IMPLICATIONS OF CONTRACT LABOUR ACT

GUIDELINES FOR CONTINUATION OF CONTRACT LABOUR

 

1.                What are the guidelines for the continuation of Contract Labour?

 

The requirements for determining whether contract labour should be continued or not are:

 

(i) The nature of work operated upon contract labour must be a permanent nature, that is to say it must be of sufficiently long duration.

 

(ii) The operation carried on by contract labour must be incidental to or necessary for the industry.

 

 

IMPLICATIONS OF CONTRACT LABOUR ACT

 

                      What would be the consequences if an employer engages the workers through a contractor, who should have been registered under the Contract Labour Act?

 

Such workers can be treated as employees of the principal employer since the definition of 'workman' in section 2(3)(b) of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, implies that if the workman is not hired through contractor holding a valid licence under the Act, he would be a workman employed by the management itself.

 

Reference:

 

          Workmen of Best & Crompton Industries Ltd., General Secretary, Socialist Workers' Union  Madras vs. Best & Crompton 'Engineering Ltd. Madras and others, 1985-II LLN 169 (Madras HC).