a) Write any two objects of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

The objects of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 are as follows:

• To make provision for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes, and certain other purposes.
• To achieve the promotion of harmony in labour-capita relationship.
• To provide a machinery for the settlement of industrial disputes by arbitration or adjudication.
• To ensure social justice and economic progress, by fostering industrial harmony.
• To enable workmen to achieve their demands by means of the legitimate weapon of strikes, and thus facilitates collective bargaining.
• To prohibit illegal strikes and lockouts.
• To provide relief to workmen in the event of a lay-off or retrenchment.
• To enable the State to play a constructive role in employer- workmen relationship, in keeping with the concept of a Welfare State

b) What is the extent of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

According to Section 2 of the Act, it is applicable to whole of India including Jammu and Kashmir (After 2019 amendment). According to the Constitution of India, the subjects Trade Unions, Industrial Labour Disputes are in the concurrent list. Hence the Statres have their own labour laws.

c) How many Chapters, Sections, and Schedules are there in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

There are seven Chapters, thirty-six sections, and five Schedules in the Act.

d) Define the term ‘Industry’ under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

According to Section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, ‘Industry’ means any business, trade, undertaking, manufacture or calling of employers and includes any calling, service, employment, handicraft, or industrial occupation or avocation of workmen.

e) Define the term ‘Industrial Dispute’ under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

According to Section 2(k) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, ‘Industrial Dispute’ means any dispute or difference between employers and employers, or between employers and workmen, or between workmen and workmen, which is connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or with the conditions of labour, of any person.

f) What are the ingredients of ‘Industrial Dispute’?

The ingredients of ‘Industrial Dispute’ is as follows:

• A dispute or difference must exists.
• The dispute/difference must be between employers and employers, or between employers and workmen, or between workmen and workmen
• The dispute/difference must be connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or with the conditions of labour, of any person.

g) Can an individual work-man’s dispute be an industrial dispute?

No, individual work-man’s dispute cannot be an industrial dispute. The individual dispute becomes an industrial dispute when it is taken up by union or substantial number of workmen. Section 2A gives provisions of instances in which the individual dispute can be treated as industrial dispute.

h) Can Appropriate Government raise ‘Industrial Dispute’ without demand made by the workmen with their employer?

No, Appropriate Government cannot raise ‘Industrial Dispute’ without demand made by the workmen with their employer. In Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Limited v. Industrial Tribunal, 1968 I LLJ 834 case, the Supreme Court held that a mere demand made to the appropriate Government, without a dispute being raised by the workmen with their employer.

i) Is written demand necessary for raising an industrial dispute under the I.D. Act?

For existence of an industrial dispute, there must exist a dispute or difference between employers and employers, or between employers and workmen, or between workmen and workmen connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or with the conditions of labour, of any person. Thus it is clearly defined dispute and it should be proved that one of the party to the dispute has conveyed the dispute to the other party and the demand is rejected. Hence a written demand is necessary.

j) Define ‘Employer’ under the I.D. Act, 1947

According to Section 2(g) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, employer means,-

(i) in relation to an industry carried on by or under the authority of any department of the Central Government or a State Government, the authority prescribed in this behalf, or where no authority is prescribed, the head of the department;

(ii) in relation to an industry carried on by or on behalf of a local authority, the chief executive officer of that authority.

k) Define ‘Workman’/ ‘Apprentice’ under the I.D. Act, 1947

According to Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, workman means any person (including an apprentice) employed in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied, and for the purposes of any proceeding under this Act in relation to an industrial dispute, includes any such person who has been dismissed, discharged or retrenched in connection with, or as a consequence of, that dispute, or whose dismissal, discharge or retrenchment has led to that dispute, but does not include any such person

• who is subject to the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), or the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), or the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957); or
• who is employed in the police service or as an officer or other employee of a prison; or
• who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or
• who, being employed in a supervisory capacity, draws wages exceeding ten thousand rupees per mensem or exercises, either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by reason of the powers vested in him, functions mainly of a managerial nature.

l) Who all are not included under ‘Workman’ as per I.D. Act, 1947?

According to Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, following are not workman under the Act

• who is subject to the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), or the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), or the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957); or
• who is employed in the police service or as an officer or other employee of a prison; or
• who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or
• who, being employed in a supervisory capacity, draws wages exceeding ten thousand rupees per mensem or exercises, either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by reason of the powers vested in him, functions mainly of a managerial nature.

m) Is the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 applicable to the persons who are subject to Army Act, 1950?

No, the Act is not applicable. According to Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, a person who is subject to the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), or the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), or the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957) are excluded from the definition of workman.

n) What is meant by unfair labour practice under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947?

According to Section 2(ra) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, unfair labour practice means any of the practices specified in the Fifth Schedule.

o) Define ‘Lock-out’ under the I. D. act, 1947

According to Section 2(l) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, lock-out means the⁴⁵[temporary closing of a place of employment], or the suspension of work, or the refusal by an employer to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him;

p) How is the term ‘Strike’ defined in the I. D. Act, 1947?

According to Section 2(q) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, strike means a cessation of work by a body of persons employed in any industry acting in combination or a concerned refusal, or a refusal under a common understanding, of any number of persons who are or have been so employed to continue to work or to accept employment;

q) What is meant by ‘Lay-off’ under the I.D. Act, 1947?

According to Section 2(kkk) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, lay-off (with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions) means the failure, refusal or inability of an employer on account of shortage of coal, power or raw materials or the accumulation of stocks or the break-down of machinery or natural calamity or for any other connected reason] to give employment to a workman whose name is borne on the muster rolls of his industrial establishment and who has not been retrenched.

r) Define ‘Closure’ under the I.D. Act, 1947

According to Section 2(cc) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, closure means the permanent closing down of a place of employment or part thereof;

s) Define ‘Wages’ under the I. D. Act, 1947

According to Section 2(rr) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, wages means all remuneration capable of being expressed in terms of money, which would, if the terms of employment, expressed or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to a workman in respect of his employment or of work done in such employment, and includes–

(i) such allowances (including dearness allowance) as the workman is for the time being entitled to;

(ii) the value of any house accommodation, or of supply of light, water, medical attendance or other amenity or of any service or of any concessional supply offoodgrains or other articles;

(iii) any travelling concession;

(iv) any commission payable on the promotion of sales or business or both;

but does not include–

(a) any bonus;

(b) any contribution paid or payable by the employer to any pension fund or provident fund or for the benefit of the workman under any law for the time being in force;

(c) any gratuity payable on the termination of his service;

t) Wages under I.D. Act, 1947 does not include what all?

According to Section 2(rr) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, wages does not include

(a) any bonus;

(b) any contribution paid or payable by the employer to any pension fund or provident fund or for the benefit of the workman under any law for the time being in force;

(c) any gratuity payable on the termination of his service;

u) What is meant by ‘Award’ under the I. D. Act. 1947?

According to Section 2(b) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, award means an interim or a final determination of any industrial dispute or of any question relating thereto by any Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal or National Industrial Tribunal and includes an arbitration award made under section 10A.

v) What is ‘Retrenchment’ under the I. D. Act, 1947?

According to Section 2(oo) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, retrenchment means the termination by the employer of the service of a workman for any reason whatsoever, otherwise than as a punishment inflicted by way of disciplinary action, but does not include–

(a) voluntary retirement of the workman; or

(b) retirement of the workman on reaching the age of superannuation if the contract of employment between the employer and the workman concerned contains a stipulation in that behalf; or

(bb) termination of the service of the workman as a result of the non-renewal of the contract contract of employment between the employer and the workman concerned on its expiry or of such contract being terminated under a stipulation in that behalf contained therein; or

(c) termination of the service of a workman on the ground of continued ill-health.

w) Define the term ‘Industrial Tribunal’

According to Section 2(r) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Tribunal means an Industrial Tribunal constituted under section 7A and includes an Industrial Tribunal constituted before the 10th day of March, 1957, under this Act.

x) Define Settlement under I.D. Act, 1947

According to Section 2(p) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, settlement means a settlement arrived at in the course of conciliation proceeding and includes a written agreement between the employer and workmen arrived at otherwise than in the course of conciliation proceeding where such agreement has been signed by the parties thereto in such manner as may be prescribed and a copy thereof has been sent to an officer authorized in this behalf by the appropriate Government and the conciliation officer.

y) What is ‘Average Pay’ under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947?

According to Section 2 (aaa) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, average pay means the average of the wages payable to a workman–

• in the case of monthly paid workman, in the three complete calendar months,
• in the case of weekly paid workman, in the four complete weeks,
• in the case of daily paid workman, in the twelve full working days,

z) Average Pay under the I.D. Act, 1947 means, the average of the wages payable to the workman: (i) in the case of monthly paid workman in …. Months (ii) in the case of weekly paid workman in …. Weeks.

Average Pay under the I.D. Act, 1947 means, the average of the wages payable to the workman: (i) in the case of monthly paid workman in three calendar Months (ii) in the case of weekly paid workman in four complete Weeks.

aa) ‘Office Bearer’ in relation to a trade union under the I.D. Act, 1947 includes any member of the …….. thereof, but does not include ………..

‘Office Bearer’ in relation to a trade union under the I.D. Act, 1947 includes any member of the executive thereof, but does not include an auditor.

ab) Give two unfair labour practices on the part of employer.

• threatening workmen with discharge or dismissal, if they join a trade union;
• threatening a lock-out or closure, if a trade union is organized;
• (granting wage increase to workmen at crucial periods of trade union organization, with a view to undermining the efforts of the trade union at organization.
• taking an active interest in organizing a trade union of his workmen;
• showing partiality or granting favour to one of several trade unions attempting to organize his workmen or to its members, where such a trade union is not a recognized trade union.

ac) What is victimization?

Victimization means one of two things. One is when the workman concerned is innocent and yet he is punished because he has in some way displeased the employer.

The second instance is where an employee has committed an offense but is given a punishment quite out of proportion to the gravity of the offense, simply because he has incurred the displeasure of the employer, or where the punishment is shockingly disproportioned to the misconduct or is such as no reasonable employer would impose under the circumstances.