Trade (labor) Union and Labor law:

Trade union (British English) or labor union (American English) is an organization of workers that have
banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. A trade union is an
organization made up of members (a membership-based organization) and its membership must be made
up mainly of workers.
This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring,
firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies.

purpose of these organizations is "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment". One of
a trade union's main aims is to protect and advance the interests of its members in the workplace.
Most trade unions are independent of any employer. However, trade unions try to develop close working
relationships with employers.
Over the last three hundred years, many trade unions have developed into a number of forms, influenced
by differing political objectives. Activities of trade unions vary, but may include:

Provision of benefits to members: Early trade unions, like Friendly Societies, often provided a range of
benefits to insure members against unemployment, ill health, old age and funeral expenses. In many
developed countries, these functions have been assumed by the state; however, the provision of
professional training, legal advice and representation for members is still an important benefit of trade
union membership.
Collective bargaining: Where trade unions are able to operate openly and are recognized by employers,
they may negotiate with employers over wages and working conditions.
Industrial action: Trade unions may enforce strikes for particular goals.
Political activity: Trade unions may promote legislation favorable to the interests of their members or
workers as a whole. To this end they may pursue campaigns and financially support individual candidates
or parties for public office.

Labour law: Also called employment law is the body of laws, However, there are two broad categories
of labour law.
First, collective labour law relates to the relationship between employee, employer and union. Second,
individual labour law concerns employees' rights at work and through the contract for work.
Employment standards are social norms (in some cases also technical standards) for the minimum
socially acceptable conditions under which employees or contractors will work. Government agencies
enforce employment standards codified by labour law (legislative, regulatory, or judicial).

Labour law arose due to the demands for workers for better conditions, the right to organize, and the
simultaneous demands of employers to restrict the powers of workers' many organizations and to keep
labour costs low. Employers' costs can increase due to workers organizing to win higher wages, or by laws
imposing costly requirements, such as health and safety or equal opportunities conditions. Workers'
organizations, such as trade unions, can also transcend purely industrial disputes, and gain political power.

The minimum wage is usually different from the lowest wage determined by the forces of supply and
demand in a free market, and therefore acts as a price floor. Each country sets its own minimum wage
laws and regulations, and while a majority of industrialized countries has a minimum wage, many
developing countries have not.
Minimum wages are regulated and stipulated also in some countries that lack specific laws. Minimum
wage laws were first introduced nationally in the United States in 1938, India in 1948, France in 1950, and
in the United Kingdom in 1998.
Before the Industrial Revolution, the workday varied between 11 and 14 hours. With the growth of
industrialism and the introduction of machinery, longer hours became far more common, with 14–15
hours being the norm, and 16 not at all uncommon. The eight-hour movement's struggle finally led to the
first law on the length of a working day, passed in 1833 limiting miners to 12 hours, and children to 8
hours. The 10-hour day was established in 1848, and shorter hours with the same pay were gradually
accepted thereafter. The 1802 Factory Act was the first labour law in the UK. The year 1883 saw the
passage of the Health Insurance Act, which entitled workers to health insurance; the worker paid two-
thirds, and the employer one-third, of the premiums. Accident insurance was provided in 1884.
Following is the list of State and Central Labor & Employment Acts and Rules being implemented by the
Labor & Employment Department.
Contract Labor (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970
Child Labor (Regulation and Prohibition) Act, 1986
The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service)
Act, 1996
Employees provident fund and miscellaneous provisions Act, 1952
Employees State Insurance Act, 1948
Equal remuneration Act, 1976
Factories Act, 1948
Industrial Employment (standing orders) Act, 1946
Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
Minimum Wages Act, 1948
Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
Payment of Wages Act, 1936
Trade union Act, 1926
Boilers Act, 1923
The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act,1959.

Industrial electricity rules:

Make provision for power handling capacity, size, and strength. This rule says that any electrical
apparatus, network or system must have sufficient capacity to handle the power \ energy required to do the
specific job, its size must be adequate to handle the power requirement and must be convenient for use and
it must have sufficient mechanical strength to avoid danger to human life.
It makes provision for application of suitable switches, breakers on primary, secondary sides of
transformers, controllers of motors and use of suitable insulating materials. It also provides for metal-
sheathed conductor system or for cable network the level of fault currents.
It electrical apparatuses for handling and use of electrical power and consider the aspect of amply
designing and manufacturing these items. Such is also gets envisaged that suitability of use \ application of
these is taken care of during blue print stage. These rules taken together with relevant Indian Standards
grant details, which needs consideration regarding safety of apparatus in use, in addition to setting broad
guidelines for manufacturing.
It also provides for installation and testing of electrical apparatuses and systems; and various safety
measures to be adopted while erection and commissioning is hand.
These also provide for various tests regarding voltage withstand ability and insulation condition to ensure
system capability to withstand over voltages and handling safely the fault currents. These also take care
regarding safe earthing of electrical systems at different locations to avoid danger.

 Industrial Dispute Acts:

The Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) of 1947. Particular attention has been paid, which required firms
employing 300 or more workers to obtain government permission for layoffs, retrenchments and closures.
Job security laws thus protect a tiny minority of workers in the organized sector and prevent the expansion
of industrial employment that could benefit the mass of workers outside. 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 lies down:
1. The provision for payment of compensation to the workman on account of closure or lay off or
retrenchment.
2. The procedure for prior permission of appropriate Government for laying off or retrenching the workers
or closing down industrial establishments
3. Unfair labour practices on part of an employer or a trade union or workers.

Applicability: 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.

Workmen compensation Act:

Workers' compensation is a form of insurance that provides wage replacement and medical benefits for
employees who are injured in the course of employment. provision can be made for weekly payments in
place of wages, compensation for economic loss reimbursement or payment of medical and like expenses
(functioning in this case as a form of health insurance), and benefits payable to the dependents of workers
killed during employment (functioning in this case as a form of life insurance). General damages for pain
and suffering, and punitive damages for employer negligence, are generally not available in worker
compensation plans, and negligence is generally not an issue in the case. These laws were first enacted in
Europe and Oceania, with the United States following shortly thereafter.

Compensation before statutory law: Before the statutory establishment of workers' compensation,
employees who were injured on the job were only able to pursue their employer through civil or tort law.
Courts usually ruled in favor of employers, paying little attention to the full losses experienced by
workers, including medical costs, lost wages, and loss of future earning capacity.

Statutory compensation law: Statutory compensation law provides advantages to employees and
employers. A schedule is drawn out to state the amount and forms of compensation to which an employee
is entitled, if he/she has sustained the stipulated kinds of injuries. Employers can buy insurance against
such occurrences. However, the specific form of the statutory compensation scheme may provide
detriments. Statutes often award a set amount based on the types of injury. These payments are based on
the ability of the worker to find employment in a partial capacity: a worker who has lost an arm can still
find work as a proportion of a fully-able person. This does not account for the difficulty in finding work
suiting disability.
Various organizations focus resources on providing education and guidance to workers' compensation
administrators and adjudicators in various state and national workers' compensation systems. These
include the American Bar Association (ABA), the International Association of Industrial Boards and
Commissions (IAIBC), and the National Association of Workers' Compensation Judiciary (NAWCJ).
In the United States, the first state such worker's compensation law was passed in Maryland in 1902, and
the first law covering federal employees was passed in 1906. By 1949, all states had enacted some kind of
workers' compensation regime. Such schemes were originally known as "workman's compensation," but
today, most jurisdictions have adopted the term "workers' compensation" as a gender-neutral alternative.
In the United States, most employees who are injured on the job have an absolute right to medical care for
any injury, and in many cases, monetary payments to compensate for resulting temporary or permanent
disabilities. Most employers are required to subscribe to insurance for workers' compensation, and an
employer who does not may have financial penalties imposed.
It is illegal in most states for an employer to terminate or refuse to hire an employee for having reported a
workplace injury or filed a workers' compensation claim. However, it is often not easy to prove
discrimination on the basis of the employee's claims history.
Minimum Wages Act:
Wages means all remuneration capable of being expressed in terms of money, which would, if the terms
of contract of employment, express or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to a person employed in respect
of his employment or of work done in such employment.
It includes house rent allowance but does not include the value of any house accommodation, supply or
light, water, medical attendance or other amenity or service excluded by general or special order of
appropriate Government; contribution paid by the employer to Pension/ Provident Fund or under scheme
of social insurance; traveling allowance or value of traveling concession
In unorganized sector, where labour is vulnerable to exploitation, due to illiteracy and having no effective
bargaining power, minimum rates of wages are fixed/ revised both by Central and State Governments in
the scheduled employments falling under their respective jurisdictions under the provisions of the
Minimum Wages Act,1948. The concept of Minimum Wages was first evolved by ILO in 1928 with
reference to remuneration of workers in those industries where the, level of wages was substantially low
and the labour was vulnerable to exploitation, being not well organized and having less effective
bargaining power. Minimum wage law is the body of law which prohibits employers from hiring
employees or workers for less than a given hourly, daily or monthly minimum wage. More than 90% of all
countries have some kind of minimum wage legislation. The need for a legislation for fixation of
minimum wages in India received boost after World War – II when a draft bill was considered by the
Indian Labour Conference. The Minimum Wages Bill was passed by the Indian Dominion Legislature and
came into force on 15th March, 1948. The minimum rates of wages also include Special Allowance
(Variable Dearness Allowance) linked to Consumer Price Index Number.
In 1899, the colony of Victoria, Australia established similar boards
In 1909, the Trade Boards Act was enacted in the United Kingdom, establishing four such boards
In 1912, United States, set minimum wages for women and children
The Payment Of Wages Act, 1936: The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 was enacted to regulate payment
of wages to the employees employed in Industry and against illegal deductions and/or unjustified delay
caused in paying wages to them. The specific day for paying the wages is 7th day of the month in case of
industries employing less than 1000. Amendments to various sections of the Act with a view to make it
more effective are under active consideration of the Government.

Bonus act:
Applicability:
i)  Employees' drawing remuneration of Rs. 3,500/- or more and those who have worked for less than 30
days are not eligible to receive bonus under the Act.

ii) Bonus to be paid within eight months from the expiry of the accounting year.
Eligibility:
i)  Every person (other than an apprentice) drawing salary up to RS 3,500 per month.

ii) Every person drawing salary between RS 2,501/- and RS 3,500/- per month. The bonus payable to him
is to be calculated as if his salary were RS 2,500/- p.m.

Benefits:
i) Subject to other provisions: Minimum bonus shall be 8.33% of salary/wages earned or RS 100
whichever is higher.

ii)  If allocable surplus exceeds the amount of minimum bonus, then bonus shall be payable at higher rate
subject to a maximum 20% of salary/wages.
The practice of paying bonus in India appears to have originated during First World War when certain
textile mills granted 10% of wages as war bonus to their workers in 1917.  In certain cases of industrial
disputes demand for payment of bonus was also included. 

The Bonus Formula:

The Bonus Formula was first evolved in the case of Mill Owners Association, Bombay The formula,
which came to be known as ‘the Full Bench Formula or the Available Surplus Formula is as follow: “As
both labour and capital contribute to the industrial concern it is fair that labour should derive some benefit
if there is surplus after meeting prior or necessary charges.

Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Act 1977:

The ordinance was replaced by the payment of bonus (Amendment) act, 1977 which was come into force
retrospectively from the 3rd of September, 1977.  The important provisions of the Amendment Act have
been discussed at relevant places.
This is subject to an agreement which among other things, provide that such employees shall not be
entitled to be paid bonus in excess of 8.33% of the salary or wage earned by them during the accounting
year.

Disqualification for Bonus:

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, an employee shall be disqualified from receiving bonus
under this act, if he is dismissed from service for:
a)  Fraud; or
b) Violent behavior while on the premises of the establishment
c) Theft, misappropriation of any property of the establishment.