Minimum Wages Act 1948 PDF

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Minimum Wages Act : Constitutional Validity A Draft Convention on the question of minimum wages was adopted at the International Labour Conference held in Geneva in 1928. Draft Convention contemplated the creation of a minimum wage fixation machinery only in the case of: Traders or parts of Trades (and in particular in home working trades) in which no arrangements exist for the effective regulation of wages by collective agreement otherwise and wages are exceptionally low. India in it's obligation to ratify the International Convention has incorporated a Minimum Wages for the scheduled employments mentioned in the act. But repeatedly the employer class has challenged the validity of the said act in the halls of the supreme court.

Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India The Supreme Court in its rulings has held that non-payment of minimum wages leads to forced labour which is prohibited under Article 23 of the Indian Constitution. Where a person provides labour or service to another for remuneration which is less than the minimum wages, such labour is forced labour within the meaning of article 23 of the Constitution and thereby entitles the person to invoke article 32 or article 226 of the Constitution of India:

Article 14 It was said that the provisions of this Act also violates Article 14 of the Constitution which provides for equality before the law. The court in N.M.Wadia Charitable Hospital vs State of Maharashtra Fixing different minimum wages for different localities is permitted under the constitution and under labour laws , hence the question that any provisio of the Minimum Wages Act is in any way against the provisio of constitution is wrong On a careful examination of the various of the Act and the machinery setup by this Act, Section 3(3)(iv) neither contravene Article 19(1) of the constitution nor does it infringe the equal protection clause of the constitution(Art 14) .The Courts have also held that the constitution of the committees and the Advisory Board did not contravene the statutory provisions in that behalf prescribed by the legislature as per Bhikusa Yamasa Kshatriya vs Sangammar

Akola Bidi Kamgar Union

Article 19 The contention of the employers that the said act breaches their right to free trade and profession guaranted under the Art was rejected by the supreme court.Whether the act offends fundamental rights guaranteed under Art. 19(1)(g) byt Minimum Wages Act, 1948 was challenged in the case of BIJAY COTTON MILLS LTD vs THE STATE OF AJMER It was held that the restrictions imposed upon the freedom of contract by the fixation of minimum rates of wages though they interfere to some extent with the freedom of trade or business guaranteed under Art. 19(1)(g) of the Constitution are not unreasonable and being imposed in the interest of general public and with a view to carry out one of the Directive Principles of State Policy as embodied in Art. 43 which talks about living wages in the Constitution are protected by the terms of clause (6) of Art. 19.

Article 43 It can scarcely be disputed that securing of living wages to labourers which ensure not only bare physical subsistence but also the maintenance of health and decency is conducive to the general interest of the public. This is one of the directive principles of State policy embodied in Article 43 of our Constitution. The employers cannot be heard to complain if they are compelled to pay the

minimum wages to their labourers even though the labourers, on account of their poverty and helplessness are willing to work on lesser wages in Bijay Cotton Mills Ltd v/s The State Of Ajmer

Code On Wages, 2019 The Code on Wages, 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Labour, Mr. Santosh Gangwar on July 23, 2019. It seeks to regulate wage and bonus payments in all employment where any industry, trade, business, or manufacture is carried out. The landmark Labour Code on Wages Act (henceforth referred to as the Wage Code), enacted in August 2019, has been celebrated for codifying India's four wage related laws, namely: The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, The Payment of Wages Act, 1936, The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. The Code proposes to do away with the concept of bringing specific jobs under the Act, and mandates that minimum wages be paid for all types of employment – irrespective of whether they are in the organized or the unorganized sector

Challenges Ahead An analysis published by S. B. Bajaj and S. P. Bajaj in Administrative Processes of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948: A Study in Delhi observed that in no industry were the rates revised in the first instance, within the stipulated period .The time gap between the fixation and the revision of rates was seven to nine years, and in one case it was even 13 years.What the past has shown us is that history repeats itself from time to time and the trend which the government follows can be termed out to be anti-workers where revision not done for years and years tend to increase the inequality difference between its people. In India, small and unorganized businesses employ more than 90% of the workforce, an estimated 500 million people. The Code on Wages seeks to cover all employees, just as recommended in the Directive Principles. This is where the major problem with compliance will come up, leading to the threat of harassment from labour officials. In an atmosphere where businesses are reeling under the impact of a hurriedly passed goods and services tax (GST) system, this new requirement will certainly impose higher costs which should be tackled by the government at the first instance. The Union cabinet when approved the Wage Code Bill,it raised the national minimum to one hundred seventy eight rupees per day, despite the internal labour ministry committee recommending setting the single value of the NMW( national Minimum wage ) for India at ₹ 375 per day (or ₹ 9,750 per month) as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations. This clearly showed the blatant disregard by the politicians refusing to listen to the recommendations made by the brightest minds in our country.

After COVID- 19 Economists have predicated that after the world pandemic Coronavirus/COVID-19 has passed us the world will face a recession which it hasn't faced in the past 100 years. The working class which is suffering even during the lockdown will have face hardships on another level. The government needs to make sure that no employee be subjected to wages which are below the minimum wages set by the government. Just like in Sanjit Roy Vs. State of Rajasthan, the Supreme Court decided that ‘The Exemption Act in so far as it excluded the applicability of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to the workmen employed in famine relief work is clearly violative of Article 23. Thus, even public works ostensibly initiated by the Government for the sole purpose of providing employment are subject to the Minimum Wage Act.

Conclusion

In a November 2018 report, ILO said that around 41% of Indian employees feel they are poorly paid—India stood fourth from the bottom in salary satisfaction among the 22 countries of the Asia-Pacific region, above only Bangladesh, Pakistan and Mongolia.Recently USA has removed India from its list of developing nation and put in the category of developed nation therefore India also needs to move from mindset of minimalism wages to fair wages. The Minimum Wages Act which has been consolidated into Wage Code of 2019 the challenges tend to still subsist where the fixation and revision of the wages is entirely in the hands of bureaucrats which can in turn lead to lobbying by the big private players in the country. But the research presented in this paper has clearly shown the validity and existence of the Minimum wage in the countries cannot be shaken aNd has been protected by judiciary from time to time....