Unit 1 of Labour Law and Industrial Relations – II (syllabus: Module I — the Payment of Wages Act 1936 and the Minimum Wages Act 1948: object, definitions, deductions and contracting out, authorities, fixation and revision of minimum wages, working conditions, overtime and claims). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- What is the difference between the Payment of Wages Act 1936 and the Minimum Wages Act 1948?
- Which deductions from wages are lawful under the Payment of Wages Act, and how is the list controlled?
- How does the Act control the imposition of fines on an employed person?
- What relief may the authority grant, and what happens on appeal, under the Payment of Wages Act?
- By what procedure are minimum wages fixed and revised, and why must the Advisory Board be consulted?
- What kinds of minimum rate may be fixed, and what may a minimum rate consist of?
- Who may claim overtime under section 14 of the Minimum Wages Act?
- Why is the criminal remedy under both wage statutes made to wait on the civil claim?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Payment of Wages Act 1936 and Minimum Wages Act 1948, s. PWA ss. 1(6), 5, 7; MWA ss. 3, 12(2), 22F
- Payment of Wages Act 1936, s. s. 7
- Payment of Wages Act 1936, s. s. 8
- Payment of Wages Act 1936, s. ss. 15, 17
- Minimum Wages Act 1948, s. ss. 3, 5, 9
- Minimum Wages Act 1948, s. ss. 3(2), 3(3), 4, 17
- Minimum Wages Act 1948, s. s. 14
- Payment of Wages Act 1936 and Minimum Wages Act 1948, s. PWA ss. 20, 21; MWA ss. 22, 22B, 22C
Leading cases
Full case summaries
- U. Unichoyi v. State of Kerala (1962)
- Bijay Cotton Mills v. State of Ajmer
- Municipal Council, Hatta v. Bhagat Singh