Equal Pay for Equal Work: Equal Pay for Daily
Wagers/Contract Labourers and Regular
Employees
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
RAJYA SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. 346
TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2018
EQUAL PAY FOR DAILY WAGERS/CONTRACT LABOURERS
AND REGULAR EMPLOYEES
346. DR. SATYANARAYAN JATIYA:
Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased
to
state:
(a)the policy of "equal pay for equal work" and the
effective measures taken for the implementation of the
same; and
(b)in reference to (a) above the measures taken to
ensure equal payment
to daily wagers and contract labourers employed in
institutes,
establishments and companies of Government and
private sector as is being given to regular employees
employed there?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE(IC) FOR LABOUR AND
EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)
(a) & (b): The principal of "equal
pay for equal work" was examined and laid down by the
Hon‟ble Supreme
Court in the civil appeal number 213 of 2013. The issue
before the
Hon‟ble Supreme Court was as under:
"whether temporarily engaged employees
(daily-wage
employees, ad- appointees, employees appointed on
casual basis,
contractual employees and the like), are entitled to
minimum of the
regular pay-scale, alongwith dearness allowance (as
revised from time to
time) on account of their performing the same duties,
which are
discharged by those engaged on regular basis, against
sanctioned posts"
The Hon‟ble Supreme Court held that:
"There can be no doubt, that the principle
of "equal pay for
equal work" would be applicable to all the concerned
temporary
employees, so as to vest in them the right to claim
wages, at par with
the minimum of the pay-scale of regularly engaged
Government employees,
holding the same post"
The above judgement of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court dated 26th October, 2016 covers various
sets of
temporarily engaged employees, viz. daily-wage
employees, adappointees,
employees appointed on casual basis, contractual
employees etc. It is
mandatory for the employer/principal employer to comply
with the
provisions of labour laws and apply the ratio laid down
by the Hon'ble
Supreme Court regarding "equal pay for equal work"
while paying wages to
its workers/labourers.
In so far as the contract labour is concerned, the
Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Central
Rules, 1971 provides for wage parity as stipulated in
rule 25(2)(v)(a) which is reproduced below:
"in cases where the workmen
employed by the contractor perform the same or similar
kind of work as
the workmen directly employed by the principal employer
of the
establishment, the wage rates, holidays, hours of work
and other
conditions of service of the workmen of the contractor
shall be the same
as applicable to the workmen directly employed by the
principal
employer of the establishment on the same or similar
kind of work"
Source: www.rajyasabga.nic.in
