- Generally, company act 2013 is applicable to all company which is registered under company act 2013 or previous act, besides this some employment/labour law also applies to IT company
- Labour laws are the laws which deal with the employment and labour related issues. Labour laws deal with the disputes between the employer and employee, regarding wages, pension, insurance of employees etc…
- In India, labour Laws are also known as Industrial Laws or Employment Laws due to the fact that it deals mostly with the employment, wages and termination issues of labours working in industries
- The Indian Information Technology companies for a very long time enjoyed an exemption from the basic rules and obligations which are imposed on the companies regarding employment of workers
- The Indian IT industries were exempted from the Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act, 1946. But now after the government had refused to extend the exemption the IT Industries just like the other industries it will have to follow the obligations regarding the conditions prescribed by the government and will have to precisely describe the government regarding those conditions and will have to make sure that the workers and employees are not only informed about it but are also allotted those conditions
Do Labour Laws apply to IT Industries:
There is a misconception among the people that the labour laws of the country do not apply to IT Industries but this is not true.
- Almost all the labour laws which are applicable to any other industry are also applicable to IT Industry
- This is true that the Factories Act, 1946, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and certain State labour laws do not apply to IT Industries but apart from that, all the other labour laws are applicable to IT Industries as well
- The state governments have been given the power that they can exempt any particular industry from the laws which are made by the Central Government regarding the labour or industrial laws under section 14 of the Indian Employment Standard Orders Act, 1946
- The state government using this power do exempts the IT Industries from the Industrial Employment Standard Order Act, 1946
- The IT industries do not include their employees under the definition of “workman” stated in the Indian Industries Act, 1965 in order to get exempted from the liabilities which arise after that.
Common Problems Faced by IT Employees:
There are a number of problems which an employee of an IT Industry has to face. The problems arise due to the fact that the IT industries are not following the general rules which have been formulated by the state and the central governments regarding the working hours and the other standards of employment. The IT Industries shall be governed by the labour laws of the country and it is not being executed in a proper sense.
The fields in which the labour laws of the country are being violated are:
- The employees are working more than the prescribed working hours but are still not getting any overtime payment.
- Many call centres and other ITES companies are forcing the employees to work frequently in night shifts without any extra payment or compensation which is an utter violation of the law which very clearly specifies that a person cannot be allowed to work in night shifts for more than a prescribed period of time.
- If any employee tries to raise his or her voice against the working hours of the company then he is rusticated from his job, which is a violation of the fundamental right of the person.
- Any attempt to form a union is penalized by removing the employee from his or her job, which is a violation of the Fundamental Right to form a Union under Article 19(1)(c) of the Indian Constitution.
- The IT and ITES industries are openly violating the law regarding the conditions and environment which is to be created by the industries for its employees.
- The IT and ITES industries try their best to exempt their employees from the definition of workers or labours which gives them their rights. In many cases the industries give employment to the workers informally, that is, no paper or document is presented to them which could prove that they were working for the company which gives them the freedom to terminate their employees as and when they like.
- Many of the IT and ITES Industries do not give maternity benefits to women which have been provided by law to them.
Conclusion:
The industrial or labour laws of the country are also applicable to the IT Industries, but not all the laws. The IT industries have been exempted from many labour laws which are applicable to other industries. The IT industries try their level best to avoid the obligations which are imposed on them by the law, but no one is above the law and the fundamental rights of a worker or an employee cannot be violated in any case by anyone.
SHivam Jha
HR Ignite
(Industrial relation Advisor and professional)
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