The document discusses the relationship between social work and labour welfare. It outlines the role of welfare officers in improving employee living and working conditions based on statutes like the Karnataka Factories Act and Mines Act. The duties of welfare officers include addressing grievances, promoting harmony between management and employees, advising on amenities and policies, liaising with relevant parties, and providing counseling services to support employee well-being and productivity. The overall objective is to eliminate exploitation of labor and develop sound labor administration practices through welfare programs and services.

1. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL WORK AND
LABOUR WELFARE- THE ROLE OF THE WELFARE
OFFICER
EMPLOYEE WELFARE

2. INTRODUCTION
 Labour welfare can be referred as the efforts put in by the employers to
improve the working and living condition of the employee. Facilities,
services or amenities that are provided to improve the health, food,
clothing, housing, financial state, job security of the workers.
 Labor welfare is an important dimension of industrial relation; labor
welfare includes overall welfare facilities designed to take care of
wellbeing of employee's and in order to increase their living standard.
It can also be provided by government, non-government agencies and
trade unions.
 Being the active factor of Production, which determines the economic
development of the country; Labour, other than land, capital,
organisation and entrepreneurship has a significant aspect and gained
the attention in the industrial work process.

3.  “According to Arthur James Todd: “Labour welfare means anything done for
the comfort and improvement, intellectual and social, of the employees over
and above the wages paid which is not a necessity of the Industry.”
 ”According to Industrial Labour Organisation (ILO):“Labour welfare may be
understood and including such services facilities and amenities which may
be established in vicinity of undertaking to perform their work in healthy
and congenial environment and to avail of facilities which improve their
health and bring high morale.”
 Labour welfare is provided to the working employees as their social right.
Government and ILO have introduced labour welfare in accordance to time,
region, industries, countries, social values and customs.

4. Relationship between social
work and labour welfare
 Specialised training in the understanding of human
problems, interventions in family, community and individual
 Labour management problems
 Counselling/Case work
 Group work
 Health and educational help, which would involve referral to
other agencies.
 Family planning and Family life education.

5.  According to the study group organised by the Netherlands
Government, a qualified social worker is necessary in an
enterprise for the following reasons:
 their specialised training in the understanding of human
problems, ability to consider the human personality as a
whole
 their knowledge of the conditions of work
 their knowledge of the worker’s life
 their knowledge of the resources of the community
 their professional secrecy and
 their capacity for co-operation.

6. Statutory Role Of Welfare
Officer
 Karnataka Factories Welfare Officer Rules,1969
 The Mines Act,1952
 The Karnataka Plantation Rules,1978

7. Karnataka Factories Act,1969
Duties Of Welfare Officer
 Welfare officer should have additional knowledge of the
language spoke by the majority of the workers.
 Welfare officer is not supposed to deal with disciplinary cases
or appear on behalf of occupier against workers
 The welfare officer must take responsibility of the type of
adequacy and amenities provided to the number of workers
employed in the factory.
 The Welfare officer must keep in check the related welfare
statutory notices or displays must be displayed at the
conspicuous place in the factory premises.
 Registers has to be maintained by the welfare officer related to
the welfare provisions.

8. The Indian Mines Act,1952
 To establish contacts and hold consultations with a view to
maintain harmonious relations between the management and
persons employed in the mine sector.
 To bring to the notice of the management the grievances of
employees, individual as well as collective;
 To promote relations between management and employees,
which will ensure productivity efficiency as well as amelioration
in the working conditions, and to help workers to adjust and
adapt themselves to their working environments of the mine.
 To help the management in regulating the grant of leave with
wages and explain to the workers the provisions relating to
leave with wages and other leave privileges in the workplace
and to guide the workers in the matter of submission of
applications for grant of leave for regulating authorized
absence;

9. Indian Mines Act,1952
 To advise on welfare provisions such as housing facilities, food-
stuffs, social and recreational facilities, sanitation, individual
personnel problems and education of children;
 To supervise welfare activities, statutory or otherwise, including
education and training of employees;
 To suggest measures which will tend to raise the standard of
living of workers and in general promote their well-being of the
worker;
 Every Welfare Officer shall keep the record of his day-to-day
work and shall at the end of every year has to be forward to
the Chief Inspector through the manager of the mine
concerned and a summary of the report of his work during the
year.

10. The Karnataka Plantations
Rules,1978
 To bring the notice of the employer the grievances of workers, individual as well as
collective with a view to securing their expeditious redressal to act as a liaison
officer between the employer and the workers;
 Welfare officer must study the point of labour in order to help the employer to
formulate labour policies of the plantation and interpret their policies to the
workers in a language they can understand and comprehend;
 To watch the working of collective agreement and the enforcement of industrial
rewards.
 To promote relations between the employer and workers so as to bring about
efficiency in production as well as the working conditions and help workers to
adjust and adopt themselves to the working environments.
 To advise the employer in the matter of making provisions for amenities such as
canteens, recreational facilities, crèches, drinking water, foodstuffs, housing,
sanitation and medical facilities, sickness, benefits, gratuity and education of
workers children etc and on individual personal problems.

11. The Karnataka Plantations
Rules,1978
 To encourage the formation of workers point production Committees,
Co-operative Societies and Welfare Committees and supervise their
work.
 To study absenteeism and labour turn over and suggest measure to be
adopted for their prevention;
 To suggest measures which will serve to raise the standards of living of
workers and in general promote their well being;
 To perform any other duty connected with the welfare of workers.
 No welfare officer shall deal with any disciplinary cases against a worker
or appear before conciliation officer, or in a court of Tribunal on behalf
of the employer against a worker or workers except when he is required
by the Conciliation Officer, Court or Tribunal to appear as an
independent witness.

12. ROLE AND STATUS OF LABOUR WELFARE
OFFICER
Objectives-
 To eliminate the evils of the jobber system
in the recruitment of labor
 To develop and improve the labor
administration in mills / factory.
 To serve as a liaison with the State Labor
Commissioner.

13. Duties-
 SUPERVISION:
• Safety, health and welfare programmes like housing,
recreation and sanitation services, as provided under the law.
• Working of joint committees;
• Grant of leave with wages as provided; and
• Redress of workers’ grievances
 ADVICING MANAGERS IN THE MATTERS OF :
• Formulating welfare policies;
• Apprenticeship training programs;
• Complying with statutory obligations to workers
• Developing fringe benefits;
• Workers’ education

14.  LIAISONING:
 Liaison with workers so that they may –
• Appreciate the need for harmonious industrial relations
in the plant;
• Resolve disputes, if any;
• Understand the limitations under which they operate;
and
• Interpret company policies correctly.
 Liaison with management so that they may:
• appreciate the worker’s view point on various matters
connected with the plant;
• meet their obligations under the Act;
• maintain harmonious industrial relations in the plant;

15. Contd…
 Liaison with the state labor commissioner with a view to
administration of welfare involves decisions on (i) welfare
policy, (ii) organization of welfare, and (iii) assessment of
effectiveness
 COUNSELLING:
 The latest trend catching up in the corporate HR across the
world is 'Employee Counseling at Workplace'. The employees
can be stressed, depressed, suffering from too much anxiety
arising out of various workplace related issues like managing
deadlines, meeting targets, lack of time to fulfill personal and
family. Organizations have realized the importance of having a
stress-free yet motivated and capable workforce. Welfare
measures are not only the solution. . Therefore, many
companies have integrated the counseling services

16. CONCLUSION