General view with critical analysis

1. INDIA’S HUMAN RESOURCE
POLICIES AND LAWS
MGT 6251
Prof. Dr. Gary McLean
Prepared by:
Afzal bin Mohd Rafeek (6)
Mohamed Imran (7)
Sirin Alsarmini (19)

2. Quick Facts about India (CIA,2014)
 Location: Southern Asia- between Burma and
Pakistan
 Population: 1.236 billion
 Main Religion: Hindu (80.5%), Muslim (13.4%),
Christian (2.3%) Others (3.8%)
 Child Labour: 26,965,074
(5.8% of Labour Force)

3. EMPLOYMENT FACTS
Employment in 2009-2010
− 465 million employees
− 28 million (6%) in organized sectors
− 437million (94%) in unorganized sectors
(Ministry of labour & employment, 2014)
Ranked 78th on Human Capital Index
− Performed poorly for health & wellness of labour force
(The Economic Times, 2013)

4. MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT (2014)
 Development of Human Resources
 Not related to employees in work place!
 Focus on Education
− Department of School Education & Literacy
− Department of Higher Education

5. “To protect and safeguards the interests of
workers in general and those who constitute the
poor, [and ]deprived … of the society…”
“Create a healthy work environment for higher
productions & productivity”
“Develop & coordinate vocational skills training &
Employment Services”
(Ministry of Labour & Employment, 2014- Para.1)

6. Ministry of Labour and Employment
 History of Indian Labour Law
 Policies:
− Constitutional Provision
− National Policy on HIV AIDS
− National Policy on Skill Development
− Safety, Health, Environment at the Work Place

7. Constitutional Provision
 Description: “Under the Constitution of India,
Labour is a subject in the Concurrent List where
both the Central & State Governments are
competent to enact legislation...”
 Mainly covers:
− Trade Unions
− Social Security
− Labour Welfare
− Industrial Disputes concerning employees
(Ministry of labour & employment, 2014- Para.1)

8. National Policy on HIV AIDS
 Rationale
– People with AIDS – 2.085million
– Death due to AIDS- 135,000
– 3rd Largest country with HIV AIDS
(CIA, 2014)
 Objective:
– “To reduce and manage the impact of AIDS in the
world of work” Protect from discrimination
(Ministry of Labour & Employment, 2014)

9. National Policy on Skill Development
 “Skills & knowledge are [regarded as] the
driving forces of economic growth…”
(Ministry of Employment & Labour, 2014- Para1)
 Objective:
– To develop high quality skilled workforce
– Create opportunity to acquire skills
– Get commitment from the stakeholders
(Ministry of Labour & Employment, 2014)

10. Safety, Health, Environment at
the Work Place
 Basic rights of the employees
 Government regulate the work places to
examine the working conditions
 Objective:
− To improve the safety, health & environment of
the workplace
− Increase awareness and expectations
− Reduce work related injuries and improve
coverage
(Ministry of Labour & Employment, 2014)

11. Federal Employment Laws
• Ensured that employers
compensate employees for work-
related injuries.
• (Saxena,2012)
The Workers’
Compensation
Act of 1923
• Gave formal recognition to
trade unions.
• (Saxena,2012)
The Trade
Union
Act of 1926

12. • Led to the increased role of
industrial relations (employees
were distinguished by the work
they did such as permanent,
temporary, trainee etc.).
• (Saxena,2012)
The Industrial
Disputes
Act 1947
• Regulated the work
environment in factories to
ensure the safety of employees
• (Saxena,2012)
The Factories
Act of 1948
Federal Employment Laws

13. Federal Employment Laws
• Required employers to
provide contributions
for retirement.
• (Saxena,2012)
The Employees
Provident Funds &
Miscellaneous
Provisions : Act of 1952
• Established minimum
wages that vary from
state to state.
• (Sexena,2012)
The Minimum Wage
Act of 1948

14. Federal Employment Laws
• provides for a minimum
bonus of 8.33 % of salary,
even if the organization is not
making any profit.
• (Saxena,2012)
The Payment of
Bonus Act of
1965
• was landmark legislation for
disabled people in India.
• (Saxena,2012)
The persons with
Disabilities
(PWD)
Act of 1995

15. Critique: Why Industrial Dispute Act?
Why IDA
Rigid Provisions
Purpose and
Application
Problems
Many Regulating
Bodies

16.  Chapter Vb
 Sections 25M & 25N:Retrenchment & Lay-off:
– Written 3 months notice to employee
– Dismissal subject to approval by the government
after consulting with the employee (OECD,2013)
– Principle: last come, first go. It over looks
competency of employees.
Critique: Rigid provisions
(Poddar, 2014)

17. Critique: Rigid provisions
(Poddar, 2014)
 Section 25O: Closing down a business
– Get government’s permission 3 months before
closing down.
– Compensate employees for an average of 15
days work.

18. Critique: Rigid provisions
(Poddar, 2014)
 Finding: adversely affect manufacturing
– For five years (FY05-FY10) there was a net
decrease in 5 million jobs
– Hampered employment and forgone growth
 Rigid labour laws incentivize firms to remain small
and stay in unorganized sector

19.  Purpose of provisions
– Focus on whether the strike or lockout is legal or
illegal and focus on designating penalties
– Does not focus on preventing a strike or lockout
Critique
Purpose and Application Problems
(Joseph, 2014)

20. Conciliation Arbitration Adjudication
 Multi stage structure for resolution of
disputes
Critique
Purpose and Application Problems
(Joseph, 2014)

21.  Procedures
– When the government receives notification of strike
or lockout, it appoints a Conciliation Officer
– If conciliation fails, government takes one of the
following actions:
 Withholds further action leaving the parties to
either reach agreement or engage in withdrawn
strike or lockout
 Refers the case to arbitration
 Refers the case to adjudication: jurisdiction only in
termination, prolonged, and high costs
Critique
Purpose and Application Problems
(Joseph, 2014)

22.  Finding: there is a pressing need to
reconsider the purpose, procedures, and
processes within a reasonable time frame
Critique
Purpose and Application Problems
(Joseph, 2014)

23. Critique: Many Regulating Bodies
 Central government, states and their
agencies, and trade unions (Joseph, 2014)
 Complexity: inspection visits by different
officials under different laws increase costs
and chances of bribe (Poddar, 2014)
– India’s corruption index – 36/100 (Transparency
International, 2013)

24. Critique: Many Regulating Bodies
 Finding: Many regulating bodies led to dis-
integrated laws
 In other words: optimizing parts of a system
only leads to sub-optimizing the system
(McLean, 2006)

25. Critique: What is a caste?
 Great national leader: Mahatma Gandhi
– Introduced the concept of non-violence protest
 The Indian social system is dominated by a
caste system
– Brahmins
– Khastriyas
– Vaishyas
– Shudras

26. Critique: Castes (Ratnam,1994)
 Federal jobs and admissions to colleges are
strongly influenced by quotas for caste
reservations.
 State governments can set aside 50 percent
of jobs based on different castes. To get
increased support from the public, some
states have 75 percent of job reserved.

29. Recommendation
To address the issue of hampered
employment and foregone growth
– Companies should be given more autonomy in
retrenchment, lay-off, and closing down to
encourage efficiency, effectiveness, and eventually
boost growth
 Success story of Gujarat state in India (Poddar, 2014)
– More flexibility in labour laws (abundance of young
labour force)
 Would attract more investment and create more jobs
(Rangarajan, 2006)

30. Recommendation
 To address the problems of purpose and
application (Joseph, 2014)
– Not only focus on containing strikes or lockouts
but also prevent them
 Conciliation committee: develop the
competencies of the members
 Accreditation: offered by government and private
sectors
– Adjudication: expand jurisdiction (not only
termination)

31. Recommendation
 To address the issue of dis-integrated laws
– Shift of mind set to track complexity
 Reduce excessive laws
 Reduce number of enforcement bodies
 Continuous monitoring and revisions of
laws and enforcement (quality not
quantity)

32. Recommendation
 To address the problems associated with
castes
– Idealistically removing castes from applications
will lead to more harmony among pupils of India
– Diversity training

33. Reference list
– CIA.(2014). The World Factbook-India. Retrieved from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-
factbook/geos/print/country/countrypdf_in.pdf
– Debroy, B. (2001). Why We Need Law Reform. Retrieved from
http://www.semimar.com/2001/497/497%20bibek%debroy.htm
– Jospeh, J. (2014). Quo Vadis, Industrial Relations Disputes Resolution..? The Inidan
Journal of Industrial Resolutions, Vol.50, No.1, 75-99
– Ministry of Human Resource Development (2014). About MHRD. Retrieved from
http://mhrd.gov.in/
– Ministry of Labour & Employment (2014). About Ministry. Retrieved from
http://labour.gov.in/content/aboutus/about-ministry.php
– Ministry of Labour & Employment (2014). Constitutional Provision. Retrieved from
http://labour.gov.in/content/innerpage/constitutional-provision.php
– Ministry of Labour & Employment (2014). National Policy on HIV AIDS. Retrieved from
http://labour.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/Policies/NationalPolicyonHIVAIDS.pdf
– Ministry of Labour & Employment (2014).National Policy on Skills Development.
Retrieved from
http://labour.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/Policies/NationalSkillDevelopmentPolicy
Mar09.pdf

34. Reference list
– Ministry of Labour & Employment (2014). Safety, Health and Environment on
Workplace. Retrieved from
http://labour.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/Policies/SafetyHealthandEnviron
mentatWorkPlace.pdf
– OECD (2013). OECD INDIA. Retrieved from
http://www.oecd.org/els/emp/India.pdf
– Poddar, T. (2014). Reforming the Industria Dispute & Trade Union Acts. The
Inidian Journal of Industrial Resolutions, Vol. 50, No.1, 89-99.
– Rangarajan, C. (2006, July 1). Improve Employability of Labour Force. The
Hindu Business Line.
– The Economic Times (2013). India ranks 78th on human capital index;
Switzerland on top. Retrieved from
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-10-
01/news/42576511_1_wef-founder-labour-force-health-and-wellness
– Transparency International (2013). Corruption by Country/Territory-India.
Retrieved from http://www.transparency.org/country#IND

35. Reference list
– Saxena, s. s. (2012). human resource management. chennai-55: thakur
publishers.
– KOSHAL, M. K. (1971). RESEARCH NOTE. A MACRO ANALYSIS OF
INDUSTRIAL INJURIES-SOME INDIAN EXPERIENCE, 135.
– Ratnam, H. C. (1994). International Journal of Manpower. Affirmative
Action in Employment for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
in India, 6-25.
– ASHER, M. G. (2009). ASCI Journal of Management. Pension Plans,
Provident Fund Schemes and Retirement Policies: India’s Social Security
Reform Imperative , 1-18.