Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 20101
| [Act 24 of 2010, Repealed by Act 23 of 2016*] | [18th August, 2010] |
An Act further to amend the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows-
1 Received the assent of the President on 18-8-2010 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 1, dated 18-8-2010, pp. 1-3, No. 32
* Ed.: Act 24 of 2010 repealed by Act 23 of 2016, S. 2 & Sch. I. See also S. 4 of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2016:
"4. Savings.- The repeal by this Act of any enactment shall not affect any other enactment in which the repealed enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to;
and this Act shall not affect the validity, invalidity, effect or consequences of anything already done or suffered, or any right, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred, or any remedy or proceeding in respect thereof, or any release or discharge of or from any debt, penalty, obligation, liability, claim or demand, or any indemnity already granted, or the proof of any past act or thing;
nor shall this Act affect any principle or rule of law, or established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure, or existing usage, custom, privilege, restriction, exemption, office or appointment, notwithstanding that the same respectively may have been in any manner affirmed or recognised or derived by, in or from any enactment hereby repealed;
nor shall the repeal by this Act of any enactment revive or restore any jurisdiction, office, custom, liability, right, title, privilege, restriction, exemption, usage, practice, procedure or other matter or thing not now existing or in force."
Prefatory Note-Statement of Objects and Reasons.-The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provides the machinery and procedure for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes. The provisions of the Act had been amended from time to time in the light of experience gained in its actual working, case laws and industrial relations policy of the Government.
2. At present the workman, whose services have been discharged, dismissed, retrenched, or otherwise terminated under Section 2-A of the Act, is unable to approach the Labour Court or Tribunal in the absence of a reference of industrial dispute by the appropriate Government to Labour Court or Tribunal. This causes delay and untold suffering to the workmen. The Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 1982 provided for an in-house Grievance Settlement Authority for the settlement of industrial disputes connected with an individual workman employed in the Industrial establishment, but it does not permit the workman to approach Labour Court or Tribunal until such dispute has been decided by the Grievance Settlement Authority. The Labour Courts and Tribunals have no power under the Act to enforce the awards published by the appropriate Government.
3. In view of the above, it is considered necessary to provide for workman a direct access to Labour Court or Tribunal in case of disputes arising due to discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination of service of workman. It is also proposed to establish a Grievance Redressal Machinery as an in-house mechanism in an Industrial establishment with twenty or more workmen without affecting the right of workman to raise an industrial dispute on the same matter under the provisions of the Act.
4. Accordingly, the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2009, inter alia, seeks to provide for-
(i) amendment of the term "appropriate Government" defined under Section 2(a) of the Act to amplify the existing definition;
(ii) enhancement of wage ceiling of a workman from one thousand six hundred rupees per month to ten thousand rupees per month under Section 2(s) of the Act;
(iii) direct access for the workman to the Labour Court or Tribunal in case of disputes arising out of Section 2-A of the Act;
(iv) expanding the scope of qualifications of Presiding Officers of Labour Courts or Tribunals under Sections 7 and 7-A of the Act;
(v) establishment of Grievance Redressal Machinery in every Industrial establishment employing twenty or more workmen for the resolution of disputes arising out of individual grievances;
(vi) empowering the Labour Court or Tribunal to execute the awards, orders or settlements arrived at by Labour Court or Tribunal.
5. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.
1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the Industrial Disputes (Amendment) Act, 2010.
(2) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
1 w.e.f. 15-9-2010 [Vide S.O. 2278(E), dated 15-9-2010]
2. Amendment of Section 2.-In the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in Section 2,-
(i) in clause (a),-
(a) in sub-clause (i), for the words "major port, the Central Government, and", the words "major port, any company in which not less than fifty-one per cent of the paid-up share capital is held by the Central Government, or any corporation, not being a corporation referred to in this clause, established by or under any law made by Parliament, or the Cental public sector undertaking, subsidiary companies set up by the principal undertaking and autonomous bodies owned or controlled by the Central Government, the Central Government, and" shall be substituted;
(b) for sub-clause (ii), the following sub-clause shall be substituted, namely-
"(ii) in relation to any other industrial dispute, including the State public sector undertaking, subsidiary companies set up by the principal undertaking and autonomous bodies owned or controlled by the State Government, the State Government:
Provided that in case of a dispute between a contractor and the contract labour employed through the contractor in any industrial establishment where such dispute first arose, the appropriate Government shall be the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, which has control over such industrial establishment.";
(ii) in clause (s), in sub-clause (iv), for the words "one thousand six hundred rupees", the words "ten thousand rupees" shall be substituted.
3. Amendment of Section 2-A.-Section 2-A of the principal Act shall be numbered as sub-section (1) thereof and after sub-section (1) as so numbered, the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely-
"(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 10, any such workman as is specified in sub-section (1) may, make an application direct to the Labour Court or Tribunal for adjudication of the dispute referred to therein after the expiry of forty-five days from the date he has made the application to the Conciliation Officer of the appropriate Government for conciliation of the dispute, and in receipt of such application the Labour Court or Tribunal shall have powers and jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the dispute, as if it were a dispute referred to it by the appropriate Government in accordance with the provisions of this Act and all the provisions of this Act shall apply in relation to such adjudication as they apply in relation to an industrial dispute referred to it by the appropriate Government.
(3) The application referred to in sub-section (2) shall be made to the Labour Court or Tribunal before the expiry of three years from the date of discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or otherwise termination of service as specified in sub-section (1).".
4. Amendment of Section 7.-In Section 7 of the principal Act, in sub-section (3), after clause (e), the following clause shall be inserted, namely-
"(f) he is or has been a Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) or Joint Commissioner of the State Labour Department, having a degree in law and at least seven years' experience in the labour department including three years of experience as Conciliation Officer:
Provided that no such Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner or Joint Labour Commissioner shall be appointed unless he resigns from the service of the Central Government or State Government, as the case may be, before being appointed as the presiding officer; or
(g) he is an officer of Indian Legal Service in Grade III with three years' experience in the grade.".
5. Amendment of Section 7-A.-In Section 7-A of the principal Act, in sub-section (3), after clause (aa), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely-
"(b) he is or has been a Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) or Joint Commissioner of the State Labour Department, having a degree in law and at least seven years' experience in the labour department including three years of experience as Conciliation Officer:
Provided that no such Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner or Joint Labour Commissioner shall be appointed unless he resigns from the service of the Central Government or State Government, as the case may be, before being appointed as the presiding officer; or
(c) he is an officer of Indian Legal Service in Grade III with three years' experience in the grade.".
Chapter 2-B - Grievance Redressal Machinery
6. Substitution of new Chapter for Chapter II-B.-After Section 9-B of the principal Act, for Chapter II-B, the following chapter shall be substituted, namely-
9-C. Setting up of Grievance Redressal Machinery.-(1) Every industrial establishment employing twenty or more workmen shall have one or more Grievance Redressal Committee for the resolution of disputes arising out of individual grievances.
(2) The Grievance Redressal Committee shall consist of equal number of members from the employer and the workmen.
(3) The Chairperson of the Grievance Redressal Committee shall be selected from the employer and from among the workmen alternatively on rotation basis every year.
(4) The total number of members of the Grievance Redressal Committee shall not exceed more than six:
Provided that there shall be, as far as practicable, one woman member if the Grievance Redressal Committee has two members and in case the number of members are more than two, the number of women members may be increased proportionately.
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the setting up of Grievance Redressal Committee shall not affect the right of the workman to raise industrial dispute on the same matter under the provisions of this Act.
(6) The Grievance Redressal Committee may complete its proceedings within thirty days on receipt of a written application by or on behalf of the aggrieved party.
(7) The workman who is aggrieved of the decision of the Grievance Redressal Committee may prefer an appeal to the employer against the decision of Grievance Redressal Committee and the employer shall, within one month from the date of receipt of such appeal, dispose of the same and send a copy of his decision to the workman concerned.
(8) Nothing contained in this section shall apply to the workmen for whom there is an established Grievance Redressal Mechanism in the establishment concerned.".
7. Amendment of Section 11.-In Section 11 of the principal Act, after sub-section (8), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely-
"(9) Every award made, order issued or settlement arrived at by or before Labour Court or Tribunal or National Tribunal shall be executed in accordance with the procedure laid down for execution of orders and decree of a civil court under Order 21 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908).
(10) The Labour Court or Tribunal or National Tribunal, as the case may be, shall transmit any award, order or settlement to a civil court having jurisdiction and such civil court shall executed the award, order or settlement as if it were a decree passed by it.".
8. Amendment of Section 38.-In Section 38 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2),-
(i) clause (ab) shall be omitted;
(ii) for clause (c), the following clause shall be substituted, namely-
"(c) the salaries and allowances and the terms and conditions for appointment of the presiding officers of the Labour Court, Tribunal and the National Tribunal including the allowances admissible to members of courts, Boards and to assessors and witnesses;".