1. Fuel and Crude Oil Limited:
court cases pending
Team – Medalist
Member – Twisa Dandapat
(TAPMI)
2. Objective
A walk through the case
Analysis of the case
Suggested additional readings
Suggested Session Plan
Agenda
2
3. To present the actual scenario of hiring of contingent labors in an Indian oil exploration
company and its implications in terms of dispute raised by the workers
• Category of employees and all about contingent labors
• Legal process of grievance registration
• Dispute resolution in India
Area of study – Contingent labor issues (HR)
Intended audience – Students of post graduate diploma/ degree in management, for courses on
employee relation, industrial relation, industrial dispute and business law
Objective
3
4. Case
Protagonist: Akhilesh Pathak (lawyer of FCOL)
Dilemma: How to convince the local people and make them work at the
exploration sites?
Background to the oil sector:
Before independence
After independence
4
5. Case Contd…
Company background:
Started as a small agency in 1960
Found new resources in eastern India
Discovered a giant oil field in southern India
Has pursued drilling rights in some of the Middle Eastern countries
Oil and gas exploration process:
Exploration phase – manual drilling, mechanized drilling
Exploitation phase
Selling in market
5
6. Case Contd…
Hiring of contingent workers:
Seasonal nature of work- hire local laborers
Workers developed good rapport with the FCOL employees
Challenge of recruiting again was avoided
Problem arises:
Workers started disputing their lack of confirmation
System of hiring workers through contractors
Claimed their regularization
Threat in the exploration process
6
7. Case Contd…
Current recruitment process:
Contract document
Tender committee
Bidding
Impact of court cases:
FCOL lose the case – regularization, compensation payment
FCOL wins the case
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8. Analysis
Teaching flow:
Basic idea about industrial dispute, contract labors history of labor movement in India process
of collective dispute resolution brief idea about Indian oil industry oil exploration process
contract labor act Indian import policies relation between India and middle eastern countries
discussion on dilemma mentioned in the case (it includes the below mentioned questions) Indian
legal system and a probable solution of the case
Discussion questions:
1. How should FCOL deal with the aggrieved workers and the pending court cases?
2. Why would a company of the scope of FOCL avoid having permanent employees?
3. What is the most suitable option to deal with this problem?
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9. Teaching Notes
Suggested additional reading:
Contract workmen
Contract labor act,1970
Grievance registration process in India
India – middle east relation, import policies
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10. Teaching Notes- Session Plan
Topics Sub topics Time limit (in minutes)
Introductory session
Basic idea about industrial dispute,
contract labours – history of labour
movement in India – process of
collective dispute resolution
30
Oil exploration in India
brief idea about Indian oil industry –
oil exploration process
15
All about contract labours contractual labour act 30
India and middle east
Indian import policies – relation
between India and middle eastern
countries
12
Case discussion and probable
solution
discussion on dilemma mentioned in
the case (it includes the below
mentioned questions) – Indian legal
system and a probable solution of
the case
60
=147 minutes
10
