In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject
or context, -
(1) “retirement” means the normal termination of employment of a
worker on attaining the particular age under section 28 of this Act,
provided that voluntary retirement by a worker from service on
completion of 25 years of service in any establishment shall also be
deemed to be retirement;
(1A) “partial disablement” means, where the disablement is of a temporary
nature, such disablement which reduces the earning capacity of a
worker in any employment in which he was engaged at the time of the
accident resulting in the disablement and where the disablement is of
a permanent nature, such disablement which reduces his earning
capacity in every employment which he was capable of undertaking at
that time:
Provided that every injury specified in the First Schedule shall
be deemed to result in permanent partial disablement;
(2) “manufacturing process” means any of the following processes,
namely:
(a) making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, painting, washing,
finishing or fining, packing or otherwise treating any articles or
substance for the purpose of its use, sale, transport, distribution,
display or disposal;
(b) process of pumping oil, gas, water, sewerage or any other liquid
sweepings;
(c) generating, transforming or transmitting power or gas;
(d) constructing, reconstructing, repairing, finishing or fining or
breaking up of ships or vessels; or
(e) printing by letterpress, lithography, photogravure, computer,
photocompose, offset or other similar process or book-binding
which is carried on by way of trade or for the purpose of gain or
incidental to another business so carried on;
[(2A) "festival allowance" means festival allowance payable to the working workers of a factory or establishment on the eye of their own religious festival as fixed by rules.
(3) “officer”, in the case of a trade union, means any member of the
executive committee thereof, but does not include an auditor or legal
adviser;
(4) “working hour” means the time during which the workers employed
are at the disposal of the employer excluding any interval allowed for
rest and meals;
(5) “working journalist” means a person who is a whole time journalist
and who is employed as such in, or in relation to, any newspaper
establishment and includes an editor, editorial writer, news editor,
sub-editor, feature writer, reporter, correspondent, copy tester,
cartoonist, news-photographer, calligraphist and proof reader;
(6) “workshop” means any precincts or premises where any industrial
process is carried on;
(7) “factory” means any precincts or premises where five or more
workers ordinarily work on any day of the year and in any part of
which a manufacturing process is carried on, but does not include a
mine;
(8) “adolescent” means a person who has completed fourteenth year but
has not completed eighteenth year of age;
1[(8A) ‘‘agricultural worker’’ means a person who is employed in agricultural
work for wages on the basis of daily, monthly or yearly contract or on
a contract of doing any specific work;]
(9) “mine” means any excavation where any operation is carried on for
the purpose of exploration and extraction of mineral resources and
includes all works, machinery, tram-ways and sidings relating thereto
in the mine or adjacent to it in the underground or on the surface:
Provided that no part of a premise or precinct where a
manufacturing process is carried on shall be included therein, unless
such process is for producing pulp of the concerned mineral
substance or for dressing the same;
(9A) [‘subsistence allowance” means half of the basic wages, dearness
allowance and adhoc or interim wages, if any;]
3[(10) “gratuity” means the wages of at least 30 (thirty) days, at the rate of
the wages a worker received last, for every completed year of his
service or for a period of his service exceeding 06(six) months or, in
the case of his service of more than 10 (ten) years, the wages of 45
(forty five) days at the rate of the wages he received last, which is
payable to such worker on the termination of his employment;]
(10A) “tea plantation” means any land used or intended to be used for
growing tea, and also includes a tea factory;
(11) “retrenchment” means the termination of services of workers by the
employer on the ground of redundancy;
(12) “public utility service” means -
(a) generation, production or supply of electricity, gas, oil or water
for the members of the public,
(b) sewerage or sanitation system for the members of the public,
(c) hospital and ambulance service,
(d) fire-fighting service,
(e) postal, telegraph and telephone service,
(f) railways, airways, road and water transport,
(g) ports,
(h) watch and ward staff and security service of any establishment,
(i) oxygen acetylene, and
(j) banking;
(13) “Tribunal” means the Labour Appellate Tribunal established under
this Act;
(14) “transmission machinery” means any shaft, wheel, drum, pulley,
system of pulleys, couplings, clutch, driving belt or any other
appliance or device by which the motion of a prime mover is
transmitted to or received by any machinery or plant;
(15) “trade union” means the trade union of workers or employers formed
and registered under Chapter XIII and includes a federation of trade
unions;
(16) “trade union federation” means a federation of trade unions registered
under Chapter XIII;
(17) “discharge” means the termination of service of a worker by the
employer for reasons of physical or mental incapacity or continued ill-health;
(18) “go-slow” means an organized, deliberate and intentional slowing
down of normal output of work by a group of workers, and which is
not due to any mechanical defect, breakdown of machinery, failure or
defect in power supply or failure in the supply of ordinary materials
and spare parts of machinery;
(19) “day” means a period of 24 (twenty four) hours beginning at 6.00 am;
(20) “Code of Civil Procedure” means the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
(Act No. V of 1908);
(21) “shop” means any premises or precincts used wholly or in part for the
whole-sale or retail sale of commodities or articles either for cash or
credit, or where any service is rendered to a customer, and includes
an office, storeroom, godown, or workplace, whether in the same
premises or elsewhere, mainly used in connection with such trade or
business, and includes such other premises or precincts as the
Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be a
shop for the purposes of this Act;
(22) “strike” means cessation of work or refusal to work jointly by a group
of workers employed in any establishment or refusal to accept work
or continue to work unanimously by a body of workers employed
therein;
(23) “seaman” means seaman of any ocean going ship, but does not include
a master of a ship;
(24) “executive committee”, in the case of a trade union, means a body of
persons, by whatever name called, to which the management of the
affairs of a trade union is entrusted by its constitution;
(25) “settlement” means a settlement arrived at in the course of a
conciliation proceeding, and includes an agreement between an
employer and worker arrived at otherwise than conciliation
proceedings, where such agreement is in writing and signed by both
parties and a copy thereof is sent to the Director of Labour and the
Conciliator;
(26) “water-transport service” means a service carrying passengers or
goods by vessels in water ways for hire or reward;
(27) “vessel” means any mechanically propelled vessel used or capable of
being used for the purpose of water transports and also includes a tug
or flat or barge;
(28) “administrative worker” means a person, except a working journalist
or a newspaper printing press worker, who is employed on a whole
time basis in, or in relation to, any newspaper establishment in any
capacity;
(29) “shift” means where work of the same kind is carried out by two or
more sets of workers working during different periods of the day,
each of such periods;
(30) “dependant” in relation to a deceased worker, means any of the
following relatives, namely:-
(a) a widow, minor child, unmarried daughter or a widowed
mother; and
(b) if wholly or partly dependent on the earnings of the worker at
the time of his death, a widower, widowed mother or father,
daughter if unmarried or minor or widowed, minor brother,
unmarried or widowed sister, widowed daughter-in-law, minor
son of a deceased son, minor child of a deceased daughter where
his father is not alive or, where no parent of the deceased
worker is alive, the paternal grandparent, and illegitimate son
and illegitimate unmarried daughter;
(31) “establishment” means any shop, commercial establishment, 1[transport,]
industrial establishment or premises or precincts where workers are
employed for the purpose of carrying on any industry;
(32) “group of establishments” means more than one establishment in a
particular area under the same or different owners, carrying on the
same or identical industry;
(33) “regulation” means regulation made under this Act;
(34) “maternity benefit” means the sum of money payable under the
provisions of Chapter IV to a woman worker with leave on the ground
of her being a mother;
(35) “prime mover” means any engine, motor or other appliance which
generates or provides power;
2[(35A) “trained in first aid” means a person who has completed at least
06 (six) months training on first aid;]
(36) “adult” means a person who has completed eighteenth year of age;
(37) “Code of Criminal Procedure” means the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1898 (Act No. V of 1898);
(38) “closed” means not open for providing service to any customer or to
conduct any business;
(39) “dismissal” means the termination of service of a worker by the
employer for misconduct;
(40) “plantation” means any area where the rubber, coffee or tea is grown
and/or preserved, and includes every agriculture farm, other than
experimental or research farm, employing 3[5 (five)] or more
workers;
(41) “commercial establishment” means an establishment in which the
business of advertising, commission or forwarding is carried on or
which is a commercial agency, and also includes the following
establishments, namely:-
(a) the clerical department of a factory or of any industrial or
commercial establishment;
(b) the office-establishment of a person who for the purpose of
implementing a contract with any commercial or industrial
establishment employs workers;
(c) a unit of a joint-stock company;
(d) any insurance company, banking company or bank;
(e) any office of broker;
(f) any stock exchange;
(g) any club, hotel, restaurant or eating house;
(h) any cinema or theatre;
(i) any other establishment which the Government may, by notification
in the official Gazette, declare to be a commercial establishment
for the purpose of this Act;
(42) “rules” means rules made under this Act;
1[(42A) “expert” means a person who is not an employer or a worker of the
establishment concerned, but includes a person who is an employer
or a trade union leader of the concerned sector or who has specialized
knowledge or experience of the matters relating to labour, industry
and work place safety;]
(43) “illegal strike” means a strike declared, commenced or continued 2[in
contravention of]the provisions of Chapter XIV;
(44) “illegal lock-out” means a lock-out declared, commenced or continued
3[in contravention of] the provisions of Chapter XIV;
(45) “wages” means all remuneration, expressed in terms of money or capable
of being so expressed, which would, if the terms of employment,
expressed or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to a worker in respect
of his employment or of work done in such employment, and includes
any other additional remuneration of the nature aforesaid which
would be so payable, but does not include the following money,
namely:-
(a) the value of any house accommodation, light, water, medical
facilities or other amenity or the value of any service excluded
by general or special order by the Government;
(b) any subscription paid by the employer to any pension fund or
provident fund;
(c) any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession;
(d) any sum paid to a worker to defray special expenses entitled
to him by the nature of his employment;
(46) “Arbitrator” means an Arbitrator appointed under Chapter XIV;
(47) “Chief Inspector”, “Deputy Chief Inspector”, “Assistant Chief
Inspector”4[,] “Inspector” 5[and “Assistant Inspector”] means a person
so appointed under Chapter XX;
(48) “Director of Labour”, “Additional Director of Labour”, “Joint Director
of Labour”, “Deputy Director of Labour” 1[,] “Assistant Director of
Labour” 2[and “Labour Officer”] means a person so appointed under
Chapter XX;
(49) “employer”, in relation to an establishment, means any person who
employs workers therein, and also includes the following persons,
namely:-
(a) an heir, guardian, or successor in assignment or legal representative
of such person;
(b) manager or any person responsible for the management or
control of the establishment;
(c) in the case of an establishment run by or under the authority of
the Government, an authority appointed in this behalf or where
no such authority exists, the head of the Ministry or Division
concerned;
(d) in the case of an establishment run by or on behalf of a local
authority, an officer appointed in this behalf or where no such
officer exists, the Chief Executive Officer of that authority;
(e) in the case of any other establishment, the owner of such
establishment and every Director, Manager, Secretary, agent or
any officer or person concerned with the management of the
affairs such establishment;
(f) in the case of an establishment under the possession of any
person other than the owner, the person in possession of that
establishment or the person who is in ultimate control over the
affairs of the establishment or the manager or any competent
officer who is connected with the management of such activities;
(50) “machinery” includes prime movers, transmission machinery and other
appliance whereby power is generated, transformed, transmitted or
applied;
(51) “vehicle” means any mechanically propelled vehicle, used or capable
of being used for traveling by land, water and air, and includes a
trolley vehicle and a trailer;
(52) “collective bargaining agent 3[CBA]” means a trade union or federation
of trade unions of an establishment or group of establishments which
is an agent of the workers [CBA] for collective bargaining in such
establishment or group of establishments under Chapter XIII;
(53) “relay” means, where work of the same kinds is carried out by two or
more sets of workers working during different periods of the day,
each of such sets;
(54) “registered medical practitioner” means any person registered as
medical practitioner under the Medical and Dental Council Act, 1980
(Act No. XVI of 1980);
(55) “registered trade union” means a trade union registered under
Chapter XIII;
(56) “award” means the settlement of any industrial dispute or any matter
relating thereto by the Arbitrator, Labour Court or the Tribunal also,
and includes an interim award;
(57) “lock-out” means the closing of a place of work or a part of such place,
or the suspension of work therein, wholly or partly, by an employer,
or refusal, absolute or conditional, by an employer to continue 1[allow
to work by] any number of workers employed by him, where such
closing, suspension or refusal occurs in connection with any industrial
dispute or is intended for the purpose of compelling workers to accept
certain terms and conditions of employment;
(58) “lay-off” means the failure, refusal or inability of an employer to give
employment to a worker on account of shortage of coal, power or raw
material or the accumulation of stock or the break-down of
machinery;
(59) “power” means the electrical energy and any other form of energy
which is mechanically transmitted and is not generated by human or
animal;
(60) “industry” means any business, trade, manufacture, calling, occupation,
service or employment;
(61) “industrial establishment” means any workshop, manufacturing
process or any other establishment where any article is produced,
adapted, processed or manufactured, or where the work of making,
altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing or fining or packing or
otherwise treating any article or substance for the purpose of its use,
transport, sale, delivery or disposal, is carried on or such other
establishments as the Government may, by notification in the official
Gazette, declare to be an industrial establishment for the purpose of
this Act, and includes the following establishments, namely:-
(a) road transport, or railway transport service,
(b) river transport service,
(c) air transport,
(d) dock, quay or jetty,
(e) mine, quarry, gas field or oil field,
(f) plantation,
(g) factory,
(h) newspaper establishment,
(i) establishment of a contractor or sub-contractor established for
the purpose of construction, reconstruction, repair, alteration or
demolition of any building, road, tunnel, drain, canal or bridge,
ship-building, ship-breaking or loading or unloading of cargo
into vessel or carrying thereof
1[,]
2[(j) ship building,
(k) Ship recycling,
(l) welding,
(m) any outsourcing company or any establishment of contractor or
sub-contractor for supplying security personnel,
(n) port; port shall mean all sea ports, river ports and land ports,
(o) mobile separator company, mobile network service provider
company and land phone operator company,
(p) private radio, tv channel and cable operator,
(q) real estate company, courier service and insurance company,
(r) fertilizer and cement manufacturing company,
(s) clinic or hospital run for profit or gain,
(t) rice mill or chatal,
(u) saw mill,
(v) fishing trawler,
(w) fish processing industry,
(x) sea going vessel;]
(62) “industrial dispute” means any dispute or difference of opinion
between employers and employers, between employers and workers
or between workers and workers in respect of appointment or
conditions of service or conditions of work or environment of work of
any person;
(63) “child” means a person who has not completed 14th (fourteenth)
years of age;
(64) “Labour Court” means a Labour Court established under this Act;
(65) “worker” means any person including an apprentice employed in any
establishment or industry, either directly or through a contractor, 1[by
whatever name he is called,] to do any skilled, unskilled, manual,
technical, trade promotional or clerical work for hire or reward,
whether the terms of employment are expressed or implied, but does
not include a person employed mainly in a managerial, administrative
2[or supervisory] capacity;
(66) “week” means a period of seven days beginning at 6.00 am on Friday
or such other day as may be fixed by the Government in relation to an
establishment in any area;
(67) “total disablement” means such disablement, whether of a temporary
or permanent nature, which incapacitates a worker for all work which
he was capable of performing at the time of the accident resulting in
such disablement or such worker losses working capacity due to
reaction of chemical substances used in the course of work or ill
health caused by contamination connected with the work:
Provided that permanent total disablement shall be deemed to
result from the permanent total loss of the sight of both eyes or from
any combination of injuries specified in the First Schedule where the
aggregate percentage of the loss of earning capacity as specified in
that Schedule against those injuries, amounts to one hundred percent;
(68) “road transport service” means a service carrying passengers or
goods by road in vehicles for hire or reward;
(69) “newspaper” means any printed periodical publication containing
general news or comments on such news, and also includes such other
printed periodical publication as the Government may, by notification
in the official Gazette, declare to be a newspaper;
(70) “newspaper press worker” means a person who is employed on a
whole-time basis in any newspaper establishment for doing any
printing work;
(71) “newspaper establishment” means an establishment for printing,
production or publication of any newspaper or an establishment run
by any news agency or news or feature syndicate;
(72) “newspaper worker” means a working journalist, a worker working
administration or a newspaper press worker;
(73) “Conciliator” means a Conciliator appointed under Chapter XIV;
(74) “arbitration proceedings” means any proceedings before an Arbitrator
relating to arbitration;
(75) “serious bodily injury” means any injury which involves or likely to be
involved, in the permanent loss of the use of, or permanent injury to,
any limb, or the permanent loss of, or injury to the sight or hearing, or
the permanent fracture of any limb, or the enforced absence of the
injured person from work for a period exceeding 20 (twenty) days;
(76) “decision”, in relation to a Labour Court, means any decision or order
other than an award of that Court, finally disposing of a case;
(77) “scheme” means any scheme made under this Act.
