| The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 | |
|---|---|
| An Act to make provision for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes, and for certain other purposes. | |
| Citation | Act No. 14 of 1947 |
| Enacted by | Parliament of India |
| Date enacted | 11 March 1947 |
| Date assented to | 11 March 1947 |
| Date commenced | 1 April 1947 |
The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 extends to the whole of India. It came into force April 1, 1947.
Contents |
The objective of the Industrial Disputes Act is to secure industrial peace and harmony by providing machinery and procedure for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes by negotiations.
Various studies indicate that Indian labour laws are highly protective of labour, and labour markets are relatively inflexible. These laws apply only to the organised sector. Consequently, these laws have restricted labour mobility, have led to capital-intensive methods in the organised sector and adversely affected the sector’s long-run demand for labour. Labour being a subject in the concurrent list, State-level labour regulations are also an important determinant of industrial performance. Evidence suggests that States, which have enacted more pro-worker regulations, have lost out on industrial production in general. -- (Ministry of Finance, 2006, p. 209
the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) of 1947. Particular attention has been paid to its Chapter V-B, introduced by an amendment in 1976, which required firms employing 300 or more workers to obtain government permission for layoffs, retrenchments and closures. A further amendment in 1982 (which took effect in 1984) expanded its ambit by reducing the threshold to 100 workers. It is argued that since permission is difficult to obtain, employers are reluctant to hire workers whom they cannot easily get rid of. Job security laws thus protect a tiny minority of workers in the organised sector and prevent the expansion of industrial employment that could benefit the mass of workers
outside. It is also argued that the restriction on retrenchment has adversely affected workplace discipline, while the threshold set at 100 has discouraged factories from expanding to economic scales of production, thereby harming productivity. Several other sections of the IDA allegedly have similar effects, because they increase workers’ bargaining strength and thereby raise labour costs either directly through wages or indirectly by inhibiting work reorganization in response to changes in demand and technology. The Act also lays down
The Industrial Disputes Act extends to whole of India and applies to every industrial establishment carrying on any business, trade, manufacture or distribution of goods and services irrespective of the number of workmen employed therein. Every person employed in an establishment for hire or reward including contract labour, apprentices and part time employees to do any manual, clerical,skilled, unskilled, technical, operational or supervisory work, is covered by the Act. This Act though does not apply to persons mainly in managerial or administrative capacity,persons engaged in a supervisory capacity and drawing > 1600 p.m or executing managerial functions and persons subject to Army Act, Air Force and Navy Act or those in police service or officer or employee of a prison.