7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
1/24
Equal Opportunity and Law
Sunil Shukla
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
2/24
Labor legislation in India
India has an elaborate labor legislation
framework, largely covering the organized
sector
The legislations are criticized for being too
rigid and inflexible
The legislations are rooted in the constitutionof India
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
3/24
Constitution of India and Labor
Legislation
The constitution of India is rooted in the principles of
democracy, socialism, and secularism
The specific provisions concerned with labor and work
are found in the fundamental rights section and thedirective principles of state policy
The constitution distributes the powers to handle labor
related legislations between central and state
legislatures
Separate constitutional provisions exist to regulate
conditions of work of civil servants (government
employees)
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
4/24
India and Labor Legislation
Fundamental Rights
Article 14: Equality before law
Article 15b : Prohibition of discrimination ongrounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth
Article 16: Equality of opportunity in matters of
public employment
Article 17: Abolition of un-touchability
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
5/24
India and Labor Legislation
Right to Freedom
Article 19 deals with the protection of certain rights
regarding freedom of speech, etc
Right Against Exploitation
Article 21 deals with the right to life
Article 23 deals with the prohibition of trafficking of
human beings and forced labor
Article 24 deals with the prohibition of employment
of children in factories
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
6/24
India and Labor Legislation
Directive Principles of state policy
Article 38: State to secure a social order for the
promotion of welfare of the people
Article 39: Certain principles of policy to be
followed by the state
Article 41: right to work, to education and public
assistance in certain cases. Article 42: Provision for just humane conditions of
work and maternity relief
Article 43: Living wage, etc, for workers
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
7/24
India and Labor Legislation
Article 43A: Participation of workers in management
of industries
Article 45: Provision from free and compulsory
education for children
Article 46: Promotion of educational and economic
interests of scheduled caste, schedules tribes and other
weaker section
Article 47: Duty of the state to raise the level of
nutrition and standard of living and to improve public
health
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
8/24
India and Labor Legislation
Articles affecting government employment
Article 309: Refers to recruitment and conditions of
service of people employed by government.
Article 310: Specifies the tenure of persons holding
office.
Article 311: Refers to dismissal, removal anddemotion of government employees
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
9/24
India and Labor Legislation
Labor Jurisdiction for Central and State
government
Article 246 and the seventh schedule of theconstitution of India specify distribution of powers
(legislative) between the central and state
government
Labor is placed in the concurrent List or List III
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
10/24
Laws related to Industrial
Relationships
The Trade Unions Act, 1926.
The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders)
Act, 1946.
The Industrial Disputes (ID) Act, 1947.
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
11/24
The Trade Unions Act, 1926
The act allows freedom for any seven
employees to apply to register a trade union,
but a later amendment in 2001 specified the
minimum membership as 10% of the
employees or 100 employees, whichever is less.
Trade unions are to be registered with the
appropriate government-appointed Registrar of
Trade Unions.
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
12/24
Industrial Employment (Standing
Orders) Act, 1946
The act formally defines conditions of employment
including recruitment, discharge, disciplinary action,
working hours, holidays and leaves.
The act is applicable to industrial establishments underthe jurisdiction of central and state governments.
It serves to reduce conflict and communication
mechanism between management and labor.
Industrial Disputes (ID) Act, 1947
The act was formulated with the objective of having a machinery
and procedure for the investigation and settlement of industrial
disputes in place.
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
13/24
Laws Related to Wages
The Payment of Wages Act, 1936
The act ensures payment of wages on time.
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 The act sets the framework for declaring the
minimum wages payable for occupations, both in
formal and the informal sectors.
It specifies the structure and procedure for fixingand revising the minimum wages at regular
intervals.
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
14/24
Laws Related to Working Hours,
Conditions of Services and Employment
The Factories Act, 1948
The act safeguards the health, safety and welfare of workers in
establishments covered by the act.
The Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961
The act deals with work-related aspects of shops and commercial
establishments.
It prohibits employment of children, underage people, and womenduring night hours.
It lays down the procedure for dismissal, discharge, and
termination of employment.
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
15/24
Laws Related to Equality and
Empowerment of Women
The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
It provides job security and support to pregnant
women.
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
The act prevents gender-based discrimination in
employment and wages.
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
16/24
Laws Related to Social Security
Workmens Compensation Act, 1923
The act provides compensation to employees in cases of mishaps at work.
Employees State Insurance Act, 1948
The act provides relief to employees and
dependents in cases of sickness or events that
prevent them from working.
Various benefits given to eligible employees are:
Sickness benefitin cash
Maternity benefitin cash
Disablement benefitin cash
Dependents benefitin cash
Funeral expensesin cash
Medical benefitas service and kind
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
17/24
Laws Related to Social Security
Employees Provident Funds And Miscellaneous
Provisions Act, 1952
The act provides security to employees during times of
distress and old age.
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
The act provides for gratuity payment to all employeesat the prescribed rates, currently 15 days for every year
of service.
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
18/24
Reservations
Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action
designed to improve the well-being of perceived backward
and under-represented communities.
Caste is the most used criteria to identify under-represented groups.
Other identifiable criteria for under-representation- gender,
state of domicile, rural people,
The Supreme Court ruling that reservations cannot exceed
50% However, there are state laws that exceed this 50% limit
(69% in case of Tamil Nadu).
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
19/24
Types of Reservation
Caste based
SCs & STs, 15% & 7.5% respectively in central services,
including PSUs in states proportional to population.
This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%, by including
an additional 27% reservation for OBCs
Management quota
15 % seats in private colleges for the students who are decided by
the college management's own criteria.
Gender based Women get 33% reservation in gram panchayat (village assembly,
which is a form of local village government) and municipal
elections.
Equal pay
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
20/24
Religion based
The Tamil Nadu government has allotted 3.5% of seats each to
Muslims and Christians,
Andhra Pradesh administration has introduced a law enabling
4% reservations for Muslims (contested in court).
Religious minority status educational institutes also have 50%
reservation for their particular religions.
State of domiciles
With few exceptions, all jobs under state government are
reserved to those who are domiciles under that government.
In PEC Chandigarh, earlier 80% of seats were reserved for
Chandigarh domiciles and now it is 50%.
Types of Reservation
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
21/24
Types of Reservation
Other criteria
Sons/Daughters/Grandsons/Grand daughters of
Freedom Fighters. persons with disabilities:
3% of the vacancies in case of direct recruitment
to Group A, B, C & D posts and 3% of the
vacancies in case of promotion to Group D, andGroup C posts
Displaced Persons: One member from family
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
22/24
Does Diversity Enhance Organization
Performance?
YES!
Scott Page - Univ of Michigan- Mathematical Modeling determining
that accuracy = average accuracy + diversity
More types of people, more types of perspectives, better performance
NO!
Social Identity theory- people are drawn to those like themselves
Diversity is a problem as people do not work well across social
boundaries
Assumption ofPages model is that people will work well together and
share information- this is a flawed assumption
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
23/24
Indicators of Diversity Age
Caste
Race/Ethnicity
Religion
Gender
Disabilities
Marital/Family Status
7/30/2019 Equal Opportunity and Law
24/24
Implication of Diversity
Dilution of selection process due to no or little formal
education
Problem for organisational job requirements
particularly in promotion & appraisal
Personality linked intra-group Tensions (Not Regional/
Communal)
Affirmative action for deprived class (e.g. EDI-CII)
Ethical issues
Merit