LABOUR LAW IN

INDIA

AMAN GUL
ABBASI

JOURNAL 1

Title: Labour Law Reform in India

Name: The Indian Journal of Industrial

Relations, Vol 50, No. 1

Author & Year: J. S Sodhi, July 2014

Research PROBLEM:

Impact of Labour Law on Industrial Relations in India

Impact of labour law reform on growth & investment
in India.

Research QUESTION:

What is the impact of labour law on industrial

relations in India
How labour law reform impacts growth and investment
in India

Research OBJECTIVES:

Identify how labour law affects industrial relations in

India
Determine labour law reform on growth and
investment in India

Research CONTRIBUTIONS:

Analysed the impact of labour law reform on a

country's economic growth.
Proposed changes in labour laws and made them less
complex and less inefficient while keeping intact the
lawful rights of the employees.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

India excessive old labour laws - a barrier to its

growth and investment.
India has 44 Central and several State laws
formulating labour law was praiseworthy but the
changing economic situation made them
obsolete.
Formal sector employment has decreased.
Staffs Layoffs and retrenchment in any
organization do not require prior permission by
employer.

Having competent conciliation officers should

be introduced as a part of solution.
Violations should be controlled through
maintaining disciplinary registers.
Currently, Government of India has effectively
managed employment of contract labour.

DISCUSSION:

A country needs to reform its labour law regime

which is counterproductive to job creation and
industrial peace which Indian government had
failed to do.
However its current government has realized the
importance of labour law reform and intends to
carry out the action plan.
Malaise of the labor laws is indepth and extends
over the broad spectrum of 44 Central and
several State laws.

DATA COLLECTION
Sources:
Articles
Journals
Research Papers

Research FINDINGS:

Excessive rules & regulation create barriers for

countrys growth & investment.
Labor Law reform helps in growth and investment
in a country.
Central Government should itself bring the
desired changes instead of relying on State
governments.

Several governments, national committees and the

Second National Commission on Labor have
identified the need to revise labor laws which
couldn't happen due to lack of consensus among
the government, employers and the unions.
Consensus at the tripartite forums is the base of
the labor law framework of India.
State governments experience; Andhra Pradesh
for contract labor, Gujarat & Rajasthan for
proposing desired changes in the labor laws can
help the authorities in creating an investor &
business friendly environment.

Research LIMITATION:

Only Qualitative Study, should have been

quantitative as well.

RECOMMENDATION:

Introducing beneficial Labour Law reform in

India that is profitable for country and its
citizens.

JOURNAL 2

Title: Emerging Trends in Employment

Relations in India
Name: The Indian Journal of Industrial
Relations, Vol 45, No. 4
Author & Year: K.R. Shyam Sundar, April
2010

Research PROBLEM

Impact of Emerging trends in employment

relations in India

Research QUESTION

What are the emerging trends in employment

relations in India

Research OBJECTIVES:

Identify emerging trends in employment

relations in India

Research CONTRIBUTION:

Identified important changes in employment

relations in the post-reform period.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Drastic Labour reforms usually offend working

class and have political costs as well, thus the
government avoids launching any hard labour
reforms.
Political interests have destabilized union
power by ruling over labour organizational
interests and destabilizing union movements.
The labour management conflicts have been
disastrous and overdrive managerial and state
aggression.

DISCUSSION

Pro-reforms demanded liberalization of product

market and IRS.
Whereas employers demanded weakening union
powers, individualizing labour relations, privatizing
public firms, simplifying labour laws, freedom of
hiring & firing, liberalizing labour inspection
procedure, freedom of launching technological
changes etc that required a shift from state
intervention model in IRS.

The relationship between economic, political and

institutional forces in new economic environment
led to new issues, dilemmas and strategies and
complex employee relations in post reform period.

DATA COLLECTION:
Sources:
Articles
Journals
Research Papers

Research FINDINGS

The STATE INTERVENTION MODEL was used to

manage the IRS and the labour market due to pressures
arising from economic planning strategy.
The 'rules' of the IRS regulated the actions of labour and
capital, collective bargaining and provided judicial &
administrative support to labour-management conflicts.
The federal democratic pluralistic model of polity
ensured right for labour union & freedom of industrial
actions subject to legal laws to maintain industrial peace.
Unions, employers and state had a mutual understanding &
accepted state regulation. However its failure in product
market caused deregulation of both.

New economic policy (1991) shifted

governments economic policies from regulation to
liberalisation.
Product market reform boosted the bargaining
power of capital and vis a vis labour, which meant
more mobility and least regulated of capital as
compared to labour.
Governments objective of industrial peace shifted
to competitiveness of firm & economy.

Limitation:
Only Qualitative Study, should have been
quantitative as well

Recommendation:
Benchmarking and improving employee relations
in India