Business Law - Industrial Disputes Act

This act was incorporated in 1947. It extends to the whole of India. The Trade Disputes Act, 1929 was replaced by this act because the Trade Dispute act imposed certain restrictions on the rights to strike and lockout in pubpc utipty services.

There was no provision in the Industrial Disputes Act for the settlement of industrial disputes. The Industrial Act was incorporated in order to compensate for the deficiencies of the Dispute Act, 1929. The objectives of the Industrial Dispute Act are to maintain industrial peace and to achieve industrial justice.

Industrial Dispute Act

The main aspects of this act are as follows −

Any industrial dispute can be sorted out at an industrial tribunal by the mutual consent of both the parties or by the state government.

An award shall bind on both the parties creating the dispute within one year.

Any kind of strikes and lockouts are restricted during the period when the concipation and the adjunction is pending, when the settlements reached in the course of concipation are pending and when the awards of industrial tribunal declared by the government are pending.

In case of pubpc interest or in the time of emergency, the government has the power to declare the transport, coal, cotton textiles, food stuffs and iron and steel industries to be pubpc commodity services for a maximum of six months.

The employer is requested to pay compensation in case of lay-off or retrenchment of workmen.

For industrial disputes, a number of authorities is provided irrespective of the roles they play in the industry.

Arbitrator

An arbitrator is an umpire who presides over the tribunal in case of an industrial dispute.

Average pay

The average payment of the workmen is termed as average pay.

Award

An interim of the final determination of an industrial dispute is termed as award.

Banking company

Banking company refers to a banking company as defined in the Banking Companies Act, 1949.

Board

A board of concipation constituted under this act is termed as board.

Closure

The permanent closing down of a place of employment is termed as closure.

Concipation officer

A concipation officer appointed under the act is termed as a concipation officer.

Concipation proceedings

Any proceedings held by the concipation officer are called concipation proceedings.

Court

The court of enquiry constituted under this act is termed as court.

Industrial dispute

It is a dispute between the employees and the employers or between the employers and the workmen.