Rifan Mohideen. D & Rishad Mehta, Jindal Global Law School
The concept of ‘Standing Orders’ in India is one of recent growth pertaining to labour management relations. Before the period of 1946, most terms and conditions of employment were decided on an ‘oral’ basis which meant the terms of employment were vague due to lack of clarity for the employees. During this period, the bargaining power of the labour was weak due to mass illiteracy and ignorance that was prevailing in society at the time[1]. This allowed the employers to take advantage over the workers in bargaining about the terms and conditions of employment.
During 1946, The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act (IESO) was enacted with an aim of bringing about more uniformity in terms and conditions of employment and minimizing internal conflicts where standing orders were required to be drafted by the employer. The Supreme Court of India in a landmark judgement for standing orders, welcomed the IESO Act by stating that the conditions of employment were never uniform before the period of 1946 and such conditions of employment were at times not even reduced to writing which caused confusion for employees and was a catalyst for industrial dispute[2]. The IESO Act made it compulsory for employers engaging hundred or more workmen to “define with sufficient precision the conditions of employment”[3] and make the same available to the workmen and such draft standing orders were to be sent to the certifying officer for certification. The main goal behind this was to reduce the unequal bargaining power between the employer and employees by providing reasonable conditions of employment which were made available to the employees.
Opmerkingen