Impact of ILO on Labor Laws in India

The ILO (International Labor Organization) was set up in the year

1919, with an aim to improve the conditions of labors around the
world.India was the founding member of ILO, which has now expanded
its membership to 145 nations. ILO through its conventions and
recommendations helps nations to draw their own set of labor laws for
the better treatment of the working class, and the preservation of their
rights. The principal means of action in the ILO is the setting up the
International Labor Standards in the form of Conventions and
Recommendations. Conventions are international treaties and are
instruments, which create legally binding obligations on the countries
that ratify them. Recommendations are non-binding and set out
guidelines
orienting
national
policies
and
actions.
Labor Law regulates matters, such as, labor employment,
remunerations, and conditions of work, trade unions, and labor
management relations. They also include social laws regulating such
aspects as compensation for accident caused to a worker at work,
fixation of minimum wages, maternity benefits, sharing of the
companys profit by the workers, and so on. Most of these legal
instruments regulate rights and responsibilities of the working people.
The approach of India with regard to International Labor Standards has
always been positive. The ILO instruments have provided guidelines
and useful framework for the evolution of legislative and administrative
measures for the protection and advancement of the interest of labor.
To that extent the influence of ILO Conventions as a standard for
reference for labor legislation and practices in India, rather than as a
legally binding norm, has been significant. Ratification of a Convention
imposes legally binding obligations on the country concerned and,
therefore, India has been careful in ratifying Conventions. It has always
been the practice in India that we ratify a Convention when we are fully
satisfied that our laws and practices are in conformity with the relevant
ILO Convention. It is now considered that a better course of action is to
proceed with progressive implementation of the standards, leave the
formal ratification for consideration at a later stage when it becomes
practicable. We have so far ratified 39 Conventions of the ILO, which is
much better than the position obtaining in many other countries. Even
where for special reasons, India may not be in a position to ratify a
Convention, India has generally voted in favor of the Conventions
reserving its position as far as its future ratification is concerned.
Core Conventions of the ILO: - The eight Core Conventions of the ILO
(also called fundamental/human rights conventions) are:
Forced Labor Convention (No. 29)
Abolition of Forced Labor Convention (No.105)
Equal Remuneration Convention (No.100)
Discrimination (Employment Occupation) Convention (No.111)
(The above four have been ratified by India).
Freedom of Association
Convention (No.87)

and

Protection

of

Right

to

Organized

Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention (No.98)

Minimum Age Convention (No.138)
Worst forms of Child Labor Convention (No.182)
(These four are yet to be ratified by India)
Consequent to the World Summit for Social Development in 1995, the
above-mentioned Conventions (Sl.No.1 to 7) were categorized as the
Fundamental Human Rights Conventions or Core Conventions by the
ILO. Later on, Convention No.182 (Sl.No.8) was added to the list.
As per the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
and its Follow-up, each Member State of the ILO is expected to give
effect to the principles contained in the Core Conventions of the ILO,
irrespective of whether or not the Core Conventions have been ratified
by them.
Under the reporting procedure of the ILO, detailed reports are due
from the member States that have ratified the priority Conventions and
the Core Conventions every two years. Under the Follow-up to the ILO
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, a report is
to be made by each Member State every year on those Core
Conventions that it has not yet ratified.
Active partnership policy & multi-disciplinary team
One of the major reforms initiated recently is the launching of the
Active Partnership Policy whose aim is to bring ILO closer to its
constituents. The main instrument for implementation of the policy is
the multi-disciplinary team, which will help identify special areas of
concern and provide technical advisory services to member States to
translate ILOs core mandate into action. The multi-disciplinary team
for South-Asia is based in New Delhi. It consists of specialists on
employment, industrial relations, workers and employers activity,
small-scale enterprises and International Labor Standards.
Child Labor Legislations
ILOs interest in child labor, young persons and their problems is well
known. It has adopted a number of Conventions and Recommendations
in this regard. In India, within a framework of the Child Labor
(Prohibition and Regulations) Act, 1986 and through the National
Policy on Child Labor, ILO has funded the preparation of certain local
and industry specific projects. In two projects, viz. Child Labor Action
and Support Programmes (CLASP) and International Programme on
Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), the ILO is playing a vital role.
The implementation of IPEC programmes in India has certainly created
a very positive impact towards understanding the problem of child
labor and in highlighting the need to elimination child labor as
expeditiously as possible. A major contribution of the IPEC programme
in India is that it has generated a critical consciousness among all the 3
social partners for taking corrective measures to eliminate child labor.
The effect of ILO on Labor legislation in India

With the growth and expansion of factories and industries in the

subcontinent beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, new avenues for
employment were created, resulting in a gradual migration of the labor
force from rural areas to mills and factories located primarily in urban
areas. At that time, in the absence of any state control or organization
of the workers, the employers were less concerned about the needs of
their employees; the work hours were too long, wages much below the
subsistence level, and the workers employment conditions were
unsatisfactory. The situation led to the enactment of a number of
legislations beginning from the year 1881. These include, inter alia, the
Factories Act (1881), Workmens Compensation Act (1923), Trade
Unions Act (1926), Trade Disputes Act (1929), Payment of Wages Act
(1936), Maternity Benefit Act (1939), and the Employment of Children
Act
The Factories Act 1881 is the basis of all labor and industrial laws of
the country. It contained provisions even for hours of work of women
and workers including that of minimum age for employment of
children. After the International Labor Organization (ILO) was formed
in 1919, this Act was amended and thereafter repealed, resulting in the
promulgation of the Factories Act 1934. It makes provision for safety,
health and hygiene of the workers and special provision for women and
juvenile workers. It also prohibits child labor. It limits work of a child in
factories, including the seasonal ones.
Under the Mines Act 1923 which applies to workers employed in
mines, the hours of work for persons employed on surface are limited
to ten per day and fifty four per week. The periods of work including
rest interval shall not spread over more than 12 hours in any day. For
workers employed underground, the daily limit is nine hours per day.
The Act does not contain provisions as to overtime work. No worker is
to work in a mine for more than six days a week. The Act does not
provide for wages for the weekly rest day.
The government of India set up an enquiry committee in 1926 to
ascertain the loophole for irregularity of payment of wages to industrial
workers. The Royal Commission on Labor appointed in 1929 considered
the reports and suggestions of the aforesaid enquiry committee and
recommended for enactment for prevention of maladies relating to
payment of wages resulting in the promulgation of the Payment of
Wages Act in 1936. It aimed, firstly, at disbursement of actual
distributable wages to workers within the prescribed period and,
secondly, to ensure that the employees get their full wages without any
deduction. The Act was passed to regulate the payment of wages to
certain classes of persons employed in industry. The object of the Act
obviously was to provide a cheap and speedy remedy for employees to
whom the Act applied inter alia, to recover wages due to them, and for
that purpose, a special tribunal was subsequently created, but due to
some inherent defects in the statute the recovery of decree able wages
rema
ined difficult.
The Weekly Holidays Act of 1942 prescribes one paid holiday a week
for persons employed in any shop, restaurant or theatre (excepting
those employed in a confidential capacity or in a position of
management). The government is empowered to grant additional halfday holiday with pay in a week

The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 came into being on the 1st day of
April 1947. The Act provided for establishment of industrial tribunals
by the appropriate government in British India. It established a fullfledged industrial tribunal for adjudication of industrial disputes for the
first time
The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 came into
operation for the first time requiring employers in industrial
establishments employing 100 or more workmen to define the terms of
employment of workmen in the form of standing orders which should
be in general conformity with the model standing orders incorporated
in the Act. The Merchant Shipping Act, 1923 provided for an
agreement between a seaman and the master of the ship regarding
terms of service
Conclusion:
Labor class is indeed one of the classes most vulnerable to exploitation
if not the most. Most of the labor legislations in India are pre
constitutional. The concept of Fundamental Rights was introduced the
Constitution. Although most of the pre constitutional legislations have
been repealed or curtailed following the Doctrine of Eclipse and
Doctrine of Severability, not a lot of changes have had to be made to
the labor laws that were well passed before the Constitution. The
success of these labor legislations must be attributed to the ILO, as the
guidelines issued by the ILO were formed the principles on which these
legislations were drawn. By observing the passage of Labor
Legislations in India, through the various amendments and enactments,
it is evident that the ILO did have a great impact on the Labor Laws in
India. Many new laws were enacted to incorporate the guidelines of the
conventions of the ILO that were ratified by India. The setting up of
ILO also saw the amendment of Factories Act, 1881.
All these amended and enacted legislations make provisions for the
general welfare and protection of interest of the labors in India. The
positive influence of ILO is seen in form of recognition of many new
kinds of rights that were erstwhile not available to the labor class, but
were made available post the creation of ILO.