Download Study materials on Minimum Wages Act and more Slides Labour Law in PDF only on Docsity!
MINIMUM
WAGES
ACT, 1948
INTRODUCTION
- (^) An Act to provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in certain employments.
- (^) 31 SECTIONS
- (^) Extends up to whole of India
- (^) Has different state amendments- LABOUR COMES UNDER THE CONCURRENT LIST
Salient features of minimum wages act 1948
- (^) The Act applied to certain employments (listed in the
Schedule)
- (^) Both the governments (Central and State) have to declare
minimum wages for their sphere.
- (^) Kinds of fixing of Minimum wages
- (^) Classes of fixing minimum rates of wages
- (^) Norms of fixing minimum rates of wages
- (^) Period to revise minimum wages by the appropriate
government is five years.
Applicability of Minimum Wages Act
- (^) The Act is applicable in those industries which consist of at least 1000 workers.
- (^) The minimum wages further constitute 25% of children education, medical requirement, minimum recreation including festival ceremonies and provisions for old age, marriage etc.
TYPES OF WAGES IN MINIMUM
WAGES ACT
- (^) by the hour; or
- (^) by the day; or
- (^) by the month or
- (^) by such large wage period as may be prescribed
MINIMUM WAGES- MEANING
- (^) A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees
- (^) the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor.
- (^) the national-level minimum wage at around INR 176 (US$2.80 ) per day- INDIA
- (^) the amount needed to provide enough food, clothing, and shelter.
WHAT CONSTITUTES MINIMUM
WAGES ACCORDING TO
GOVERNMENT
1.3 consumption units per earner; 2.Minimum food requirement of 2700 calories per average adult; 3.Cloth requirement of 72 yards per annum per family; 4.House rent corresponding to the minimum area provided under the Government’s Industrial Housing Scheme; 5.Fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of the total minimum wage.
WHO FIXS THE MINIMUM WAGES?
Section 5
- (^) Committee Method: Committees and Sub-committees are set up to make recommendations or create inquiries.
- (^) Notification Method: The government publishes proposals and an official date in the Official Gazette.
- (^) All advice and recommendations form various committees and sub-committees as well as representations are collected before the specified official date and the government then proceeds to fix/revise minimum wages.
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 also specifies about the working hours under the rules 20 to 25 that the number of work hours in a day should not exceed 9 hours for an adult.
SECTION 14
- (^) To the worker whose minimum rate of wages are fixed with wage period of time, such as by hour, by the day or by any such period
- (^) if a worker works more than that number of hours, it is considered to be overtime.
- (^) In case if the number of hours constituting a normal working day exceeds the given limit, then the employer will have to pay him for every hour or for part of an hour for which he has worked in excess at the overtime rate.
WAGES ACT, 1948- SECTIONS 12- 22 C
SECTION 12- Payment of minimum rates of wages
- (^) The payment shall be made to the employees in order which is prescribed by law under this Act.
- (^) However, it is also mentioned that nothing in this Act can affect the provisions laid down in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936).
- (^) Section 12 of the Act fixes the payment of minimum wage.
- (^) FOR EMPLOYMENTS MENTIONED IN THE SCHEDULE
- (^) EMPLOYER IS LIABLE TO PAY
SECTION 13(2)- APPROPRIATE GOVT
WILL FIX WAGES AND WORKING
HOURS
- (^) (a)employees engaged on urgent work, or in any emergency which could not have been foreseen or prevented;
- (^) (b) employees engaged in work in the nature of preparatory or complementary work which must necessarily be carried on outside the limits laid down for the general working in the employment concerned;
- (^) (c) employees whose employment is essentially intermittent;
- (^) (d) employees engaged-in any work which for technical reasons has to be completed before the duty is over;
- (^) (e) employees engaged in a work which could not be carried on except at times dependent on the irregular action of natural forces.
SECTION 13(3)- WORKING HOURS
FOR SECTION 13(2)(c)
- (^) appropriate Government on the ground that the ' daily hours of duty of the employee, or if there be no daily hours of duty as such for the employee
- (^) the hours of duty, normally include periods of inaction during which the employee may be on duty but is not called upon to display either physical activity or sustained attention.
- (^) WHEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS DONE