growth. It is, therefore, desirable to establish

cordial labour-management relations. The responsibility of creating industrial peace rests with

employers, employees and the government. Industrial peace is possible only when all the three parties

take suitable steps for maintaining cordial industrial relations. It is always desirable to have lasting

industrial peace and for this constant vigilance is required.

In order to promote industrial harmony or lasting peace in industry, the following steps are

suggested:

(a) Atmosphere of Mutual Trust: Both management and labour should help in the development

of an atmosphere of mutual cooperation, confidence, and respect. Management should adopt a

progressive outlook and should recognize the rights of workers. Similarly, labour unions

should persuade their members to work for the common objectives of the organization. Both

the management and the unions should have faith in collective bargaining and other peaceful

methods of settling disputes between them.

(b) Effective communication: Blockages in communication between the management and the

workers should be removed. There should be an effective system of two-way communication

so that the basic policies and procedures relating to industrial relations are known to everybody

in the organization. Proper communication is particularly important, when a new policy is to be

introduced or an existing policy is to be changed. Management must ensure that the operative

employees understand and agree on the industrial relations policies. Proper communication will

help in minimizing resistance to change, eliminating unnecessary misunderstanding, and thus,

in checking deterioration in industrial relations.

(c) Fair Personnel Policies: Sound and fair personnel policies should be formulated in

consultation with the representatives of the employees, reviewed periodically, communicated to

all the members of the organization, and implemented uniformly throughout the organization.


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(d) Proactive Management: The management should follow a proactive approach, i.e should

anticipate problems and take timely steps to tackle these problems. Challenges must be

anticipated before they arise otherwise reactive actions will compound them and cause greater

discontent.

(e) Strong Unions: The workers should be encouraged to build strong unions which will negotiate

with the management and guide the workers in improving productivity and quality. Strong and

stable unions will go a long way in protecting the economic and social interests of the workers.

(f) Industrial Democracy: Workers’ Participation in management of the industrial enterprise should be encouraged. This will not only satisfy the psychological needs of the workers but

also help in improving communication and trust between the management and workers and also

allow the workers and also allow the workers to actively participate in improving productivity

and quality.

(g) Effective Implementation of Agreements: Any agreement / settlement between labour and

management should be sincerely administered in both letter as well as spirit, otherwise mutual

faith may be shaken and industrial relations may start getting tense.

(h) Role of Government: The government can play an important role in protecting the interests of

the workers and also ensuring smooth industrial relation in industry by enacting and enforcing

various lanour laws. It must monitor and regulate industrial relations for encouraging industrial

peace in the country. Wherever the management and the workers of a unit fail to settle disputes

between them, the government should intervene for the speedy settlement of industrial dispute.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MACHINERY IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION:

Lasting industrial peace requires that the causes of industrial disputes should be eliminated. In other

words, preventive steps should be taken so that industrial disputes do not occur. If preventive

machinery fails, then the government to settle the disputes should activate the industrial dispute

settlement machinery.

MACHINERY FOR HANDLING ID

Preventive (voluntary or non-statutory)

Settlement machinery (statutory)

PREVENTIVE MACHINERY:

The preventive machinery has been setup with a view to creating harmonius relations between

labour and management.

Schemes of workers participation

Collective bargaining

Grievance procedure

Tripartite bodies

Code of discipline

Standing orders


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INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT MACHINERY:

This machinery has been provided under the industrial disputes act 1947. It provides a legal

way of settling the disputes. The goal of preventive machinery is to create an environment where the

disputes do not arise at all. Even then if any differences arise, the judicial machinery has been

provided to settle them to avoid work stoppage. The machinery consists the following:

CONCILIATION:

Conciliation is the most important method for the settlement of industrial disputes through third

party intervention.

It is an attempt to reconcile the views of the disputants and bring them to an agreement.

Conciliation is generally understood as the friendly intervention of a neutral person in a dispute to help

the parties to settle their differences peacefully.

Conciliation may be described as the practice by which the services of a neutral third party are used

in a dispute as a means of helping the disputing parties to reduce the extent of their differences and to

arrive at an amiable settlement.

It is a process by which representatives of workers and employers are brought together before a

third person with a view to persuading them to arrive at an agreement.

Conciliation tends to bring about a speedy settlement of disputes without resort to strikes or

lockouts. Its function is to assist the parties to more towards a mutually acceptable compromise or

solution.

The conciliation is a neutral third party who, without using force tries to bridge the gap between the

two contending parties and reduce the differences as far as possible by tending to advice to the parties

and bringing them close to a settlement. He acts as a catalyst agent who creates an opportunity for the

parties to meet face to face to resolve their differences amiably.

He persuades rather than orders or forces the party to accept his viewpoint. He never gives his

judgement on the issues, but may suggest possible lines of solution; but it is for the parties to accept or

not to accept his suggestions or proposals. He cannot impose terms of settlement upon them.

A unique and essential character of the conciliation process is its flexibility, informality and

simplicity, which distinguish from other method.

CONCILIATION MACHINERY:

Conciliation officer

Conciliation board

CONCILIATION OFFICER:

In a large number of countries, the conciliator is very often a government official functioning as a

conciliator in an individual capacity.

The law provides for the appointment of conciliation officer by the government to conciliate

between the parties to the industrial dispute. The conciliation officer is given the powers authorized to

call and witness the parties on oath. It should be remembered, however where as civil court cannot go


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beyond interpreting the laws, the conciliation officer can go beyond the fact, that make judgement

which will be binding upon the parties.

The appropriate government appoints the conciliation officer by notification in the official gazette.

At the state level, the commissioner of labour, additional commissioner or the deputy commissioner of

labour may be appointed as conciliation officer for disputes arising in an undertaking employing mire

than 20 workmen. Labour officer act as conciliation officer for disputes arising I undertakings,

employing less than 20 workmen.

The conciliation officer’s intervention in a dispute may be either mandatory or discretionary. It is to some public utility service. It is discretionary where the dispute is related to some non public utility

service undertakings.

PROCEDURE FOR CONCILIATION:

On receiving information about a dispute, the conciliation officer should give formal intimation in

writing to the parties concerned of his intention to commence conciliation proceedings from a specified

date. He should then start doing all such things as he thinks fit for the purpose of persuading the parties

to come to fair and amiable settlement of the dispute. Conciliation is an art where the skill, tact,

imagination and even personal influence of the conciliation officer affect his success.

The conciliation officer is required to submit his report to the appropriate government; along with

the copy of the settlement arrived at in relation to the dispute or in case conciliation has failed, he has

to send a detailed report giving out the reasons for the failure of conciliation. The report in either case

must be submitted within 14 days of the commencement of conciliation proceeding or earlier. But the

time of submission of the report may be extended by agreement in writing to all the parties. If an

agreement is reached it remains binding for such period as is agreed upon by the parties, and if no such

period is agreed upon for a period of six months.

BOARD OF CONCILIATION:

In case conciliation officer fails to resolve the differences between the parties, the government has

the discretion to appoint a board of conciliation. The board is tripartite and ad hoc body. It consists of

a chairman and two or four other members. The chairman is to be an independent person and the

parties to the dispute nominate other members in equal members. Conciliation proceedings before a

board are a similar to those that take place before the conciliation officer. The government has yet

another option of referring the dispute to the court of inquiry instead of the board of conciliation.

The machinery of the board in set in motion when a dispute is a referred to it. In other words, the

board does not hold the conciliation proceedings of its own board. On the dispute being referred to the

board, it is the duty of the board to do all things as it thinks fit for the purpose of inducing the parties to

come to a fair and amiable settlement. The board must submit its report to the government within two

months of the date on which the dispute was referred to it. The government by two months can further

extend this period.

COURT OF INQUIRY:

In case of the failure of the conciliation proceedings to settle a dispute the government can appoint a

court of inquiry to enquire into any matter connected with relevant to industrial dispute. The court is

expected to submit its report within six months from the commencement of inquiry. The government

within 30 days of its receipt subsequently publishes this report. Unlike during the period of


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conciliation, worker’s right to strike, employers right to lockout and employers right to dismiss workmen, etc remain unaffected during the proceedings in a court of enquiry.

A court of inquiry is different from a board of conciliation. It aims at inquiring and revealing the

causes of an industrial dispute. On the other hand, the latter’s basic objective is to promote the settlement of an industrial dispute. Thus a court of inquiry is primarily fact-finding machinery.

ARBITRATION

Arbitration is a means of securing an award on a conflict issue by reference to a third party. It is a

process in which a dispute is submitted to an impartial outsider who makes a decision, which is usually

binding on both the parties. Arbitration is to be distinguished from conciliation not only by the fact that

its decision is binding on both the parties. The main objective of arbitration is adjudication. There is

no place for compromise in awards. Unlike conciliator, the arbitrator enforces his own point of view

on contending parties and the opinions of the parties have no predominance. Moreover arbitration is

more judicial in character than conciliation.

MERITS AND DEMERITS OF ARBIRTATION:

MERITS:

Since both the parties themselves establish it, arbitration has an advantage in settling the

dispute. Both management and workers have faith in settlement procedure.

Since arbitration is established by agreement. It is more flexible than other procedure and can

be adjusted to the view desires of the party.

This procedure is relatively expeditious when compared to ordinary courts or labour tribunals.

It calls for speedy settlement.

Arbitration is informal in character because the disputes are handles by the parties themselves.

Arbitration therefore less expensive.

Awards are capable of implementation without any grudge on both the parties.

Since arbitration is based on the consent of both the parties, it helps in building up a sound base

for healthy industrial relations, mutual understanding and cooperation.

DEMERITS:

It deprives labour of its right to go on strike.

Judgement is often arbitrary and ill advised as the arbitration are not well versed in the

economic and technical aspects of industry.

Arbitration is often biased against labour. Usually award is not in their favour.

Delay always occurs in arriving at the award and settlement of disputes.

Too frequent arbitration is not only costly and time consuming.

TYPES OF ARBITRATION

Voluntary

Compulsory

VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION:

Voluntary arbitration implies that the 2 contending parties, unable to compose their differences by

themselves or with the help of the mediator or conciliator, agree to submit the conflict/dispute to an

impartial authority, whose decision they are ready to accept. This type of reference is known as a

voluntary reference.


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THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION ARE:

The voluntary submission of dispute to an arbitrator

The enforcement of an award may not be necessary and binding because there is no

compulsion. But generally, the acceptance of arbitration implies the acceptance of its award –

be it favorable or unfavorable.

Voluntary arbitration may be specially needed for disputes arising under agreement.

COMPULSORY ARBITRATION:

Compulsory arbitration is one where the parties are required to accept arbitration without any

willingness on their part. When one of the parties to an industrial dispute feels aggrieved by an act of

the other, it may apply to the appropriate government to refer the dispute to adjudication machinery.

Such reference of a dispute is known as compulsory or involuntary reference. It is entirely the

direction of the appropriate government based on the position of the existing dispute, not because of the

willingness of contending parties.

UNDER COMPULSORY ARBITRATION THE PARTIES ARE FORCED TO ARBITRATION

BY THE STATE WHEN:

The parties fail to arrive at a settlement by a voluntary method or

When there is a national emergency which requires that the wheels of production should not be

obstructed by frequent work stoppage or

The country is passing through grave economic crisis or

There is a grave public dissatisfaction with the existing industrial relations or

Industries of strategic importance involved

Parties are ill balanced, that is where the unions are weak and ill organized and powerless are

the means of production are in the hands of capitalists who are well organized and powerful

Public interest and the working conditions have to be safeguarded and regulated by the state.

Compulsory arbitration leaves no scope for strikes and lockouts; it deprives both the parties of their

very important and fundamental rights.

QUALIFICATION OF ARBITRATOR:

If arbitration is to be successful, then arbitrator must have the qualifications to ensure that the

parties entrust them with the responsibilities for making decisions. They should have following

qualifications.

An understanding of the complexities of the labour management relationships

Knowledge of collective bargaining and operations of arbitration procedures, as well as skill

and experience in the interpretation of collective agreements and familiarity with personnel

policies and human relations.

An arbitrator must be impartial in his duty.

They must be acceptable to the parties

Qualified arbitrators might be drawn from legal profession and government servants,

educational institutions, legal experts civic leaders.

PROCEDURE FOR INVESTIGATION:

After the dispute has been referred to the arbitrator, he will hear both the parties having

involves mastery fact of a particular dispute as well as the relevant provisions of the collective

agreement and past practices of the parties in relation to matters relevant to the dispute.


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The arbitrator may call witness, get evidence and relevant records and documents, current and

past agreements, ordinances, court decisions, statutes and arbitration decisions by other

arbitrators in similar cases, when an important witness is unable to attend, sworn affidavit is

often used.

After the collection of facts and supporting materials, arguments take place. An arbitrator while

dealing with a particular dispute namely follows certain principles:

Fair heaving: which demand that an opportunity should be given to both the parties to be heard

and cross-examined.

Principle of natural justice: requires that party should have due notice of proceedings. It must

know what are the issues involved in it.

The party should be free to give any evidence: which is relevant to the enquiry. The evidence

given by one party should be taken in the presence of the other party.

The arbitrator should not rely on any document, which is not shown and explained to the other

party. He has to be completely impartial without any bias or prejudice against anybody.

SUBMISSION OF AWARD:

After investigating the dispute the arbitrator has to submit his awards to the government. The award

will have the same legal force as the judgement of a labour court or tribunal. The arbitrator must sign

the award.

While writing his award, the arbitrator has to ensure that

The award is in line with the terms of reference and it does not go beyond its jurisdiction.

It must be precise and definite, that is it must be clear, unambiguous and without any vagueness

and that it is not in any way capable of being misunderstood or misunderstood or

misinterpreted.

It should be capable of being enforced and implemented.

The award should contain a date or a specific period for implementation.

The award should not violate any provision of any existing law

The award should contain sufficient justification or reason for the settlement arrived by the

arbitrator.

ADJUDICATION

The ultimate legal remedy for the settlement of an unresolved industrial dispute is its reference to

adjudication by the government.

Adjudication involves intervention in the dispute by a third party appointed by the government for

the purpose of deciding the nature of final settlement.

On getting a report of the failure of conciliation, the government has to decide whether it would be

appropriate to refer the dispute to adjudication. The rationale behind this is that developing countries

can ill afford to suffer loss of production flowing from long drawn strikes and lockouts.

TYPES OF ADJUDICATION:

Voluntary

Compulsory

When the government gets a report of the failure of conciliation proceedings, it has to decide

whether it would be appropriate to refer the dispute to arbitration. The reference of dispute to

adjudication is at the discretion of the government.


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When both the parties at there own accord, agree to refer the dispute to adjudication. It is obligatory

on the part of the government to make a reference. When the parties make a reference to adjudication,

it is called voluntary adjudication.

On the other hand, when reference is made to adjudication by the government without the consent

of either or both the parties to the dispute, it is known as compulsory adjudication.

THREE TIER SYSTEM OF ADJUDICATION:

The industrial dispute act provides for a three-tier system of adjudication:

Labour courts

Industrial tribunals

National tribunals

These are the adjudicating bodies, which decide the disputes referred to them by the appropriate

government and pass their awards.

LABOUR COURTS:

One or more labour courts may be constituted by the appropriate government for adjudicating on

industrial disputes relating to any matter specified in the second schedule of the act.

CONSTITUTION: A labour court shall consist of one person only.

He must be a judge of high court or

Has been for a period of not less than 3 years, as a district judge or

He must have held any judicial office in India for not less than seven years

No person shall be appointed in labour court whose age is more than five years.

DUTIES OF LABOUR COURT:

To hold adjudication proceedings expeditiously and

To submit the award to the appropriate government

Labour court usually deals with matters, which arise out of the day to day working of an

undertaking.

JURISDICTION:

The legality of an order passed by an employer under the standing orders

The application and interpretation of standing orders

Discharge or dismissal of workers, including reinstatement of grant of relief, workers,

wrongfully dismissed.

Withdrawal of any customary conclusion or privilege

Illegal strikes and lockouts

All matters other than those specified the third schedule of the set.

INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS:

The appropriate government may appoint one or more industrial tribunals for the adjudication of

industrial disputes relating to any matter whether specified in the second schedule or third schedule.

The matters, which are in the new form and causes to industrial disputes usually referred to an

industrial tribunal. The industrial tribunal may be appointed for a limited period on an ad-hoc basis or

permanently.


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CONSTITUTION:

A tribunal consists of one or more persons such as:

Are have been judge of a high court

Are have been district judges for a period of not less than 3 years

Hold or held the office of the chairman or any other member of the labour appellate tribunal or

any tribunal for a period of not less than 2 years.

The government may, if it thinks fit also appoint two persons as assessors to advice the tribunal in

the proceedings.

The functions and duties of the industrial tribunal are very similar to of a body discharging judicial

functions. Although it is not a court, it has all the necessary attributes of a court of justice.

It may create new obligations or modify contracts in the interest of industrial peace; protect

legitimate trade union activities and prevent unfair practices and victimization. By and large these

tribunals are free from restrictions of technical consideration or rules of evidences imposed on courts.

JURISDICTION:

An industrial tribunal has a wider jurisdiction than labour courts. It has jurisdiction over any matter

specified in second and third schedule. The jurisdiction covers the promotion of social justice. The

matters specified in the second schedule are:

Wages, including the period of mode of payment

Compensatory and other allowances

Hours of work and rest intervals

Leave with wages and holidays

Bonus, profit sharing, provident fund and gratuity

Shift working, otherwise than in accordance with the standing orders

Classification of grades

Rules of discipline

Rationalization

Retrenchment of workers and closure of an establishment

Any other matters that may be prescribed.

The industrial tribunal has to hold judicial proceedings expeditiously and submit its award to the

appropriate government as soon as possible on the conclusion of the proceedings.

NATIONAL TRIBUNAL

The central government may, by a notification in the official gazette, constitute one or more

national tribunals for the adjudication of industrial disputes, which, in the opinion of the central

government, involve questions of national importance or are of use such nature that is more than one

state, are likely to be interested in, or affected by such disputes.

CONSTITUTION:

A national tribunal shall consist of one person only to be appointed by the central government

who:

Is or has been a judge of high court or

Has held the office of the chairman or any other member of the labour appellate tribunal for a

period of not less than 2 years

If the central government thinks fit, it may appoint two persons assess or to advise the national

tribunal.


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PROCEDURE FOR SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES:

Where an industrial dispute has been referred to a labour court, tribunal or a national tribunal

for adjudication, it shall be hold its proceedings expeditiously and shall, as soon as it is

practicable, submit its award to the appropriate government after the conclusion of proceedings.

Unlike conciliation proceedings no time limit has been fixed for tribunals.

Tribunals have the power to make award and their award is binding on both the parties and is

submitted to the government.

When the dispute is referred for adjudication to a labour court or a tribunal or a national tribunal

by the government within two weeks of the date of receipt of the order of reference, the parties

representing workers and employees must file with these authorities a statement of demand

relating to only such issues as are included in the reference.

A copy of their statement must be forwarded to each one of the opposite parties involved in the

said dispute.

The time limit for filing the statement may be extended at the discretion of the above said

authorities.

The next step after the filing of the statement is to fix the date on which the first hearing of the

dispute will take place.

This date should be fixed within six weeks of the date on which it was referred for adjudication.

But the adjudication authority may fix a latter date for the first hearing; but the reasons for that

delay are to be recorded in writing.

The hearing must ordinarily continue from day to day and arguments must follow immediately

after all the evidence has been submitted. If any adjournments take place the reasons for it are

to be recorded.

If these reasons appear to be biased, arbitrary or prejudicial to any party, the aggrieved party

may seek interference of court.

The adjudication authority enjoys the same powers as one vested in a civil court. They are:

Entering the premises for the purpose of enquiry

Enforcing attendance of any person and examining.

Compelling the production of documents and material objects and their inspection

Appointing one or more person as assessor or assessors to advice it during procedure before it.


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UNIT III - LABOUR WELFARE

Concept – Objectives – Scope – Need – Voluntary Welfare Measures – Statutory

Welfare Measures – Labour – Welfare Funds – Education and Training Schemes.

CONCEPT OF LABOUR WELFARE:

The concept of labour welfare is flexible and elastic and differs widely with time, region,

industry, social values and customs, degree of industrialization in general socio-economic development

of the people and the political ideologies prevailing at a particular time. It also moulded according to

the age group, sex, socio-cultural back ground, marital and economic status and educational level of

workers in various industries.

According to the committee on Labour Welfare, welfare services should mean: "Such services,

facilities and amenities as adequate canteens, rest and recreation facilities, sanitary and medical

facilities, arrangements for travel to and from place of work and accommodation of workers employed

at a distance from their homes and such other facilities including social security measures."

The Labour Investigation Committee preferred to include under Labour Welfare: “Anything

done for the intellectual, physical, moral and economic betterment of the workers, whether by

employers by Govt., or by other agencies, over and above what is laid down by law or what is normally

expected by the contractual benefits for which workers may have bargained.”

LABOUR WELFARE OFFICER

The importance of labour officers in Indian industries was emphasized in 1931 when the Royal

Commission on Labour recommended the appointment of labour officers in order to protect the

workers from the evils of jobbery and indebtedness, to act generally as a spokesmen of labour and to

promote amicable settlement between the workers and the management. The commission observed:

“we advocate for all factories the exclusion of the jobber from the engagement and dismissal of labour. This can best be achieved by the employment of a labour officer, and this is the course we recommend

wherever the scale of factory permits it. He should be subordinate to no one except the general

manager of the factory, and should be carefully selected. Integrity, personalities are the main qualities

required. No employee should be engaged except by the Labour Officer personally, in consultation

with departmental head and none should be dismissed without his consent, except by manager after

hearing what the Labour Officer has to say. It should be the business of Labour Officer to ensure that

no employee is discharged without adequate cause; if he is of right type, the workers will rapidly learn

to place confidence in him and to regard him as their friend. There are many other duties which such

an officer can fulfill particularly in respect of welfare”.

Thus the post of the labour officer was instituted initially:

(1) to eliminate the evils and malpractices of the jobber system in the recruitment of labour;

(2) to develop and improve labour administration in factories; and

(3) to serve as a liaison with the State Labour Commissioner.

However, most of the big factories preferred jobbers to welfare officers till 1937 when they were

forced by many provincial governments to employ full-time labour officers. During the Second World

War, these officers were generally entrusted with handling of welfare and labour administration work.

Gradually, the functions of labour officers began to be enlarged and were influenced by factors like the

social reform movement in the country, public concern for improving labour administration in

industrial enterprises, and the growth of modern management movement. The functions of labour


2

officer came to include functions relating to welfare, personnel and industrial relations and he began to

be designated as Labour Welfare Officer.

Legislative provision for the appointment of welfare officers in factories was made in 1948.

Sec 49 of the Factories Act provides, “in every factory wherein 500 or more workers are ordinarily employed, the occupier shall employ in the factory such number of welfare officers as may be

prescribed. The state is authorized to prescribe the duties, qualifications and conditions of service of

such officers.” This meant that in a factory wherein 500 or more workers are ordinarily employed, at least one Welfare Officer must be appointed. The Assistant and/or Additional Welfare Officer are

required to be appointed to assist the Labour Welfare Officer if the number of workers exceeds 2,500.

Further, provisions were made in other acts also for the appointment of welfare officers. For

example, Sec.18 of the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 requires: “In every plantation wherein 300 or more workers are ordinarily employed, the employer shall employ such number of welfare officers as

may be prescribed. The State Government may prescribe duties, qualifications and conditions of

service of officers employed.”

Section 58 of the Indian Mines Act 1952, provides: “For every mine wherein 500 or more persons are employed ordinarily, the owner, the agent or manager shall appoint a suitably qualified

person as Welfare Officer.”

Basic Features of Labour Welfare:

The above definitions indicate that the term "labour welfare" has been used in a wide as well as narrow

sense. In the 'broader sense', it may include not only the minimum standard of hygiene and safety laid

down in general labour legislation, but also such aspects of working life as social insurance schemes,

measures for the protection of women and young workers, limitation of work, paid vacation etc.

In the narrow sense, welfare in addition to general physical working conditions is mainly concerned

with the day-to-day problems of the workers and the social relationships at the place of work.

It is the work, which is usually undertaken within the premises or in the vicinity of the undertakings for

the benefit of the employees and members of the families.

The work generally includes those items of welfare, which are over and above what is provided by

statutory provisions, or required by the custom of the industry.

The purpose of providing welfare amenities is to bring about the development of the whole personality

of the worker--his social, psychological, economic, moral, Cultural and intellectual development to

make him a good worker, a good citizen.

Labour welfare is a very broad term, covering social security and such other activities as medical aid,

crèches, canteens, recreation, housing, adult education, arrangements for the transport of labour to and

from the work place.

It may be noted that not only intra-mural but also extra-mural, statutory as well as non-statutory

activities, undertaken by any of the three agencies. The employees, trade unions, or the Govt.,-for

physical and mental development of a worker, both as a compensation for wear & tear that he

undergoes as a part of the production process and enable to improve and sustain for capacity of

contribution


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Need for Welfare Work (or) Origin and the Growth of Welfare Work:

The need for the labour welfare arises from the very nature of the industrial system which is

characterised by two basic factors:

One, the conditions under the work that is carried are not congenial for health.

Second, when a labour joins an industry, he has to work in an entirely strange atmosphere, which

creates problems of adjustments.

The working environment in a factory/mine adversely affects the workers' health because of the

excessive heat or cold, noise, odours, fumes, dust and lack of sanitation etc. lead to occupational

hazards. This has to be checked with protective devices and compensatory benefits to help the workers

in case of accidents and injuries. When a worker, who is in fact a ruralite, comes to work in a factory

has to work and live unhealthy, congested factories and slum areas, with no outdoor recreation

facilities. Hence the need for providing welfare services arises.

The need for labour welfare was strongly felt by the Royal Commission on labour as far as back in

1931. This need was emphasised in the constitution of India, in the Chapter on the "Directive

Principles of State Policy".

Article 41: The state shall, within the limit of its economic capacity and development make

effective provisions for securing the right to work to education and to public assistance in case

of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement.

Article 42: The state shall make provision for securing the just and humane conditions of work

and for maternity relief.

Article 43: The state shall endeavour to secure, by suitable legislation or economic organization

or in any other way, to all workers, agricultural, industrial, or otherwise, work, a wage,

conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social

cultural opportunities; and in particular the state shall endeavour to promote cottage industries

on an individual or co-operative basis in rural areas.

Aims of Labour Welfare Work:

The Labour Welfare work aims at providing such service facilities and amenities as would enable the

workers employed in industries/factories to perform their work in healthy, congenial surroundings

conducive to good health and high morale.

1. It is partly humanistic. It enables the workers to enjoy a fuller and richer life.

2. It is partly economic because it improves the efficiency of the workers.

3. The aim is partly civic because it develops a sense of responsibility and dignity among the

workers and thus makes them worthy citizens of the nation.

According to Moorthy, labour welfare has two sides negative and positive. On the one hand, it is

associated with the counteracting of the harmful effects of large-scale industrialisation on the personal,

family and social life of the workers.

While on the other, the positive side, it deals with the provision of opportunity for the workers and their

family for a socially and personally good life.

Classification of welfare activities:


4

Intra-mural Activities: It consists of such welfare schemes provided within the factories as

medical facilities, compensation for accidents, provision of crèches and canteens, supply of

drinking water, washing and bathing facilities, safety measures, sufficient lighting, improving

working conditions, P.F., Gratuity, maternity benefits etc.

Extra-mural Activities: It covers the services and facilities provided outside the factory such as,

housing accommodation, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, educational facilities for

adults and children provision of libraries and reading rooms.

Scope of labour welfare works:

It is somewhat difficult to accurately lay down the scope of labour welfare work, especially because of

the fact that labour class is composed of dynamic individuals with complex needs. Labour welfare

work is increasing with changing opportunities and needs to meet varying situations. An able welfare

officer would, therefore, include in his welfare programme the activities that would be conducive to the

well being of the workers and their family

(1) Conditions of work environment:

(a) The workshop sanitation and cleanliness must include the regulation of temperature, humidity,

ventilation, lighting, elimination of dust, smoke, fumes and gases, convenience and comfort

during work, operative postures sitting arrangements etc., distribution of work hours and

provision for rest times, meal times, rest pauses, workmen safety measures.

(b) The factory sanitation and cleanliness must consist of: provision of urinals, lavatories and

bathing facilities, provision of spittoons, water disposal, disposal of wastes and rubbish, general

cleanliness, white-washing, repair of buildings and workshop and care of open spaces and

garden, Provision and care of Drinking Waterm Canteen Services, Management of workers'

cloak and rest rooms, and library.

(2) Workers' Health Services: These should include:

Factory health centre: Health education, medical examination of workers.

Factory Dispensary: Clinic for general treatment, treatment of individual diseases, fatigue and

treatment of accidents.

Women and Child welfare work: Maternity aid, infant welfare, crèches, women's general

education, health and family welfare.

Workers' recreation facilities: Play grounds, outdoor life, athletics, and gymnasiums.

Education: Provision of libraries, reading rooms, visual and pictorial education, lecture

programming, study circle, education of workers, children nursery schools, hygienic sex life,

family planning, child care, domestic economy and home handicrafts.

Cultural activities include: musical evenings, and circles, folk songs, the arts, folk dancing and

festival celebrations.

(3) Labour Welfare Programme: These should cover: factory council consisting of representatives of

labour and employers, workmen's arbitration council, vocational and job adjustment, social welfare

departments, co-operation with personnel and administration, especially for case investigation,

interview and vocational testing, employment, follow-up and research bureau.

(4) Labour's Economic Welfare Programme: These should include co-operatives or fair price shops for

consumer necessities, especially grains, vegetables, milk, meat, oils and ghee, cloth and daily

requirements, co-operative credit society, thrift schemes and factory transport service.

(5) General Welfare Work: This should relate housing and family care.


5

LABOUR WELFARE PRACTICES IN INDIA

Intra mural (statutory) (welfare amenities within the precinct of the establishment)

Extra mural (non statutory) (welfare measures outside the precinct of the establishment)

INTRA MURAL (STATUTORY)

Intra mural labour welfare activities are those amenities, which are provided within the precincts of the

establishment. These amenities are to be provided by the employer since it has become an obligatory

on the part of the employer.

SANITARY AND HYGIENE FACILITIES:

The maintenance of a clean, sanitary and hygienic work environment is now taken for granted as an

important basic welfare amenity. These include toilets, water for drinking, and washing. Sanitary and

hygienic conditions were extremely poor. No sanitary arrangements have been made for underground

workers in coalmines observed by labour investigation committee 1946 reported. Now the situation is

better, if not very satisfactory. Since the maintenance of proper sanitary and hygienic work

environment has now become an employer’s statutory obligations.

The factories act, 1948 requires that every factory must be kept clean and free from ‘effluvia’ flowing from any drain. A sufficient supply of wholesome drinking water must be made available at

suitable and convenient points. Separate latrines and urinals for male and female workers must be

provided. Spittoons must be kept at convenient places in a clean and hygienic condition, and that

adequate, suitable, clean, conveniently accessible and washing facilities must be provided for male and

female workers.

WASHING FACILITIES:

Every employer now provides bathing and washing facilities where factories act, 1948, coalmines

act, 1952 and plantations act applicable, irrespective of the number of workers employed therein.

Every medium and bigger employer is providing this facility to the workers.

DRINKING WATER:

The labour investigation committee pointed out most factories made some provision for drinking

water. Now it is statutory obligation upon the employers to make satisfactory arrangements of drinking

water. All employers are required to make satisfactory arrangements for drinking water under the

factories act 1948.

FIRST AID BOX:

Maintenance of first aid box for every factory employing 150 workers is a minimum “must” which cannot be allowed to be ignored by any occupier of a factory establishment. The labour welfare

committee 1969 recommended that, this provision should be enforced strictly and sufficient number of

personnel be trained in all establishments in consultation and cooperation with the respective

authorities and trade unions.


6

REST SHELTER FACILITIES:

The rest facility has become a statutory obligation on the part of the employers. In other words, it is

now the responsibility of the employer to provide welfare facilities within the precincts of the

establishment. These facilities help to reduce fatigue. It enables a worker to sit down occasionally

without any break in his work and therefore contributes to his comforts and efficiency. Rest rooms are

provided so that workers may relax during their breaks for rest and meal.

The factories act1948, requires that suitable arrangements to be made and maintained suitable rest

rooms in a clean, well lighted and ventilated and provided with adequate furniture and drinking water

wherever necessary.

FEEDING FACILITIES (CANTEENS):

The royal commission on labour investigation laid considerable emphasis on the provision of

canteen in side the work place. The labour investigation committee realized the importance of welfare

amenity. It is said the workers canteens is increasingly recognized all over the world as an essential

part of industrial establishment, providing undeniable benefits from the point of view of health,

efficiency and well being.

In India, it is a statutory obligation to provide facility of canteen where 150 or more workers are

working in a factory. The factories act 1948, requires that every factory employing 150 or more

workers should have a lunch room, and where 250 or more workers are employed, there should be a

canteen or canteens and a bipartite canteen committee should be formed.

CRECHES:

It is a welfare facility, which is provided for women workers. A crèche is defined as a place where

babies of working mothers are taken care of working mothers are taken care of, while mothers are at

work. The need for the establishment of crèche in industrial unit was stressed as far back 1931 when

royal commission labour recommended that the provision of crèches should be made a statutory

obligation in all factories employing not less than 250 women.

The factories act of 1948, requires that a crèche must be maintained in all factories where more than

50 women workers are ordinarily employed, that children below 6 years of age shall be under the

charge of women trained in the care of children and infants. The act further empowers the state

government or prescribe rules regarding the location and the standards to be maintained by a crèche,

including facilities for working, changing clothes, free milk or refreshment etc, to feed children with

regular intervals.

EXTRA MURAL FACILITIES (NON STATUTORY):

MEDICAL FACILITIES:

The importance of industrial health and cave in general has been emphasized by the I.L.O. since

1919. The royal commission on labour in 1931 and the labour investigation committee in 1946 also

emphasized the necessity of providing basic health and medical facilities to industrial workers.

The statutory medical facilities are provided in industries under state insurance act 1948, with

subsequent amendments. This act extends benefits to industrial workers such as maternity benefits,


7

disablement benefits, dependent benefits, sickness benefits, and medical benefits. The families of the

workers are also covered to some extend under this act.

Besides, medical facilities in varying degrees are provided by large undertaking, through their own

hospitals or by an arrangement with well-established medical instructions. However the labour welfare

committee recommended that, in case of smaller units, medical facilities should be provided on joint

basis by a group of employers. The institutes like industrial estates can play an important role in

providing medical facilities to the workers by a joint drive.

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES:

The need for imparting necessary education to workers in India had been emphasized by the Indian

industrial commission (1918), the royal commission (1931), and the national commission on labour

(1966). The labour investigation committee pointed out that for educational facilities, all industrial

units looked to local authorities with the exception of cement factories, fair sized sugar mills and textile

units located in smaller centers. The central workers education board has also helped to improve the

standards of workers all over the country.

The workers education programme has been started with special emphasis on trade union methods

and philosophy. Almost all public sector undertakings have established primary and even higher

secondary schools in their townships. Some of the large-scale private sector undertakings have

established colleges in their establishments to cater the needs of workers children in general education

as well as for technical education. Few employers are also subsidizing the cost of books and paying

scholarships to the deserving students.

RECREATION FACILITIES:

Recreation has an important bearing on the development of the individual’s personality as well as on his capacity to contribute to social development. The I.L.O. and other committees and

commissions, which have studied the working and living conditions of last five decades. In India, a

number of recreational facilities have been provided to industrial workers. Employers give some

statutorily or voluntarily, and some are provided by trade unions and social welfare agencies.

Provisions of recreational amenities have been made obligatory on employers in plantations. At

present, in large establishment increasing attention has been paid to recreational activities. In almost

public sector undertakings, has been made a part and parcel of the project plan itself. They provide

amenities like sports, club, reading rooms, games and athletics, cultural activities etc. The Malaviya

committee also recommended that educational towns should be properly organized for workers of all

industries. The central and state governments, employer’s workers organizations should all cooperative in promoting and organizing these towns.

TRANSPORT FACILITIES:

The provision of adequate and cheap transport facilities to workers residing at long distance is

essential as such facilities not only relieve the workers from strain and anxiety but also provide

opportunity for greater relaxation. It also reduces rate of absenteeism on account of late arrival. The

need for providing transport facilities has been accepted by all the parties, State governments,

employers and workers organization and public undertakings.

ERRORS MADE BY PUBLIC AUTHORITIES:


8

It should however be stated that cities local transport authorities have arranged special trains but

services to meet the needs of the general public along with the industrial workers but facilities provided

have not kept the place with rapidly growing needs.

MEASURES SUGGESTED:

In this context, various measures have been suggested to meet the situation, such as increase I the

number of buses and their frequency, setting up of special transport services; adjustment of staggering

in hours of work in industrial establishment, adaptability to timings and routes of public transport

services etc.

FAMILY PLANNING:

It has now generally been agreed that the family planning programmes should be incorporated as a

welfare measures for the industrial workers. For instance, the malaviya committee on labour welfare

said that, family planning programme for industrial workers should be made a part and parcel of labour

welfare activities by the employers. It should be included as an integral part of the term labour welfare.

COOPERATIVE CREDIT SOCIETIES:

The indebtedness of Indian industrial labour is one of the main obstacle in the way of raising the

standard of living of the workers. The Royal Commission on Labour touches upon the question of

indebtedness in its report at some length.

Among the causes responsible for low standards of living of the workers, indebtedness must be

given a high place. The commission further went on to say that many indeed are born in debt and even

sons assumes the responsibility for his father’s debt.

The source of loans, besides provident fund, included cooperative credit societies, employers, and

moneylenders, shopkeepers the lenders. The moneylenders charges very high rate of interest.The

Malaviya committee on labour welfare recommended that employers should encourage the formation

of such cooperative societies in their establishments.

The committee also recommended that management might help such societies in initial stages by

giving advances at nominal rates of interest for long period.

Besides, the committee recommended that excessive restrictions should be relaxed in order to

encourage members to invest any amount of money in shares and thereby increase the capital base of

cooperative credit societies.

CONSUMERS COOPERATIVE STORES AND FAIR PRICE SHOPS:

The importance of opening some special shops for the working class was first realized during the

Second World War. The importance of consumer’s cooperative stores and fair shops was highlighted by the national cooperative development and warehousing board committee 1961, the Indian labour

conference in its 20th session in 1962, the conference adopted scheme for setting up of consumer’s

cooperative stores in all industrial establishments, employing 300 or more workers. Under the scheme

an employer was called upon to give:


9

Financial assistance in the shape of share participation

Working capital loan

Managerial subsidy

They were also expected to provide accommodation free of rent or at nominal rent, free

furniture and free supply of water and electricity.

The Malviya committee on Labour Welfare however, recommended that, the limit of 300 workers

laid down under the existing schemes for opening a fair price shop, consumer cooperative store, should

be progressively reduced and as to cover establishments employing 200 or more workers.

DISTRESS RELIEF AND CASH BENEFITS:

Non-statutory welfare facilities provided to the workers cover a wide range depending upon the

importance that an employer attaches to these benefits for the creation of goodwill amongst the

workers. One of these amenities is in the native of ex-gratia payments popularly known as distress

relief and cash relief.

The state government, have suggested that, provision should be made for distress relief. The

workers organization has also lent wholehearted support to the idea of creating a fund for distress

relief. Labour welfare committee suggested that both workers and managers should workout mutually

acceptable formula for providing such benefits to the women.

WORKERS' EDUCATION

Workers' education is important for the maintenance of industrial peace and harmony and for

the development of healthy labour management relations. It is also significant for accelerating

economic growth in a developing country. Besides, workers' education will help in the development of

strong and more effective trade unions through better-trained officials and more enlightened members.

It will also help to develop leadership from the rank and file and to promote among workers.

It has now been increasingly realized that there is a growing need for the kind of education that

will promptly equip workers and trade unions to meet their increasingly heavy economic and social

responsibilities.

Concept:

Though the concept of workers' education is in vogue for the last forty-five years, its various

dimensions have not been clearly spelled out. To some, it meant education of workers as a 'trade

unionist', to others; it meant basic education for workers who lacked opportunity for formal schooling.

The encyclopedia of Social Sciences views that "workers' education" helps a worker solve his

problems not as an individual but as a member of his social class.

It is an undisputed fact it bridges the Lauena caused by illiteracy, creates a better understanding

of work and ones own place in the national economy, to prepare the worker for effective collaboration

with the management, making him a better citizen, creates leadership among the ranks of labour

replaces outsiders in trade unions and ultimately makes them conscious of their rights and

responsibilities that worker education aims at.

The I.L.O. experts at the Geneva deliberations discussed the scope and content of workers'

education, affirming its importance under the changing conditions of social, economic and technical


10

progress. If the creative force and sense of responsibility of workers are to be developed fully to meet

the challenges of their increasingly important role in modern society. Workers' education must be

purposeful so that it may lead to an improvement in the conditions of workers where they live and in

whatever state they happen to be.

Objectives of Workers' Education:

The basic objective of workers, education is to make the worker an efficient individual, disciplined

trade union member and an intelligent corporate citizen, so that he plays a vital role in the socio-

economic development of the country. Traditionally workers' education programme can be viewed as

follows:

(1) To foster workers' loyalty towards the union and imparting the necessary training to them for

intelligent and efficient participation in union activities.

(2) To develop the worker for good and responsible civic life.

(3) To promote among workers a greater understanding of the problem of the country's economic

environment and their rights and privileges.

(4) To develop trade union leadership from among the rank and file thereby keeping the union

away from clutches of politicians.

(5) To familiarize the workers with capitalist culture and philosophy which is the soul of modern

industrial system

(6) To inculcate among workers a better understanding of their duties and responsibilities so that

they can effectively carry out their jobs.

(7) To equip organized labour to take its place in a democratic society so that it plays a dominant

role in the process of economic development.

Indeed, workers' education is the latent energy in economic development as it accelerates industrial

progress and ensures full utilization of manpower for economic planning and development to increase

productivity.

In the view of National Commission on Labour, Workers' education should make a worker:

A responsible committed and a disciplined worker

To understand the basic economic and technical aspects of industry.

Aware of rights and obligation.

To understand the organisation and the function of the union as well as develop leadership

qualities.

To make the worker to lead a clean and healthy life based on ethical foundation.

In the opinion of the commission, the programme of workers' education should be formulated,

administered and implemented by the trade unions themselves.

In view of the Workers' Education Review Committee of India, the objectives of workers' education are

to

Equip all sections of workers including rural workers for intelligent participation in the social

and economic development of the nation in accordance with the declared objectives.

Develop among workers a greater understanding of the problems of their social and economic

development and their rights and obligations as workers.

Develop leadership among rank and file of workers.

Developing strong united and more responsible trade unions.

Strengthening democratic processes and traditions in the trade union movement.

According to ILO publication, the workers education:

Always be a two-way system of communication.


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Aim not the mere of information but at developing new skills.

Promote intelligent social action

Ever since with the adoption of liberalized economic policies, the country's industrial relations

environment has undergone a sea change, which in turn has influenced the objective of workers'

education.

(1) To acquaint the workers with the philosophy and rationale of liberalization.

(2) To teach workers the ground realities of liberalization that are relevant to the present and future

human resource scenario.

(3) To inculcate among workers a desired level of competitiveness and excellence needed for

achieving targets of industrial growth.

(4) To train workers to effectively carry out their new role i.e., role of change facilitation.

(5) To teach workers the ways and means to keep pace with upcoming trends in the field of human

resource management.

The aim of workers education is to arouse the social consciousness of the worker, promote his

solidarity with other workers and enable him to perform his function effectively by committing him to

workers' organisations for the defense of common interests.

THREE LEVELS OF WORKERS' EDUCATION:

(1) The National Level: It is the most important level of the workers' education programme, as it aims

at the education of members of central trade union organizations and federations, pre-employment

training of educational officers (also known as teacher administrators) and refresher courses for

board officials. The prospective educational officers are directly selected from the open market.

Generally, persons with the masters' degree in economics, commerce or education with three years

of work experience in the field of human resources management are chosen for the task. They are

given six months' intensive training before being placed on the job in different regional centers. The

training staff includes union leaders, employer's representatives, educationists, and administrators

like. The officials in turn after the successful completion of their training courses are posted at

regional centres on the basis of their regional linguistic proficiency.

The syllabus covers a wide range of topics relating to new economic policy, total quality

management, problems of women and child workers, trade unionism, industrial relations, an in-

depth study of various labour laws relating to wages, social security and labour welfare, trade

unions, industrial relations, employment and working conditions.

(2) The Regional level : The board through a network of 48 regional centers and 14 sub-regional

centers conduct this programme. At the regional level worker teachers are trained, who in turn

educate the rank and fire worker at the unit/village level.

The four zonal officers located at Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Bombay monitor the regional

level activities. For each regional center, there is an advisory committee, which reviews its progress

of the scheme and recommended measures for its effective working.

The worker-teachers form a very strong link between the education officers and workers at the

unit level. The education officers on completion of their training are posted to different centers and

are entrusted with the training of prospective teachers from among the workers in a full-time

training course of three months duration, in batches of 25-30 persons. The selected workers are

known as workers-teachers.

Four outstation trainees' courses are organized nearer to their places at sub-regional centers or

they are offered a subsistence allowance or residential facility at the regional center. The board


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spends up to Rs.80 per trainee for an all-India study tour, which is an essential part of training. The

employers also contribute to the tour expenses of their respective employers.

In the syllabus, emphasis is laid on trade unionism, union-management relations, economics of

trade, labour laws and workers education. In addition to these, a good deal of coverage is given to

aspects like history of country's freedom struggle, national programmes, duty aspects and the

community interest.

The various courses, conducted by the regional centers during the period January - December 1994

are as under: -

Worker-teacher training course

Refresher courses for worker-teacher

Leadership development course

Joint educational programmes

Self generation of funds

Need based programmes

(3) The Unit Level: The third level in the programme of the workers' education scheme relates to the

training of rank & file workers by the specially trained worker-teacher at the unit level. The

workers trained at the regional level revert to their places of employment and conduct programmes

at the unit level, largely after working hours. The regional centers closely supervise the work at

different units and assist and guide worker-teachers in conducting their classes efficiently and

smoothly.

Since no hard rules have been framed for the selection of workers worker-teachers have

discretion while selecting the workers. Generally, preference is given to workers having some

educational background. Further, workers in the age group of 24-45 years of age are given priority.

The worker-teachers conduct three months part-time course for workers at the unit level,

besides three weeks' full-time course in those units which deputy workers for the course. The

syllabus for the course is trade union - oriented and covers subjects; workers and trade unions,

workers and industry, worker, his family and his country etc. The honorarium for the worker-

teachers are decided and revised by the board.

At the unit level, the management usually provides facilities of accommodation, furniture etc.

Some of the organisations also give 45 minutes time-off to workers to enable them to attend the

classes. Every trainee at the unit level who puts in more than 90 per cent attendance and takes ken

interest in training is awarded a certificate by the regional centre after the successful completion of

the training.

In addition, the Central Board of Workers' Education conducts special short-term training

programmes for members of works committees and joint management councils, trade union

officials and while collar workers between January -October 1993, 1598 sessions around 32000

were trained through unit level programmes.

WORKERS TRAINING

In India there is an acute shortage of skilled and trained workers for a number of industrial

occupations and a majority of workers suffer from local efficiency. Besides factors like social attitude

to industrial work, differentials between the income of skilled and less skilled workers and the training

and educational facilities available in the country, the education system has been responsible for this

state of affairs.

But for rapid industrial development, the provision of training facilities for workers is meritable.

The Indian worker is not incapable of improving his standard of efficiency. It is because, he does not


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have the opportunities for education, training and improving his skill. If opportunities are given to him

for education and training, undoubtedly he will be one step superior in efficiency than his

contemporaries in any other country.

Efficiency of a worker depends also on good machinery; lay out of the plant, conditions of work,

and efficiency of the management. Countrywide industrial training programmes for labour is the only

way to meet the dearth for trained and skilled workers and to improve their efficiency.

TRAINING SCHEMES OF DGET:

To build up the career of young persons and to supply a constant stream of trained personnel to

industries, the DGET (director general of employment and training) has designed a number of training

programmes.

CRAFTMEN’S TRAINING:

The DGET has set up industrial training institutes and centers to provide training to those young

men and women who are in the age group of 14 to 25 years. The government set up these training

institutes to organize craftsmen training on a modular basis. There are modular training institutes,

which are attached to central institutes.

They also advise government on the standards and norms of training, prescribe curriculum, trade

testing and certification. The period of training varies from one to two years. The entry qualifications

vary from viii standard to xii standard depending on trade. The training is provided either free or a

nominal tuition fee.

CRAFT-INSTRUCTOR’S TRAINING:

Six training institute, each located at Bombay, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Kanpur and Ludhiana. In 1982

these were upgraded to advanced training institute, which impart one year comprehensive training both

in skill development, and principles of training for craft instructors is being imparted at Madras and

Hyderabad.

ADVANCED VOCATIONAL TRAINING:

The scheme was started in October 1977, to provide training to highly skilled workers and

technicians for a variety of advanced and sophisticated skills not available under the vocational training

programme. This scheme was undertaken with the assistance of UNDP/ILO.

The advanced skill training courses are offered at six places located at Bombay, kanpur, Calcutta,

Hyderabad, Ludhiana and madras and 16 other selected ITT, located through out the country. In 1974,

an advanced training institute for electronics was established in Hyderabad to train highly skilled

technicians in such fields as consumer, industrial, medical and electronics. Since 1981, two advanced

training institutes have been working in the field of electronics and process instrumentation at

Dehradun and Hyderabad.

SUPERVISORS/FOREMEN’S TRAINING:


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The supervisors/foremen are the front line managers, hence they are of paramount importance due

to their unique position in organizational hierarchy. In India for the training of foremen two institutes

are functioning, one at Bangalore and another at Jamshedpur. Here training is provided to existing and

potential foremen in technical and managerial skill, besides routine matters pertaining to manpower

management.

In both tailor made and general programmes of both short and long term duration are organized.

Generally industries sponsor their candidates for the long courses on the modular pattern. The short-

term courses are of one to twelve week’s duration, where as long term courses are of two years duration, which are of three types:

Diploma in foremanship for NAC/NTC candidate.

Post-diploma in foremanship for fresh diploma holders.

Post-diploma in foremanship for fresh diploma holders.

APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING SCHEME:

Under the apprentice act, 1961, it is obligatory on the part of the employer to engage apprentices in

certain trades. The apprentice training consists of basic training in the specific field, followed by shop

flow training. The training of graduates and diploma holders in engineering technology as graduate

technical apprentices was brought under the preview of the amended apprenticeship act, 1973.

The duration of training for trade apprentices varies from six months to four years, depending on the

requirements of trade. The educational qualification for apprentices varies from 8th

pass or equivalent.

The syllabi for training under the apprenticeship act are periodically reviewed by the trade committee

keeping in view the technological requirement of industry.

PART TIME TRAINING FOR INDUSTRIAL WORKERS:

The schemes for imparting part time training was introduced in 1958 with a view to improve

knowledge and skill of workers who did not have the benefit of systematic training in institutes. Under

this scheme, their employers for the course sponsor the workers irrespective of their age but with two

years of work experience. The duration of training is of two years and it is organized during evening

hours. The training programme is conducted at the central training institute of madras and at other

places.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR WORKERS:

A special project for development of women workers was undertaken by the government in 1977,

with the assistance of the Swedish international development authority and implemented through the

I.L.O. The basic objective of this project is to assess the training needs of women workers, both urban

and rural areas and to upgrade the central training institute for women instructors, New Delhi. At

present vocational training facilities for women are available through a network of 355 wings. They

impart training facilities in a three-tier system, namely, basic skills, advanced skills and instructional

training in selected trade having high employment potential. Besides they provide part time courses as

per the needs of the local industries.


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UNIT IV - INDUSTRIAL SAFETY

Causes of Accidents – Prevention – Safety Provisions – Industrial Health and Hygiene –

Importance – Problems – Occupational Hazards – Diseases – Psychological problems –

Counseling – Statutory Provisions..

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not surely the absence of disease.

It is he outcome of the interaction between the individual and his environment. He is healthy who is well-

adjusted. According to the joint ILO / WHO, Committee on organizational health, industrial health is:

1. The promotion and maintenance of physical, mental and social well being of workers in all

companies;

2. Prevention among workers of ill-health caused by working conditions;

3. Protection of workers in their employment from risk resulting from factors adverse to health, and;

4. Placing and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physical and

psychological equipment.

Thus, modern concept of health anticipates and recognizes potentially harmful situations and applies

measures to prevent disease and infirmity.

Significance of Industrial Health

Workers spend a great deal of their time in industrial settings. In many industries, workers are

exposed to various types of health hazards. Unless the working conditions-lighting, ventilation,

cleanliness, temperature, space, etc. are proper workers cannot concentrate on work. They do not feel

working hard continuously for long time. As a result productivity will be low. Secondly, ill health will

force workers to be absent from work. There will be high rate of absenteeism and labour turnover. The

quality of work will suffer and the firm’s resources will be wasted. In addition, industrial discontent and indiscipline will arise.

Thus, industrial health is essential for the following reasons:

1. to maintain and improve productivity and quality of work

2. to minimize absenteeism and labour turnover

3. to reduce industrial unrest, indiscipline and accidents

4. to improve employee motivation and morale

5. to reduce spoilage and cost of operations

6. to preserve the physical and mental health of employees.

In recent years, increasing attention is being paid to industrial health and safety due to pressure from trade

unions, labour laws and enlightened attitudes of employers. National Commission on Labour and other

committees have stressed the creation and maintenance of as healthy an environment as possible both at

work place and in the homes of workers. According to Recommendation 112 of I.l.O, “ occupational health services should be established in or near a place of employment for the purpose of:

(a) Protecting the workers against any health hazard arising out of work or conditions in which it is

carried on,

(b) Contributing towards worker’s physical and mental adjustment, and

(c) Contributing to establishment and maintenance of the highest possible degree of physical and

mental well-being of the workers.


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Working Conditions Affecting Health

The main physical factors influencing workers’ health are as follows: 1. Cleanliness: Hygiene is essential to health. Dirt should be removed daily from the workplace,

furniture, staircase, etc. properly cleaned and disinfected spittoons must be provided at convenient

places. Arrangements should be made for proper disposal of industrial waste. Rats, pests and

insects should be destroyed, as these are worst carriers of diseases. Drinking water, toilets,

restaurants and canteen facilities should be provided for workers.

2. Lighting: Adequate and proper lighting is essential for higher efficiency and good quality of work.

Poor lighting on the other hand causes eye strain, mental fatigue, accidents and spoilage of

materials. A good lighting system should provide. (a) The right degree of intensity of light

depending upon the nature of work, (b) Well-defined and uniformaly spread light all over the work

place, (c) protection from any glare.

3. Temperature and Ventilation: Flow of fresh air with right temperature and humidity is necessary

for protection of health. Stale air causes headache to workers. In hot and humid climate, employees

feel tired and sleepy ventilators, fans, coolers/heaters, air conditioners help to maintain right

temperature and humidity. These also keep the air free from dust, smoke, fumes, etc.

4. Freedom From Noise: Too much noise inside and outside the work place causes disturbance. It

does not allow workers to concentrate on the work and their efficiency declines. Internal noise

occurs due to conversations, movement of workers and machines, telephone calls, etc. Use of

sound absorbent materials in walls and ceilings, carpets on the floors, installation of noise

producing machines in a separate room, etc help to minimize such noise. External noise is caused

by the movement of persons and vehicles near the work place. Proper location of factory/office,

soundproof walls, double doors and lass panels may be used to avoid external noise.

5. Dust Control: At some work place, there is high ratio of dust. For example, work areas in cotton

and jute industries are laden with dust. Dust affects workers’ health as well as the life of the machinery. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the work place free from dust. Several measures can

be taken for this purpose. Regular cleaning of doors, windows, walls and ceilings is necessary.

Floors should be washed daily to avoid accumulation of dust. Electrical installations should be

regularly cleaned to maintain the level of lighting. Machines, furnitures and records should be

cleaned regularly.

6. Working Space and Seating Arrangement: Adequate space should be provided for free

movement of persons, machines, etc. Proper seating arrangements are essential for comfort and

health of employees. Over-crowding should be avoided as it spoils health and efficiency.

Occupational Hazards and Disease

In certain industries workers are exposed to health hazards and disease. These arise due to the

following

(a) Chemical substances: Carbon dioxide, sulphuric acid, limes and alkalies cause injury when

they are absorbed through skin and inhaling. Workers may suffer from skin disease, asthma,

heart disease, neurological disorders and cancer. Their effect is slow but cumulative. These are

difficult to diagnose and may become chronic and uncurable. Gas, fumes and dust in stone

quarries, mines, stone crushing, lead and zinc smelting etc. cause diseases.

(b) Biological Hazards: Bacteria, fungi, viruses, insects, malnutrition excessive drinking and job

stress affect employee health.


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(c) Environmental Hazards: These include radiation, noise, vibrations shocks, etc. X-rays or

radio active exposure may cause eye strain, genetic disorders and cancer. High noise of

machinery may cause hearing loss vibrations and shocks may cause nerve injury and

inflammation tissues in the body.

(d) Atmospheric Conditions: Inadequate ventilation, improper lighting, extreme temperature, etc.

affect health and efficiency of employees.

Under the Factories Act 1948, hazardous process is defined as “any process or activity in relation to an industry specified in the First Schedule where, unless special care is taken raw

materials used therein or the intermediate or finished products, wastes or effluents therefore

would:

(a) cause material impairment of the health of the persons engaged in or connected

therewith, or

(b) result in the pollution of the general environment.”

Protection Against Health Hazards

Two types of measures can be taken to protect employee health against occupational hazards:

1. Preventive measures

2. Curative measures

The former category includes (a) pre-employment and periodic medical examination, (b) Removal of

health hazards to the maximum possible extent, (c) check over women, and other workers exposed to

special risks, (d) training of first aid staff, (e) educating workers in health and hygiene, etc.

The curative measures consist of treatment for the affected workers. Ofcourse prevention is always

better than cure. Use of less toxic materials providing protecting devices, controlling noise, dust fumes,

gases etc. are some of the convenient and inexpensive measures that can be taken by employers to prevent

health hazards.

Industrial Health Programme

Every industrial establishment should formulate and implement a positive policy and

programme to maintain the good health of its employees. Such a programme should consists of the

following steps:

1. Maintenance and supervision of satisfactory sanitation and hygiene in the factory/office

2. Innoculation and after programmes for the prevention of communicable diseases

3. Active cooperation with public health agencies and accident prevention authorities

4. Maintenance of adequate and confidential medical records

5. Health education and information services for records

6. Proper medical examination of every new employee

7. Annual medical check up of those exposed to occupational hazards/diseases

8. Employment of professional physicians and nurses

9. Proper first aid treatment for occupational injuries and diseases

10. Reasonable first aid treatment for non-occupational ailments, e.g. cold, sore throat, skin disorders,

headaches, indigestion, etc

11. Adequate emergency care and hospitalization facilities.


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Statutory Provisions Concerning Health

The Factories Act, 1948 says down the following provisions concerning employee health:

1. Cleanliness: (a) Every factory shall be kept clean and free from effluvia arising from any drain,

privy or other nuisance; (b) Accumulation of dirt and refuse shall be removed daily by some

effective method; (c) The floor of every work room shall be cleaned at least once in ever week by

washing using disinfectant where necessary, or by some effective method, (d) Where a floor is

likely to become wet in course of any manufacturing process to such an extent as is capable of

being drained effective means of drainage shall be provided; (e) Walls, partitions, ceilings, doors,

windows, etc. shall be painted, varnished, white colour washed in the prescribed manner.

2. Disposal of Wastes and Effluents: (a) Effective arrangements shall be made in every factory for

the treatment of wastes and effluents due to manufacturing process carried on therein, so as to

render them innocuous and for their disposal.

3. Ventilation and Temperature: (a0 Effective and suitable provision shall be made in every factory

for securing and maintaining in every workroom the circulation of fresh air and such a temperature

as will secure to workers therein reasonable conditions of comfort and prevent injury to health. (b)

The walls and roofs shall be of such materials and so designed that the temperature shall not be

exceeded but kept as low as practicable. (c) The process which produces high temperature shall be

separated from the workroom by insulating the hot parts or by other effective means.

4. Dust and Fumes: (a) Where dust or fumes or impurity of such a nature as is likely to be injurious

or offensive to the workers is given off as a result of the manufacturing process being carried on in

a factory, effective measures shall be taken in the factory for prevention of inhalation or

accumulation of dust and fumes in workrooms. If for such a purpose any exhaust appliance is

necessary it shall be applied as near as possible to the point of origin of the dust, fumes or other

impurity and such point shall be enclosed so far as possible. (b) A stationary internal combustion

engine shall not be operated unless the exhaust is conducted into the open air. Other internal

combustion engines shall not be operated in any room unless effective measures have been taken to

prevent accumulation of fumes therefrom, which are injurious.

5. Artificial Humidification: In any factory in which the humidity of the air is artificially increased,

the water used for the purpose shall be taken from a public supply or other source of drinking water

or shall be effectively purified before it is used.

6. Over crowding: There shall be in every work room of a factory at least 9.9 cubic meters (for the

factories existing before this Act) and 14.2 cubic meters(after factories built after this Act) of space

for every worker. In calculating such space, no account shall be taken of any space which is more

then 4.2 meters above the level of the room’s floor. 7. Lighting: (a) In every part of the factory where workers are working or passing there shall be

provided and maintained sufficient and suitable lighting, natural or artificial or both; (b) All glazed

windows and sky lights used for lighting shall be kept clean and free from obstruction; (c) effective

provision shall be made to prevent glaze and the formation of shadows.

8. Drinking Water: (a) In every factory, effective arrangements shall be made to provide and

maintain at suitable points conveniently situated for all workers employed therein a sufficient

supply of wholesome drinking water, (b) All such points shall be legibly marked ‘drinking water’ in a language understood by a majority of the workers employed in the factory. No such points

shall be situated within six meters of any washing place, urinal, latrine, spittoons, open drain

carrying sullagar or effluent or any other sources of contamination unless shorter distance is

approved in writing by the Chief Inspector. (c) In every factory wherein more than 250 workers are


5

ordinarily employed, provision shall be made for cooling drinking water during hot weather by

effective means and for distribution thereof.

9. Latrines and Urinals:

(1) In every factory:

(a) sufficient latrine and urinal accommodation of prescribed types shall be provided

conveniently situated and accessible to workers at the time while they are at the factory;

(b) separate enclosed accommodation shall be provided for male and female workers;

(c) such accommodation shall be adequately lighted and ventilated and no latrine or urinal shall

unless specially exempted in writing by the chief inspector, communicate with any

workroom except through an intervening open space or ventilated passage;

(d) all such accommodations shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition at all times;

(e) sweepers shall be employed whose primary duty would be to keep clean latrines, urinals

and washing places.

(2) In every factory wherein more than two hundred and fifty workers are ordinarily employed:

(a) all latrine and urinal accommodation shall be of prescribed sanitary types;

(b) the floors and internal walks, up to a height of 90 centimeters, of the latrines and urinals

and the sanitary block shall be paid in glazed tiles or otherwise finished to provide a smooth

polished imperious surface.

(c) The floors, portions of the walls or blocks so laid or finished and the sanitary pans of

latrines and urinals shall be thoroughly washed and cleaned at least once in every seven

days with suitable detergents or disinfectants or with both.

10. Spittoons: (a) In every factory, there shall be provided a sufficient number of spittoons at

convenient places and they shall be maintained in a clean and hygienic condition; (b) No Person

shall spit within the premises of the provisions of spittoons provided for the purpose. A notice

containing the provision of spittoons in the factory and the penalty for spitting any where except in

the spittoons shall be prominently displayed at suitable places in the premises.

Employee Safety

Industrial workers are exposed to reversal types of hazards and accidents. Due to rapid industrialization,

mechanical, chemical, electrical and radiation hazards have increased. Every year lakhs of employees are

injured in factories, mines, ports, railways, etc. leading to partial or total disablement. An industrial

accident is a sudden and unexpected occurrence in an industrial undertaking causing body injury to one or

more persons and interruption in the orderly progress of work. According to the Factories Act 1948 it is

“an occurance in an industrial establishment causing bodily injury to a person which makes him unfit to

resume his duties in the next 48 hours.” In other words, it is an unexpected and sudden event arising out of and in the course of employment. However, self-inflicted injuries, injuries inflicted with the consent of

person cannot be regarded as accidents.

Significance of industrial safety

Industrial safety and efficiency are directly related to each other. Safety measures prevent accidents and

ensure regular flow of work. Safety also helps to improve the morale and productivity of workers. It

contributes to teamwork and sense of belonging among employees. Surveys and studies reveal that

wherever safety measures are good, labour productivity is high. This is so because employees can

concentrate on their work with confidence and without fear. Moreover, rules and regulations prescribed

under labour laws require employers to provide certain minimum safety measures to their employees.


6

Therefore, every employer should pay due attention to industrial safety and take adequate steps to prevent

industrial accidents.

Industrial accidents cause a great loss to both the employer and the employees.

(a) Cost of compensation to be required employee

(b) Cost of medical aid

(c) Cost of training a new worker

(d) Cost of the lost time when work stops due to an accident

(e) Cost of investigation into the accident

(f) Cost of supervision and inspections

(g) Cost to the Government in terms of factory inspectors, and public health services

(h) Cost of spoilage of materials

(i) Cost of damage to machinery

(j) Cost of wages payable during injury

(k) Cost of loss of morale

(l) Cost of loss to the worker and his family

Society suffers a great deal due to industrial accidents. Gas leak in the Union Carbide factory in December

1984 in Bhopal killed thousands and disabled lakhs of people.

Measurement and Records of Accidents

Two main ratios used to measure accidents are frequency rate and severity rate. Accident frequency

rate is the number of time-lost accidents or injuries per employee per 1000000 man-hours worked.

Accident severity rate means the total number of days charged or lost because of accident per 1000000

man hours worked.

No. of injuries x 1000000

Accidents Frequency Rate = Total No. Of man hours worked

No. Of man days lost x 1000000

Accidents severity Rate = Total No. Of man hours worked

Systematic and up-to-date records of industrial accidents and steps taken to prevent them should be

maintained in an industrial undertaking. These records will be helpful in identifying the areas where

further action is required to ensure employee safety. It is also obligatory to maintain such records under the

Workmen’s Compensation Act. Accidents records should contain the following information:

1. the total number of employees in the unit who are exposed to different types of accidents;

2. the severity of the accident – whether it resulted in a broken bone, a deep cut and the time that was

lost as a result of it;

3. the date, time and the shift during which the accident occurred ;

4. the total number of years during which the employee was engaged on that particular job when the

accident occurred;

5. personal data, including the age and health of the injured employee; and

6. the immediate cause of the accident whether it was the result of a malfunctioning of a machine, or

whether the employee failed to use the safety devices provided for the purpose of preventing

accidents, etc.


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Causes of Industrial Accidents

Industrial accidents take place due to reveral reasons arising from people, working conditions, and other

factors. These causes may be classified as follows:

1. Unsafe conditions: These refer to work related or technical causes. These are the biggest cause of

accidents in industry: Work related causes are as follows:

(a) The job itself: Some jobs are inherently more dangerous than others. For example the job of a

craneman as compared to that of a supervisor is more risky.

(b) Work Schedule: Night shift is more accident prone than day shift due to fatigue and sleepness.

(c) Psychological conditions: Emotional disturbance and mental preoccupation often cause

accidents. Over-work, monotony, boredom, anxiety, fatigue and frustration disturb concentration

and mental alertness leading to accidents.

(d) Machinery and equipment: Defective equipment, unguarded machinery, breakdown of machines,

hazardous arrangement of machines and equipment inadequate safety/control devices,

overloading, improper illumination, insufficient ventilation, poor maintenance and supervision

are common causes of accidents in industry.

2. Unsafe Acts: These arises due to lack of knowledge and skills, bodily defects and faulty attitudes.

Some examples are given below.

(a) operating without authority

(b) failure to use safety devices

(c) failure to listen to warning

(d) careless throwing of materials on the floor

(e) operating at unsafe speeds

(f) using unsafe equipment

(g) removing or disconnecting safety devices

(h) lifting things improperly

(i) taking unsafe positions under suspended loads

(j) using unsafe procedure in loading and unloading

(k) cleaning, oiling, repairing or adjusting moving machines

(l) teasing, quarreling, day dreaming or horseplay

(m) personality and behaviour which make some people more accident prone

3. Miscellaneous Causes: Young, untrained and inexperienced workers cause more accidents than old,

trained and experienced workers. Alcoholic and drug addicted workers are more accident-prone.

Workers having disturbed family life are likely to cause more accidents due to stress. Unsatisfactory

behaviour of supervisors may also cause accidents on the part of workers.

Statutory provisions Concerning Industrial Safety

The Factories Act 1948 lays down the following safety provisions:

1. Fencing of Machinery: In every factory, every dangerous pert of any machine shall be securely

fenced/by safeguards of substantial construction which shall be constantly maintained and kept in

position while the parts of machine they are fencing are in motion or in use.


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2. Work on or Near Machinery in Motion (Sec. 22):

(a) Where in any factory it becomes necessary to examine any part of machinery while the machinery

is in motion, such examination shall be made only by a specially trained adult male worker wearing

tight fitting clothing to be supplied by the occupier. The name of the person so engaged shall be

entered in the prescribed register and he shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment.

(b) While so engaged he shall not handle a belt at a moving pulley except under the specified

conditions,

(c) No woman or young person shall be allowed to clean, lubricate or adjust any part of a machinery in

motion if it involves risk of any injury from any moving part of the machinery.

3. Employment of Young person’s on Dangerous Machines: No young person shall be required or

allowed to work on any dangerous machines unless (a) he has been fully instructed as to the dangers

involved and the precautions required; (b) he has received sufficient training to work on the machine,

or is under adequate supervision be a person who has a thorough knowledge and experience of the

machine.

4. Striking Gear and Devices for Cutting Off Power: (a) In every factory, suitable striking gear or other efficient mechanical appliance shall be provided

and maintained and used to move driving belt to and from fast and loose pulleys which form part of

transmission machinery;

(b) Driving belts when not in use shall not be allowed to rest or ride upon the shafting in motion;

(c) Suitable devices for cutting off power in emergencies from running machinery suitable devices for

cutting off power in emergencies from running machinery shall be provided and maintained in

every work room.

(d) When a device which can be inadvertently shift from ‘off’ to ‘on’ position is provided in a factory to cut off power, arrangements shall be provided for locking the device in safe position to prevent

accidental starting of the transmission machinery or other machines to which the device is fitted.

5. Self-acting machines: No traversing part of a self-acting machine in any factory and no material

carried thereon shall be allowed to run on its outward or inward traverse within a distance of 45

centimeters from any fixed structure which is not part of the machine. This provision shall apply only

if the space over which the transacting part of the self-acting machine runs is a space over which any

person is liable to pass, whether in the course of his employment or otherwise.

6. Casing of new machinery:

(a) All machinery driven by power and installed in any factory after April 1, 1949, every set screw,

bolt or key on any revolving shaft, spindle, wheel or pinion shall be sunk, encased or otherwise

effectively guarded as to prevent danger. Further, all spur, worm and other toothed or friction

gearing not requiring frequent adjustments while in motion shall be completely encased unless it is

safely situated.

(b) If anyone sells or lets on hire either directly or as an agent, any machine which does not comply

with the provisions of Sec. 26, he shall be punishable with imprisonment up to three months or

with fine up to rupees five hundred, or with both.

7. Prohibition of employment of women and children near cotton openers:

(a) No woman or child shall be employed in any part of a factory for pressing cotton in which a

cotton-opener is at work.


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(b) If the feedend of a cotton-opener is in a room separated from the delivery end by a partition

extending to the roof or to a specified height, women and children may be employed on the side of

the partition where the feedend is situated.

8. Hoists and lifts:

(a) In every factory every hoist and lift shall be of good mechanical construction, sound material, and

adequate strength and shall be sufficiently protected be enclosures fitted with gates.

(b) It shall be properly maintained and shall be thoroughly examined by a competent person at lest

once in every six months.

(c) A register containing the prescribed particulars of every such examination shall be kept.

(d) The minimum safe working load shall be carried thereon.

(e) The cage of every hoist or lift used for carrying persons shall be fitted with a gate on each side

from which access is afforded to a landing. The gate shall be fitted with interlocking or other

efficient device to secure that the cage cannot be moved unless the gate is closed.

9. Lifting Machines, Chains, Ropes and Lifting Tackles:

(a) In every factory, every lifting machine and every chain rope and lifting tackle for the purpose of

raising or lowering persons, goods or materials shall be of good construction, sound material,

adequate strength, free from defects and properly maintained.

(b) These shall be thoroughly examined by a competent person atleast once in every twelve months.

(c) The aforesaid machinery shall not, except for the purpose of test, be loaded beyond the safe

working load which shall be plainly marked thereon together with an identification mark and duly

entered in the prescribed register. Where this is not practicable, a table showing the safe working

loads of the aforesaid machinery in use shall be displayed in prominent positions on the premises.

(d) If any person is employed or working on or near the wheel track of a traveling crane in any place

where he would be liable to be struck be the crane, effective measures shall be taken to ensure that

the crane does not approach within six meters of that place.

10. Revolving Machinery:

(a) In every factory in which the process of grinding is carried on, there shall be permanently

affixed to or placed near each machine a notice indicating: the maximum safe working

peripheral speed of every grindstone or abrasive wheel, the speed of the shaft or spindle

upon which the wheel is mounted, and

(b) The diameter of the pulley upon such shaft or spindle.

(c) The speeds indicated shall not be exceeded.

(d) Effective measures shall be taken in every factory to ensure that the safe working peripheral

speed of every revolving vessel, cage, basket, flywheel, pulley, disc or similar appliance

driven by power is not exceeded.

11. Pressure plant: If in any plant or machinery or any part thereof is operated at a pressure above

atmospheric pressure, effective measures shall be taken to ensure that the safe working pressure of

such parts is not exceeded.

12. Floors, stairs and means of access: (a) All floors, steps, stairs, passages and gangways shall be of sound construction and properly

maintained.


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(b) They shall be kept free from obstructions and substances likely to cause persons to slip and

handrails shall be provided where necessary;

(c) There shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, be provided and maintained safe means of access to

every place at which any person is at any time required to work;

(d) When any person has to work at a height from where he is likely to fall provision shall be made, so

far as is reasonably practicable, by fencing or otherwise, to ensure the safety of the person so

working.

13. Pits, Sumps, openings in floors, etc.: In every factory, pits, sumps, fixed vessels, tanks, openings in

the ground or in the floor shall be securely covered or securely fenced.

14. Excessive weights: No person shall be employed in any factory to lift, carry or move any load so

heavy as to be likely to cause him injury.

15. Protection of eyes: In every factory, screens or suitable goggles shall be provided for the protection of

persons employed on, or in immediate vicinity of mechanical or other processes which involve any danger

of injury to the workers’ eyesight from particles or fragments thrown off in the course of the process, or by

reason of exposure to excessive light.

16. Precautions against dangerous fumes:

i. In any factory no person shall be required or allowed to enter any chamber, tank, vat, pit, flue pipe

or other confined space in which any gas, fume, vapour or dust is likely to be present to such an

extent as to involve risk of persons being overcome thereby, unless it is provided with a manhole of

adequate size or other effective means of egress.

ii. No person in any factory shall be required or allowed to enter the confined space unless the

following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) all practicable measures have been taken to remove any gas, fume, vapour or dust and to

prevent any ingress of such gas, fume, vapour or dust;

(b) it is certified in writing be a competent person after a test that the space is free from

dangerous fumes and fit for persons to enter;

(c) the person concerned is wearing suitable breathing apparatus, and a belt securely attached

to a rope, the free end of which must be held by a person standing outside the confined

space.

iii. Suitable breathing apparatus, reviving apparatus and belts and ropes shall be kept ready for instant

use beside any such confined space. All such apparatus shall be periodically examined and certified

be a competent person to be fit for use. A sufficient number of persons in the factory shall be

trained and practiced in the use of all such apparatus and in the method of resorting respiration.

iv. No person shall be permitted to enter any factory, boiler furnace, chamber, tank, pipe or other

confined space unless it is made sufficiently cool by ventilation or by some other method.

v. The State Government may prescribe the minimum dimensions of the manholes and may exempt

any factory from compliance with any of the provisions of this section.

17. Precautions regarding the use of portable electric light:

i. No portable electric light or any other electric appliance of voltage exceeding 24 volts shall be

permitted for use inside any chamber, tank, pit, pipe, flue or other confine space unless suitable

safety devices are provided; and


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ii. If any inflammable gas, fume or dust is likely to be present in such chamber, tank, vat, pipe, flue or

other confined space, no lamp or light other than that of flame proof construction shall be permitted

to be used in the factory.

18. Precautions against explosive or inflammable dust, gas etc.:

i. Where in any factory any manufacturing process produces dust, gas, fume or vapour which is likely to

explode on ignition, all practicable measures shall be taken to prevent any such explosion by:

(a) Effective enclosure of the plant or machinery used in the process;

(b) Removal or prevention of the accumulation of such dust, gas, fume or vapour; and

(c) Exclusive or effective enclosure of all possible sources of ignition.

ii. When the plant or machinery is not constructed as to withstand the probable pressure which an

explosion would produce, all practicable measures shall be taken to restrict the spread and effects of the

explosion by the provision in the plant or machinery of chokes, baffles, vents or other effective

appliances.

iii. No part of the plant or machinery containing any explosive or inflammable gas or vapour under

pressure greater than atmospheric pressure shall be opened without:

(a) Stopping effectively the flow of gas or vapour by a stop valve or other means;

(b) Reducing the pressure to the atmospheric pressure through all practicable measures; and

(c) Securing or securely replacing the fastening where the fastening of any part has been

loosened or removed.

iv. A plant, tank or vessel containing explosive or inflammable substance shall not be welded, brazed,

soldered or cut until such substance and any fumes arising therefrom are removed or such

substance and fumes are rendered non-explosive or non-inflammable. Such substance shall to be

allowed to enter the plant after any such operation unless the metal has cooled down sufficiently.

v. The State Government may by rules exempt any factory from compliance with all or any of the

provisions given below.

19. Precautions in case of fire:

i. In every factory, all practicable measures shall be taken to prevent outbreak of fire and its speed,

both internally and externally, and to provide and maintain:

(a) Safe means of escape for all persons in the event of a fire, and

(b) The necessary equipment and facilities for extinguishing fire.

ii. Effective measures shall be taken to ensure that in every factory all the workers are familiar with the

means of escape in case of fire and have been adequately trained in the routine to be followed in such

case.

iii. The State Government may make rules requiring the measures to be adopted to give effect to the

above provisions.

iv. Not withstanding anything contained in subsections (1) and (7), if the Chief Inspector, having

regard to the nature of the work carried on in the factory, construction of the factory, construction of

the factory, special risk to life or safety or any other circumstance, is of the opinion that measures

provided in the factory are inadequate he may, by order in writing, require that such additional


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measures, as he may consider reasonable and necessary, be provided in the factory before such date as

is specified in the order.

20. Power to require specifications of defective parts or tests of stability (Sec. 39): If it appears to

the inspector that any building or part or a building, machinery or plant in a factory may be dangerous

to human life or safety, he may ask the occupier or the manager or both of the factory:

(a) To furnish drawings, specifications and other particulars as may be necessary to determine whether

such buildings, ways, machinery or plant can be used with safety, or

(b) To carry out the tests in the specified manner and inform the Inspector of the result thereof.

21. Safety of building and machinery: i. If any building or part of a building or machinery or plant in an factory is in such a

condition that is dangerous to human life or safety, the Inspector may serve on the

occupier or the manager or both of the factory an order in writing specifying the

measures which is his opinion shall be adopted and requiring them to be carried out

before a specified date.

ii. Where it appears to the inspector that the use of any such building, machinery, etc.

involves imminent danger to human life or safety, he may prohibit its use until its has

been properly repaired or altered.

22. Maintenance of building: If it appears to the inspector that any building or part of a building in a

factory is in such a state of disrepair as is likely to lead to continuous detriment to the health and

welfare of the workers, he may serve on the occupier or manger or both of the factory an order in

writing specifying the measures which in his opinion should be taken and requiring the same to be

carried out before such date as is specified in the order.

23. Safety officers:

i. In every factory wherein one thousand or more workers are ordinarily employed, or wherein in the

opinion of the State Government any manufacturing process or operation is carried on involving any

risk of bodily injury, poisoning or disease, or any other hazard to the persons employed in the factory,

the occupier shall if so required by the State Government by notification in the official Gazette,

employee such number of Safety Officers as may be specified in that notification.

ii. The duties, qualifications and conditions of service of Safety Officers shall be such as may be

prescribed by the State Government.

24. Power to make rules (Sec.41): The State Government may make rules requiring the provision in any

factory of such further devices and measures for securing the safety of persons employed therein as it

may deem necessary.

COUNSELING

Counseling is a process of discussion of an emotional problem of an employee or any other

individual in the society, with the general objective of decreasing it. It could also be a method of

identifying practical solutions to life or work related problems.


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The definition of counseling involves a number of factors. This is an exchange of ideas and

feelings between two people, a counselor and counselee. Therefore it is an act of communication. Since it

helps the employee to cope with his problem and to reduce tension and anxiety, he becomes more

cooperative in his work activities. Naturally, the performance of the organization is improved.

Counseling approach to human relation problems make the organization more humane and considerate

with people’s problem.

ROLE OF COUNSELING:-

The basic aim of counseling is to help the employees to develop a broader vision of the problem

and to grow confidence and understanding to manage his emotional stresses. If the person is able to

visualize his problems in true perspective and resolve the problem, he will be able to adjust and work

effectively. Counseling does provide a supportive role and help the employee towards self-direction and

growth. Aim of the counseling is achieved through one or more of the following functions.

Advice:

Many people think that counseling is the process of giving advice to a counselee. But in reality, it

is one of the many functions of counseling. During the process of giving advice one has to be careful

against its pitfalls. While giving advice a counselor has to make judgements about a counselee’s problem and lay out a course of action. In giving advice, a counselee may feel inferior to and dependent upon the

counselor. If a supervisor or a manager is not alert, this process may miserably fail and affect the

relationship too. It is therefore suggested not to prescribe before diagnosing. In the process of counseling

the first principle is to understand the counselee and build an atmosphere of trust between the counselee

and the counselor. The counselor must first understand his problems thoroughly for which he needs

patience and empathic listening. Once this state is achieved a counselee will accept the counselor’s advice.

Reassurance:

It is the process of encouraging employees to face problems and giving them a feeling of

confidence in pursuing a right course of action. Nowadays reassurance, i.e. encouragement and

confidence building do not have much effect in stress related problems, but only in some cases of minor

problems.

Communication:

Proper communication plays a vital role in counseling process. Our supervisors/ managers can be a

strong source of information to top management about the effect of the company’s policy on the employees. One of the important jobs of a counselor is to discover emotional problems related to

company’s policies & interpret them to the management.

During the process of interpersonal communication there is a basic tendency to rush in, to fix

things up with good advice mostly in organizational settings. But we fail to diagnose, to really understand

the problem first before prescribing. The single most importance principle in the field of interpersonal

communications is to ‘seek first to understand and then to be understood’. This principle is the key to effective interpersonal communication. To be successful in counseling role, one should win the


14

confidence of one’s counselee for which trust between the two has to be built. In the absence of trust, the

counselee will never open up. For building trust, the counselor must listen empathically and understand

the problem of the counselee before prescribing solutions. This builds up confidence and good

interpersonal relations.

Release of Emotional Tensions:

The primary function of counseling is to release the emotional tension. When emotional tension

develops, people will always have a tendency to share their tension with someone who will listen to them.

This is how their emotional frustrations get removed.

During counseling, the counselor must have patience and give patient hearing to the person who is

explaining his problem. An emotionally charged employee, if not handled carefully, may turn out very

damaging to the organization. It is therefore, necessary that supervisor/managers should handle such

employees carefully and listen to them empathically and build up trust. This will help the employee

release his tension and interpersonal relations will also be smooth.

Clarified Thinking:

Some employees have mental blocks and they tend to magnify minor irritants into big problems

and jump to conclusion. Such cases have to be dealt with very carefully. When the fact of the situation is

brought to them, it helps them to think rationally. A skilled counselor can aid the process of clarified

thinking of the employees. If not treated properly, the distorted perceptions of such employees may lead

to many human-related problems in the organization. In order to clarify the counselee’s thinking the counselor serves as an aid only and refrains from telling the counselee what is ‘right’. It is not always that clarified thinking takes place while the counselor and counselee are talking. All or part of it takes place

later as a result of development during the counseling relationship. The result of any clarified thinking is

that a person is encouraged to accept responsibility for emotional problems and to be more realistic in

solving them.

Reorientation:

Another function of counseling is reorientation of the counselee. Reorientation is more than

emotional release or clear thinking about a problem. It involves a change in the employee’s psychic self through change in his basic goal and values. It can help people recognize and accept their own limitations.

Reorientation is the kind of function needed to help alcoholics return to normalcy or to treat a person with

severe mental depression. Largely it is the job of a professional counselor who knows its uses and

limitations and who has the necessary training. A manager’s/supervisor’s job is to recognize those in need of reorientation before their need becomes severe, so that they can be referred for professional help.

CAUSES OF COUNSELING NEEDS:

Any condition or combination of conditions both on and off the job may result in a need for

counseling. Such conditions may be job dissatisfaction, resistance to charge, alienation, lack if growth,

conflict, interpersonal relations, and many other contributory factors. Other major conditions that merit

discussions at this time are frustration, conflict, and stress.


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Frustration: The blocking or thwarting of goal attainments is called frustration. This phenomenon

is defined in terms of the conditions of the individual rather than external environment. Frustration

may develop due to the result of motivation being blocked which leads to defence mechanism.

Frustration leads to a variety of reactions such as the following counseling may help reduce

frustration and guide for mature causes of action to overcome blockages.

Aggression: This may lead to destructive behaviour.

Rationalization: This results in simply making excuses. An individual may blame some one else

for his inability to accomplish his goal.

Regression: This amount essentially to not acting one’s own age. Frustrated people give up constructive attempts at solving their problems and regress to more primitive and childish

behaviour.

Fixation: Fixation occurs when a person continues to exhibit the same behaviour pattern over and

over again, although experience has shown that it can accomplish nothing. Maier has shown that

although habits are normally broken when they bring no satisfaction or lead to punishment, a

fixation actually becomes stronger under these circumstances.

Resignation: Resignation or apathy occurs after prolonged frustration when people lose hope of

accomplishing their goals in a particular situation and withdraw from reality and the source of

frustration. This phenomenon is characteristic of people in boring jobs – routine jobs where often

they resign themselves to the fact that there is little hope for improvement within their

environment.

Conflict: Interpersonal and inter-group conflicts may cause emotional disorder. Interpersonal

conflicts are a serious problem to many people because these seriously affect the people’s emotions. Everybody wants to protect his self-image and self-esteem from damage from others.

When these self-concepts are threatened seriously, upsets occur and interpersonal relationships

deteriorate. Sometimes personalities of two people may be incompatible leading to a clash.

Sometimes conflicts develop due to failure of communications.

Inter-group Conflicts: Inter-group conflicts between different departments may lead to serious

problems. Departmental conflicts may provide clue to a serious problem existing between two

departments which should be resolved rather than allowed to smolder.

SOURCES OF CONFLICTS:

Interpersonal conflicts arise from a variety of sources such as:

Organizational change

Personality clashes

Different sets of values

Threats to status

Contrasting perception

All these outgrowth of conflicts in the organization lead to emotional disturbances, tensions, and

frustration may need resolving through counseling.


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Stress:

Stress is a general term people use for the pressure they feel in life. In organizational situations

stresses are the conditions of strain on one’s emotions which could be due to blockage of one’s goal

attainment. The people who are under stress become nervous and develop chronic worry. They are easily

provoked to anger and are unable to relax. These conditions adversely affect their work and such people

need managing their stress through appropriate counseling.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF COUNSELING:

There must be empathic relationship between the counselor and the counselee.

The counselor and the counselee should relate well.

The counselor must stick closely to the counselee’s problem

An atmosphere should be created so that the counselee should feel free to say what he likes.

An atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence must exist.

Counselee and counselor should have regard to each other.

PERSONAL QUALITIES OF THE COUNSELOR:

A number of researchers in the field of counseling have tried to identify qualities of counselors

which are necessary to make effective change in the behaviour of counselee. Arkuff (1969) suggested that

a climate of trust must be developed in counseling for which the following characteristics are essential:

empathy, warmth, genuineness, positive regard, and concreteness. Over and above these, the following

characteristics should also be added: sense of humour and self-awareness.

Empathy: Empathy is the ability to see things from others point of view, seeing things from others

perspective. A counselor should try to drop his preconceived notions and listen to the other person

in order to enter his frame of reference. We cannot empathize if we try to compare the other

person’s situation with our own. If only we stop being judgemental and evaluative, and listen

attentively, we can empathize with the problem of the other person.

Warmth: To be warm one has to have inherent interest in other people. However, if the counselor

is too warm, you risk smothering the other person. The ideal perhaps is warmth which shows that

you are non-judgemental and genuinely interested in what the other person has to say without

taking over.

Genuineness: It is very difficult to have genuine interest in the other person. One will either have

it or not have it. There are people in public service who are trained to meet the public in a

professional but friendly manner. Hotel staff, airline staff, and fast food chain employees are

obvious example. In none of these cases we confuse their public front with true genuineness.

Being genuine in the counseling is more than just the development of a certain list of behaviour. It

is more a question of intent. If you are genuine, you intend to help or care for the other.

Positive Regard: Many of our relationship are conditional. We like others as long as they like us.

We get on with people who treat us in a reasonable sort of way. Rogers claims that counselor’s positive feelings for the client must not be conditional. He suggests that the counselor should feel


17

warmly disposed towards the other person whatever the client feels or says to the counselor.

However, the counselor should be broad-minded and not prone to easy judgements of other people.

Concreteness: Concreteness is almost a skill. It is the ability to get to listen to what the other

person is saying and to stick to what is being said rather than what is implied. A concrete

counselor accepts what the client says at the face value and does not read between the lines. He

tries to be closer to the client (counselee) and understand what he is trying to say. The concept of

concreteness brings together almost all the essential elements of the counseling process. The

counselor who is concrete is more likely to listen to, accept, and not judge the client and is less

likely to jump to solutions or advice.

Sense of Humour: Gentle use of humour can help the client to regain sight of a larger ‘canvas’. People who have problems narrow their focus over almost everything else. It is easy for us to blow

things out of proportion. The counselor who has a light approach can often ease tension and help

the client towards a greater sense of perspective.

Self-awareness: A counselor should know something of his own problems, limitations and

strength.

COUNSELLING SKILLS:

Theory of counseling is vast and some of the very important skills of counseling are listed as under:

Listening

Giving Information

Making Suggestions

Drawing Out

Challenging

Supporting

Listening: If you want to be effective counselor, you have to be good in communication. For becoming

good in communication, you have to build up the skill of empathic listening. Empathic listening inspires

openness and trust. Empathic listening involves a very deep shift in paradigm. We normally seek first to

be understood. Most people do not listen with intent to understand, they listen with intent to reply. When

a person speaks, we are ‘listening’ at one of the four levels. We may be ignoring that person and not really

listening to that person

Given Information: Amount of information given in any counseling interview depends upon the nature of

counseling relationship. Normally, more information is given in concrete cases. Wherever personal issues

are involved, information restricted. E.g.: Concrete Issue: Expanding business, Developing career,

Buying a house

Making Suggestion: It has been a common malady in our society that we mostly slip into giving advice to

other people without understanding the situation and the problem. Advice is something like information

except that it is not based on facts. It involves value judgements. It is suggested that during counseling

process, a counselor should give advice only in cases, related to concrete issues where concrete

information is available.


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Drawing Out: One of the most useful counseling skills is to involve in such a way that the client

verbalizes what he is thinking and feeling. Motivating the client to talk about himself and his problem is a

very important skill. Some of the guidelines for this are given below:

1. Open questions: These are the sort of questions that do not have one correct answer. For e.g.: How

did you feel when that happened?

2. Closed question: These are questions which produce a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. They are not as useful as open questions. An example: Have you talked of this to your wife?

Reflection: Reflection means echoing back the last few words/sentences the client has spoken. It is the

type of intervention that is widely used.

For e.g.:

‘We moved down to Baroda at the end of the eighties but none of us settled up till now. My wife never liked living in this city. I found it difficult to get a job’ ‘You found it difficult to get a job…’ Well, it was difficult to start with, anyway. I suppose I did

not really want to get one, if the truth is told. ‘You did not want one.’ Reflection used skillfully can be of great aid to helping others.

Challenging: Challenging sometimes becomes helpful when the counselee is talking. Although

challenging and conforming are not normally associated with counseling, there are times when they are

appropriate. For E.g.:

When the counselee states something which is clearly not the case (e.g. There

is one in this organization that I can talk to at all).

When the counselee continues to self-denigrate (e.g.: I have never been any good on anything. I

have always been a failure).

When the counselee appears to be avoiding certain issues (e.g. There is nothing wrong-nothing at

all. I really wonder why I am sitting here talking to you).

Challenging in counseling must be supportive as well. Challenging and confrontation are never to show

off the counselee but to help him examine other aspects of the problem.

Supporting: The whole of the counseling process should be in the direction of supporting the counselee.

Counselor should aim at befriending the counselee. All counseling interventions should be made in a

spirit of encouragement and care. The problem is ultimately solved by the counselee himself. Counselor

becomes an aid in the process. The aim is never to moralize, but to guide the counselee to find his own

way to finding solutions to the problems.


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UNIT V - WELFARE OF SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF LABOUR

Child Labour – Female Labour – Contract Labour – Construction Labour –

Agricultural Labour – Differently Abled Labour – BPO & KPO Labour – Social

Assistance – Social Security – Implications.

EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN – CHILD LABOUR

Employment of children has continued to be a problem since the early days of

industrialization. In this concept the royal commission on labour stated – in many cities large number

of young boys are employed for long hours and discipline in a strict discipline. Workers as young as

five years of age may be found in some of these places working without adequate meal intervals or

weekly rest days. They continuously engaged in work for more than 12 hours a day. The

employment of children act, 1988 amended in 1939, the mines acts were not successful in improving

the condition of work of child labour.

Thus it is not enough to prohibit the employment of children through legislative measures, but

it is also essential to adopt simultaneously positive measures to eradicate child labour from industrial

employment.

CAUSES OF EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN

There are many arrangements, which have generally been advanced by employers, who

openly in fringe the law, in favour of employment of children. They supplement the income of the

family, which is very essential because the earnings of adult workers are extremely low. In the

absence of educational facilities and low level of earning of the parents, children, are compelled to

accept employment. The protective legislation for children has not been advanced in most popular

fields such as agriculture and small-scale industries.

More over with the introduction of factory system it also become possible to employ children.

However in the context of welfare state, employment of children, is an evil, it is a crime and

prohibited. Hence the government should increase its inspection machinery and the labour laws in

this respect should strictly be enforced.

LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG WORKERS

Labour legislation in India has developed to provide legal protection to child labour that is least

able to defined itself. It first covered women labour but now it is extended to cover all workers and is

based on the conviction that it is one of the important duties of the state to guard and promote the

welfare of the citizens.

Our constitution provides for protection of child workers. Article 24 lays down no child below the

age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine engaged in any other hazardous

employment. The important legislative provision which have a bearing on employment of children


2

relate to minimum age of employment, working hours, health certification, employment on dangerous

machines and the like.

MINIMUM AGE FOR EMPLOYMENT

The minimum age of employment of children was fixed at 7 in the first factories act passed in

1881. it was raised to 9 in the act of 1891, and again it was raised to 12 in 1932. After independence,

the minimum age for employment is fixed at 14 years under factories act 1948.

Besides, the employment of children act prohibits employment of children below is 15 years in

occupation connected with transport of passengers by railway and in work connected with handling

of goods within the limits of any port. For employment in workshops connected with bidi making,

carpet weaving, cement manufacture, cloth printing, dyeing and weaving, mica cutting etc, the act

lays down the minimum age of employment at 14 years.

PHYSICAL FITNESS OF CHILDREN:

To ensure the physical fitness of children, the factories act 1948 lays down that children up to the

age of 18 years can be employed only on production of health certificate, which will be valid for one

year only. Similarly the mines act, lays down that a child up to the age of 18 years can be employed,

if he produced a health certificate, fitness certificate as an adult worker for work below ground.

HOURS OF WORK:

The factories act 1948, prescribes for children and adolescents a working day of four and half

hours. Young workers up to the age of 17 years are not allowed under the act to work during night

hours and a hazardous occupation.

The mines act, lays down that adolescents will not be employed for more than four and half hours

in a day prohibits their employment between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. on work below ground. The

plantations labour act prescribes a 40 hours week for children and adolescents. In shops and

establishments, the hours of work for children are fixed at 6 to 7 hours a day under the state laws on

the subject.

LEAVE WITH WAGES:

In factories and on plantations, children are entitled to take leave with wage at the rate of one day

for every fifteen days of work, after one year continuous service, while adult workers are entitled to

take at the rate of one day for every twenty days of work. These leaves are provided under the

factories act, 1948, and the mines act 1952, but in practice these leaves are not given to them in

several cases and thus law is evaded with impunity.

The employment of children is indeed more an economic problem than any thing else. It has been

now recognized that compulsory primary education is very essential for checking evils of child

labour.


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WOMEN LABOUR

Participation of women in economic activity is common in all countries. But in developing

countries, the incomes of women labour by and large are low. More over, if women have to work,

she needs more protection than man in her working environment in developing countries and in

traditional occupations. In our country the right of women to public employment is recognized under

the constitution articles 16(1) and 16 (2) of the constitution grant the right of equal opportunities in

regard to employment of men and women without any distinction.

PATTERN OF WOMEN EMPLOYMENT:

Women workers constituted 59.4 million of the total workers in the country in 1961 census also

reveals that in the non agriculture sector women are employed in what is broadly called the services

group which includes public services group which includes public services group which includes

public services, education, medical and health and the miscellaneous service categories. Besides,

household and small-scale industries employed a large number of women than factories. Now the

women are employed in large numbers in agriculture, plantations, mines, factories, small-scale

industries and social services.

The national commission on labour pointed that the majority of women have been employed on

unskilled or where simpler and traditional skills are required. Vocational guidance and training of

girls have infact long being neglected in the country, primarily because the girls were not considered

to be breadwinners in traditional family structure. Thus, majority of girls are educated without any

career planning for them. For rational distribution of women labour in economic activity, it will be

desirable to give preference to women for training in those trades and occupation for which they have

special aptitudes.

EFFECTS OF EDUCATION:

The national commission on labour pointed out that the spread of education, particularly in urban

areas has opened up more employment opportunities for women in non-manual, clerical,

administrative and professional work. The largest expansion of opportunities has been in government

service. The entry and prospects of promotion for women have no impediments.

WAGES OF WOMEN LABOUR:

Wages are of vital importance to workers. In India women take up employment to add to the

family income, which is often very meager.

Unattached women or widows go into employment to support themselves and their children. The

wages of women workers are usually fixed at lower rates than those for men for the same a similar

occupation. The I.L.O. report says that the level of remuneration in industries and occupations in

which women are traditionally employed is undoubtedly lower than in other fields of employment.

The question of women wages has also been taken up by the fair wages committee which

suggested that what employment is on piece rate or where the work done by men and women is more


4

or less equal and identical, no differentiation should be made between men and women workers

regarding the wages payable. Article 39 (d) of the constitution also suggests a move in the direction

of equal pay for men and women for work of equal value.

However, while generally conceding that the wages of women workers have been lower than men,

the differences have tended to narrow down in recent years mainly for two reasons:

Formation of statutory minimum wages under the minimum wages act and

Standardization of wage for different jobs through the operation of the industrial relations

machinery.

LEGISLATIVE MEASURES FOR THE WELFARE OF WOMEN WORKERS:

The legislative provisions for protection and welfare of women workers are largely inspired by the

ILO convention.

Maternity protection 1919

Night work 1919, reviewed in 1948

Underground work 1935

Equal remuneration 1951

Discrimination 1958

BENEFITS FOR WOMEN WORKERS IN INDIA:

MATERNITY BENEFIT:

Maternity benefits are provided under the employees state insurance act 1948 and the maternity

benefit act 1961. Most of the states of industrial importance have adopted maternity benefit

legislation. Maternity benefit for women employed in mines is regulated by the mines maternity

benefit act 1941. In plantation, the plantations labour act 1951, entitles women to receive maternity

allowance from their employers.

EMPLOYMENT DURING NIGHT:

Employment of women during the night is prohibited under factories act, mines act and the

plantations labour act. The state governments are authorized to exempt women employed in fish

canning factories if necessary.

HOURS OF WORK:

The hours of work in factories, mines and plantations are the same for adult, namely 9 hours per

day and 48 hours per week in factories and mines and 54 hours per week in plantations. However the

plantations labour act does not prescribe any limit for the daily hours of work except that the spread

over should not be more than 12 hours.


5

LIFTING OF WEIGHT:

The other legislative measures for women relate to certain restrictions on lifting of weight. The

appropriate governments are empowered under the factories act and mines act to fix the maximum

loads that may be lifted by women. This has been done to safeguard the women labour against the

damages arising from lifting heavy weights.

BATHING AND WASHING FACILITIES:

Legislative measures have been taken for separate toilet facilities, rest rooms, crèches etc, for the

benefit of women labour. Thus under factories act separate washing places are to be provided for

women. In mines under the mines act, bathing places at or near the pitheads with shower baths and

locker rooms are to be maintained by the employers separately for men and women workers.

CRECHES:

Factories and plantations employing 50 or more women are required to maintain crèches for the

use of children below 6. The mines act authorities, the central government to frame rules requiring

employees to maintain crèches in any mine where in workers are employed.

WOMEN AND TRADE UNIONS:

Women workers did not by and large join trade unions in the early years. It was because of the

reason that social factors were disfavouring women outside. It greatly restricted their freedom to mix

with fellow workmen. But with social awakening and the newly acquired freedom, women workers

are becoming more alive to their interest and joining unions.

It should also be mentioned that the percentage of women workers is also making progress in

employment, under the industrial categories. Thus where women are employed in large numbers,

they naturally found it less inconvenient to join unions. Therefore it is expected that unionization

among women will increase an more and more of them will join the work.

THE CONTRACT LABOUR (REGULATION AND ABOLITION) ACT, 1970.

Objectives:

The objective of this Act is to regulate the employment of contract labour and the working

conditions and certain other benefits available to them under the Labour Laws.

Contractor:

A person who undertakes to produce a given result for an established through contract labour

or who supplies contract labour for any work in an establishment. Persons who merely supply goods

to or manufacture articles for an establishment are not contractors. The contactor is employed to

produce the given result for the benefit of the principal employer in fulfillment of the undertaking

given to the principal employer by the contractor.


6

Establishment: -

Any place where any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation is carried on or any

office of the Government or a local authority.

Applicability: -

The act is applicable to the whole of India and extends to

Every establishment wherein the number of workmen employed as

contract Labour is 20 or more on any day of the preceding 12 months.

Every Contractor who employs or employed as contract Labour, 20 or more workmen on any

day of the preceding 12 months.

Exemptions: -

This act is not applicable to those establishments where work of intermittent or

casual nature is performed. The decision of appropriate government is final regarding

this.

Power to make rules: -

Both the State and the Central Governments are the appropriate authorities

responsible for the administration of the act in their respective spheres, though the act

is a central legislation. The appropriate Governments can at their discretion apply the

provisions of the act to any establishment or contractors employing even less than 20

persons as contract Labour. The Governments are assisted by the advisory boards.

The Government appoints the following officers for the purposes of carrying out the

provision of this act:

Registration Officer

Licensing Officer

Inspector

Employees covered under this act: -

Every person employed in an or in connection with any work of the establishment with or

without the knowledge of the principal employer is covered by this Act. However, the Act does not

apply to:

Workers employed as supervisors and drawing wages exceeding Rs. 1600/- per month.

Persons employed mainly in managerial in managerial or administrative capacity.

Out-workers for whom materials are given for manufacturing or processing at his own

premises.

Obligations of Employer/Contractor: -

The following are the obligations of an employer/contractor under The Contract Labour

(Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970:

The employer must register the establishment with the registering officer in the prescribed

fee.

A contractor must apply for license with the Licensing officer in the prescribed form

containing particulars such as location of the establishment, nature of process, operation

of work, etc.

A contractor cannot undertake or execute any work through contract Labour if he does not

have a valid license or his license has been revoked.


7

The contractor/employer is required to provide certain amenities for the welfare and

health of the contract Labour.

Regular and timely payment of wages must be ensured by the contractor.

The prescribed registers and records containing particulars of contract Labour, nature of

work performed, rates of wages paid, etc must be maintained and the prescribed returns

should be sent to the registering or Licensing Officer.

The contractor must ensure to cover his employees under ESI and EPF, if the

establishment is covered under ESI and EPF.

Obligations of employees: -

The obligation of an employee under The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act,

1970 is that he must act in conformity with the rules laid down.

Major offences and penalties:

The following are the penalties for the following offences:

Contravention of any of the provisions of the act is punishable with fine of upto Rs.

1000/- and/or imprisonment upto 3 months.

Employment of contract labour in contravention of any of the provisions of the act or

violating any condition of the registration certificate or license entails a fine of upto

Rs. 1000/- and/or imprisonment upto 3 months.

Continuance of the offence is punishable with an additional fine upto Rs. 100/- per

day.

Welfare of contract labour: -

I Wages: -

(a) The principle employer has to register his establishments. With the labour officer and

get a registration certificate for getting the work done by or a contractor.

(b) The contractor has to get a license from the labour officer with details on location,

nature of work, number of people to be employed.

(c) The labour officer will then issue a license that then include the officers of work, the

wages payable and period of contract.

(d) The contract has to make the payments on pay day for specified pay period, the wages

as mentioned in the license. The wages are normally min wages, specified skill wise

under payment of minimum wages act. The payments have to be made by the

contractor, presence of a representative of the principle employer. This is to ensure

that the contract workmen are paid their wages properly.

(e) In case the contractor fails to make the payment the principle employer should make

the payment and deduct it from the contractors bills.

II Amenities: -

The principle employer has to provide amenities like drinking water, latrines, washing and first-aid.

III Canteen: -

A canteen has to be provided if more than 100 workmen and if the period of contract is more than 6

months, on No profit No loss basis. Normally, the establishments which run canteen for their own

employees allow the contract workmen also to use the facilities.


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IV Obligations: -

The principle employer/contractor have the following obligations:

a. Health and welfare of the contract workman

b. Payment of wages before the expiry of the wage period

c. Exhibition of notice showing hours of work, wages payable, wage periods, date of payments,

etc.

d. Co-operate with the inspectors, including the examiners and maintenance of registers and

records as per the act.

Rights of contract labour: -

The contract workmen can claim working conditions, facilities such as drinking water, etc. under the

act as if the principle employer and contract fails to meet the obligations.

Benefits: -

The contract labour are entitled to EPF, leave wages, wages for national holidays, overtime wages,

etc. as per the rules. If he is entitled to ESI coverage, if the ESI act is applicable to the establishment.

THE CONCEPT OF COUNSELLING

Organizations are social entities where employees execute their jobs assignments in groups.

The attitudes, feelings and needs differ from person to person as each individual is of different nature.

Individual difference may cause misunderstanding resulting sometimes in emotional conflicts which

is certainly not a positive sign of employee management relations. Conflicts may be between

employee and employee or between employee and supervisor or manager or between supervisor and

manager and it become necessary to counsel the parties concerned.

Keith Davis has defined counseling as ‘discussion of an emotional problem with an employee with the general objective of decreasing it.’ The implications of this definition are as under:

1. Counselling involves discussion or communication. Successful Counselling depends upon

communication skills of the counsellor to share the emotions of the depressed person.

2. Counselling is concerned with emotional problems. It has no concern with other problems

like technical, methodological, job inconvenience or occupational. But any emotional

problem will require ‘counselling’. The main purpose of counselling is to understand and check an employee’s emotional disorder.

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

They are covered under building and other construction workers (Regulation of employment

and conditions of service act 1996). It requires a registration of employers involved in construction.

“Beneficiary”: - (coverage)

(a) Those who have completed 18 yrs of age but less than 60 yrs. Engaged in construction work

for not less than 90 days during the preceding 12 months.

Contribution to welfare fund: -

The beneficiary has to contribute monthly at the rate specified by the government. If he is

unable to pay, the board can wave upto 3 months contributions. If there is no contributions. If there is

no contribution for a 12 month period, he will cease to be a beneficiary.


9

Welfare board: -

The TN building and other construction workers board is responsible for the welfare measures

of the construction workmen. The board consists of 15 members with a chairman appointed by the

Central government. And equal representation from employers are workers. Atleast one of the

workers representatives should be a woman.

Funding for welfare board: -

(1) Contribution by beneficiary

(2) Grants and loans of central government

(3) From other source

Functions of the welfare board: -

(1) Immediate assistance in case of accidents

(2) Payments of pension

(3) Loans and advances for construction of houses

(4) Payment of premium for group insurance schemes

(5) Financial assistance for Children’s education

(6) Medical expenses for treatment of major ailments for self and dependents.

(7) Maternity benefits for women beneficiary

(8) Provision on improvements of welfare measures and facilities

(9) Loans to local authorities or employers for any approved welfare schemes for beneficiary.

WELFARE MEASURES: -

Working hours: -

(1) Government to fix the working hours.

(2) One day rest for every 7 days with payment at a rate not less than the overtime rate

(3) The government may attempt from the above provisional in case of urgent or emergency work

preparatory or complementary work to be done.

(4) Where there is a technical need to complete the work before the day or when engaged in work

incase of natural calamities.

(5) Overtime to be paid twice the normal wages.

(6) Provision of drinking water

(7) Provision of latrines and urinals

(8) Provision for first aid facilities

(9) Provision for a canteen (if more than 200 workmen are there)

(10) Crèches (if more than 50 female workers are there)

Accommodation to be provided with in or near the site with separate cooking places, bathing,

washing and lavatory facilities.

If more than 500 workmen, appointment of safety officer/safety committee is a must.

Welfare cess Act 1996: -

Under this act, provision has been made for payment of a contribution by the employees

engaged in construction activity. A cess amount of not more than 2% but not less than 1% ( as


10

specified by the central government). This amount collected is paid to the board by the local

authority/government/PSU (Public Service Union).

AGRICULTURE LABOUR

The problems of agriculture labour are manifold and the basic problems of rural economy, which

are low income, low productivity, and lack of continuous employment. These have to be tackled

successfully through the more intensive programmes of development in order to improve the

economic conditions and prospects of agriculture labour turn over.

Thus when a person derives his main earning by doing some agricultural work is called as

agricultural labour.

Families of rural labourers

Families of part time farmers

Families of part time artisans of village servants all are counted as agriculture labour.

KINDS OF AGRICULTURE LABOUR:

The national commission on labour clarified the position in respect of agriculture labour. The

commission stated workers in agricultural sector are distributed into three main categories:

Cultivation

Agriculture labour

Workers engaged in forestry, fishing, livestock etc

Persons whose main source of income is wage employment will fall in this category. It consists of

two sub categories:

A. Landless agricultural labour and

B. Very small cultivators whose main source of earnings, due to their small and sub-marginal

holdings, is wage employment.

Landless labour in turn can be classified into two broad categories:

a) Permanent labour attached to a cultivating household and

b) Casual labour.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL LABOUR:

NATURE OF EMPLOYMENT:

The average daily earnings of all the labourers engaged in agricultural and non-agricultural

operations recorded sharp increases. During 74-75 the average daily earnings of men for all

agricultural occupations increase by about 127 percent, for women about 139 percent and children

about 153 percent. However there was no remarkable variation between the average earnings for all

agricultural and non-agricultural operations. However there is notable difference between the


11

earnings of men in agricultural and non-agricultural operations and belonging to all rural labour

households.

INDEBTEDNESS PER HOUSEHOLD:

The percentage of household in debt increased very steeply. As regards the average debt per

indebted household, the situation comparatively became frame by registering an increase of about

139 percent in respect of agricultural and 141 percent rural labour households, respectively. The

moneylenders continued to be the traditionally source of borrowing.

SEASONALITY IN EMPLOYMENT:

The national commission on labour that intensity of employment varies according to seasons has

also pointed it out. Shortage of labour is actually felt during peak agricultural seasons in several

areas and large proposition of labour remains unemployed or under employed during the slack

season. In areas where farmers have to take advantage of new agricultural labour has been provided

with work more or less through out the year. This should be treated as a welcome sign in this respect.

HOURS OF WORK:

The hours of work of agricultural labour are not regulated by legislation. Hours of work vary

from place to place, crop to crop, season to season. The working hours are generally sunrise to

sunset. But generally agricultural labourers work for about 8 hours a day. There are few occasions

when agricultural labourers have to work for longer hours that are during harvest season.

It is very difficult to regulate the hours of agricultural workers, considering the difficulties in the

regulation of hours of work, neither ILO has been able to pass any convention on hours of work, not

any government has regulated them through legislation.

HOUSING OF AGRICULTURAL LABOUR:

The housing conditions of agricultural workers are miserable and deplorable. Their houses are

generally situated at places where in sanitary conditions of highest order are found. Due to in

sanitary conditions lack of accommodation and poor standard of living.

ORGANISATION AMONG AGRICULTURAL WORKERS:

Industrial workers protect their interest by organizing themselves into trade unions, but

agricultural workers could not organize themselves because they live in distant places and do not

work in large number at one place. Thus lack of organization the bargaining power of agricultural

work is weak as compared with that of industrial worker. The state government as special measure

should provide such facilities as may be necessary for the organization of agricultural labour.

PROGRAMMES FOR IMPROVEMENTS:

The basic malady afflicting agricultural labourers is the lack of adequate employment opportunities

particularly during the slack seasons resulting in the wide spread under employment, unemployment


12

and consequent low level of income, to the extent possible, the following special central programmes

are being implemented for the creation of additional employment opportunities for the weaker section

of the rural people.

NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME:

The food for work programme, which was launched with effect from 1977 to help the rural poor

by generating additional employment for them and to create durable community assets in the rural

areas with a view to strengthening the infrastructure for rural development, was revamped,

restructured and was renamed as the NREP from 1980. The programme has now become a regular

part of the sixth five-year plan and is being implemented as a centrally sponsored scheme on 50:50

sharing basis between the centre and states.

The main objectives of this programme are:

Generation of 300-400 million man-days of gainful employment for men and women in rural

areas.

Creation of durable community assets for strengthening the rural infrastructure

TRAINING OF RURAL YOUTH FOR SELF – EMPLOYMENT:

The TRYSEM was initiated with effect from 1979 with the principal objective of alleviating

unemployment among the rural youth. The main thrust of the scheme is on equipping rural youth

with necessary skills and technology to enable them to take vocations of self-employment. Initially,

it was proposed to train about 2 lakh rural youth every year in various skills both in IRD and non-IRD

areas.

SMALL FARMERS DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES:

During the fourth five-year plan 46 small farmers development agency and 41 marginal farmers

and agricultural labourer development agency projects were initiated to improve the economic

conditions to tackle the problems of small and marginal farmers and agricultural labourers through

special agencies set up for the purpose.

TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES:

With a view to bringing tribal areas in the country within the mainstream of economic development

and accelerating the peace of agricultural development therein six pilot tribal development projects

were taken up for implementation in 1971-72.

In the latter years, the number of tribal development agencies was raised to all eight agencies. The

functions of these agencies are, strengthening of co-operatives, relief indebtedness, building up

infrastructure for rural development.

HILL AREA DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES:


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The hill area development programme, which is in operation from the inception of the fifth five-

year plan. The main strategy of development in these projects is water-shed development through

integrated and coordinated implementation of agriculture, animal husbandry etc.

SPECIAL LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION PROGRAMME:

The special livestock production programme, initiated in the year 1975-76 and continued there after

aims at providing greater employment opportunities to the weaker sections of the rural population.

DROUGHT PRONE AREAS PROGRAMME:

During the fourth plan, a rural works programme was started with a view to taking up schemes for

providing assistance to the drought prone areas for organizing schemes of a long term perspective and

also remunerative works to the rural labour in these areas.

EDUCATION:

During the year 1982, rural workers were trained. In these programmes landless labour,

agricultural workers, marginal farmers, fisheries and forest labour, tribal labour were trained.

Apart from the general efforts in the development of education, there are special schemes for

assistance to backward classes. Since agricultural labourers are mainly drawn from such classes they

would also benefit from these schemes to a considerable extent.

MINIMUM WAGES FOR AGRICULTURAL LABOUR:

With the announcement of the new 20-point programme by the prime minister in the year 1982,

the department of labour drew up the following plan of action to secure fixation and revision of

minimum of wages for employment in agriculture and their effective enforcement.

To persuade the state governments concerned to fix minimum wages.

To persuade the state governments to initiate action for the revision of minimum wages where

no such action has yet been taken.

To expedite the finalization of proposals for amendment of minimum wages set to improve its

working and

To advise the state government to set up monitoring units in their labour department to

monitor the programme of implementation.

SOCIAL SECURITY

The concept of social security has been incorporated in the early ‘Vedas’ which “wish everyone happy, free from ill-health, enjoy a bright future and suffer no sorrow”. It is, therefore, a new name for an old aspiration. Today, it is based on an ideal of human dignity and social justice. Social

security may broadly be defined as “the security that society furnishes through appropriate organization, against certain risks for its members”. Such risks are generally contingencies like:

Employment injury

Sickness


14

Invalidism

Disablement

Industrial disease

Maternity

Old age

Widowhood

Orphanage

Unemployment.

According to Sir William Beveridge, social security takes care of the income when the regular

earnings of employment are interrupted due to some reasons. The Encyclopedia of Social Work has

defined social security as “the endeavour of the society as a whole, to afford itself to the maximum possible to any individual during the period of illness, injury or economic distress, as a result of loss

of earning due to illness, disablement, maternity, unemployment, old-age, dependence, industrial

accident and invalidism himself and his family by his own means”. All the industrial countries in the world have developed some supplementary measures to

promote economic security and welfare of the individual worker and his family. These measures are

called “social security measures”.

The concept of social security varies from place and time to time. Social security measures have the

following main characteristics:

(i) They are established by law or practice.

(ii) They provide some forms of cash payment to the individual to

atleast partly compensate for the loss of income.

(iii) The benefits or services are provided in three major ways, viz., Social Insurance, Social

Assistance and Public Services. In old days, economic security was accomplished through individual

efforts. Gradually, organized methods were developed to deal with economic insecurity due to

contingencies. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution upto 1880, three approaches were

followed, namely; Savings Plans, Private Insurance & Employment liability plan.

Objectives of social security

The purpose of all social security measures is three-fold: Compensation, Restoration and

Preventive. Compensation provides for income security and is based upon the idea that during spells

of risks, the individual and his family should not be subjected to a double calamity involving both

destitution and loss of health, limb, life or work. Restoration implies cure of the sick and the invalid,

re-employment and rehabilitation, and is in some ways, an extension of earlier concepts of the

functions of social security. Prevention is designed to avoid the loss of productive capacity due to

sickness, unemployment or invalidity and to render the available resources which are used up by

avoidable disease and idleness and thus increase the material, intellectual and moral well-being of the

community.

The development of services for prevention and rehabilitation should receive the highest

priority in social security policy. Till now social security has tended to concentrate on providing

assess to what are mainly curative health services and on providing cash in defined contingencies.

Prevention needs to permeate virtually all departments of governments, the action of employers and


15

employees, the activities of voluntary bodies and most important of all, the actions of individuals and

families.

Thus, the main objectives of social security measures are as follows:

(i) To increase the productivity of industrial workers.

(ii) To improve health and control sickness of industrial workers.

(iii) To prevent occupational disease and take remedial measures.

(iv) To remove mental and physical hazards toprevent industrial accidents.

(v) To take care of old age and other consequences resulting therefrom.

(vi) To ensure that various legislation are implemented properly to achieve the above objectives.

Access to social security has become a basic human right to which every individual is entitled as

a member of the society. This right has been embodied in the universal Declaration of Human Rights

adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and also has been granted under numerous

national constitutions. But it has been realized in differing degrees depending upon the tradition,

history, level of economic development and the political and social philosophy of the concerned

country.

Methods of Social Security

The social security system of a country may comprise several programmes such as health and

unemployment insurance; family allowances; provident funds; pensions and gratuity schemes; widow

and survivors’ allowances; a variety of social assistance programmes and relief measures, etc. However, there are two basic methods of social security, namely, social insurance and social

assistance.

Though both these differ in their evolutionary process and approach, they have been designed

to serve the same ends, and both are complementary and supplementary to each other. They are two

sides of the same coin form an integral part of social security system of a country.

Features of Social Security

(i) Social Security is a measure of ensuring social justice.

(ii) It is an essential part of public policy in a welfare state like India.

(iii) Social security is a dynamic concept. Its contents change with the social and economic

conditions obtaining in a particular country at a given point of time.

(iv) The basic purpose of social security is to protect people of small means from risks or

contingencies.

(v) These contingences include sickness, maternity, oldage, invalidity unemployment, death,

etc., which impair a person’s ability to support himself and his family. (vi) Social security measures are generally prescribed by law.

(vii) These measures provide for cash payment to affected persons to partly compensate for the

loss of income due to certain contingencies.

(viii) Social security is essential for the protection and stability of the labour force. In the words

of a former president social security is not a burden but a wise investment which yields

good “social dividends in the long run”.


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Scope of Social Security

The scope of social security is very wide though the social security programmes differ from

country to country. Generally, social security schemes are of the following types.

1. Social Insurance. Under it, the workers and employers make periodical contributions, with or

without a subsidy from the Government. The funds so collected are used to provide benefits

on the basis of the contribution record of the beneficiary without testing his/her financial

position. Provident fund and group insurance are examples of this type.

2. Social Assistance. Under it the cost of the benefits provided is financed fully by the

Government without any contributions from workers and employers. However, benefits are

paid after judging the financial position of the beneficiary. Oldage pension is an example.

The Social Security (minimum Standards) Convention No.102 of the

I.L.O. prescribes the following components of social security.

(a) Medical care

(b) Sickness benefit

(c) Oldage benefits or retirement benefits

(d) Employment injury benefit

(e) Family benefit

(f) Maternity benefit

(g) Invalidity benefit

(h) Survivor’s benefit

Social Security in India

India is a Welfare State and therefore, social security is an essential component of

Government policy. According to the Constitution of India, “the state shall within the limits of its

economic capacity and development make assistance in case of unemployment, oldage, sickness and

disablement and other cases of unserved wants.” Many State Governments have introduced old age assistance schemes and other types of social assistance benefits. Social insurance is provided through

the following labour laws.

The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923

This Act, marked the beginning of social security system in India. The main object of the Act

is to impose an obligation upon employers to pay compensation to workers for accidents arising out

of and in the course of employment. It also helps to reduce the number of accidents, to give workers

greater freedom from anxiety, and to make industry more attractive to workers. The main features of

the Act are as follows.

1. Coverage. The Act covers all workers employed in factories, mines, plantations, transport

undertakings, construction works, railways, ships, circus and other hazardous occupations

specified in Schedule II of the Act. It does not apply to members of the Armed Forces, casual

workers and workers covered under the employees State Insurance Act, 1948. State

Government are emproved to extent the Act to any hazardous occupation.

2. Administration. State Government have appointed commissioners for administering the Act.


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3. Benefits. The employer is liable to pay compensation to a workman for all personal injuries

caused to him by accident arising out of and in the cause of employment which disable him

for more than 3 days. The Act further provides that if a workman contracts any occupational

disease specified in the Third Schedule it shall ordinarily be deemed as an employment

injury. The amount of compensation to be paid depends upon the wages, age and the type of

injury of the workman.

The employer is under the obligation to any compensation within onemonth from the

date on which it falls due. In case an employer makes default in payment the commissioner

may direct for recovery of the amount of arrears together with interest. If in the opinion of the

commissioner there is no justification for the delay, a further sum exceeding 50% of such

amount may be recovered by way of penalty.

4. Employer’s Liability. The employer is not liable to pay compensation in the following

cases:

(i) Where the injury does not result in total or partial disablement for a period exceeding 3

days;

(ii) Where an injury, not resulting in death, caused by an accident, is directly

attributable to.

(a) the workman having been at the time of accident under the influence of drinks or

drugs.

(b) The willful disobedience of the workman to an order expressly given or to a rule

expressly framed, for the purpose of securing the safety of workman,

(c) The willful removal or disregard by the workman of any safety guard or other devices

which he knew to have been provided for the purpose of securing the safety of

workman. Where the injury has caused the death of the workman, no defence is

available and the employer is liable to pay compensation to the dependents of the

deceased workman.

The Employee’s State Insurance Act, 1948

This Act provides medical facilities and unemployment insurance to industrial workers during

their illness. Its object is to provide social insurance for workers. It is a compulsory and contributory

health insurance scheme. The main features of the Act are as under:

1. Coverage. The Act is applicable to all factories employing 20 or more workers. It covers all

types of workers (whether manual, supervisory or administrative), whose remuneration

(excluding over time pay does not exceed Rs. 3000 per month. The State Government is

empowered to extend the Act to cover other establishments with the approval of the Central

Government.

2. Administration. The Act is administered by the Employees State Insurance (ESI)

Corporation. It is an autonomous body consisting of the representatives of the central and Sate

Governments, employers, employees, medical profession and the Parliament.

3. Funds. Benefits are provided from the Employees State Insurance Fund set up through

contributions from employers. Employees and various grants, donations and gifts received

from central and State Governments, local authorities and others. The employer contributes

4% of the wage bill while an employee contributes 1.5% of his wages.


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4. Benefits.

(i) Medical Benefit. An insured person and his family is entitled to receive medical benefit

free of charge. Medical benefit is of three types:

(a) Restricted Medical Care.

(b) Expanded Medical Care.

(c) Full Medical Care

(ii) Sickness Benefit. It involves cash payment for maximum period of 91 days per year to

the sick worker. The daily rate sickness benefit is calculated at half of average daily wages.

Workers suffering from long term disease like T.B., leprosy, etc. are entitled to extended

sickness benefit at 62.5% of average wage for a period of 309 days.

(iii) Maternity Benefit. An insured woman is entitled to receive cash benefit for confinement,

miscarriage or sickness arising out of pregnancy. The benefit is payable at double the sickness

benefit rate for a period of 12 weeks of which not more than 6 weeks shall precede the

expected date of confinement, her nominee will receive the benefit for the entire period.

(iv) Disablement Benefit. An insured person is entitled to receive disablement benefit for any

injury arising out of and in the course of the employment which lasts for not less than 3 days

excluding the day of accident. In case of temporary disablement, full pay is paid in addition to

free medical treatment. If the disablement is permanent, cash payment is to be made for life.

(v) Dependent’s Benefit. If an insured person dies as a result o fan employment accident, his

widow and children are entitled to pension. The widow gets it throughout her life or till

remarriage. The sons get it upto the age of 18years while unmarried daughters get it upto the

age of 18 years or marriage whichever is earlier.

(vi) Funeral Benefit. The eldest surviving member of the deceased worker’s family is entitled to receive payment for the expenditure incurred on funeral subject to a maximum of

Rs. 100. The amount should be claimed within three months of the death.

5. Working. The Act has provided a much needed protection to workers. However, the ESI

scheme is criticized on the grounds that the medical treatment given is not satisfactory and

there is delay in providing benefits to insured workers. The Act needs to be enforced more

effectively.

BA7034 - IRLW

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