Industrial Dispute Act 1947 Awards, Settlement
Industrial Dispute includes disagreements between the following parties, according to the definition.
- Both the employer and the employee
- Employer and employees
- Workers and workers
Industrial Dispute Act 1947 Awards, Settlement: The Industrial Dispute Act of 1947, which covers the whole country, went into effect on April 1, 1947. According to the Act’s Preamble, it was created to provide for the investigation and resolution of disputes, as well as for other reasons such as the recovery of money from the employer in terms of a Settlement or Award by filing an application with the relevant authorities. The objective and goal of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 is to reduce labor-management dispute and to guarantee economic and social justice as much as feasible. The legislation contains extensive measures for the resolution of disputes as well as the prevention of conflicts in certain industries.
Industrial Dispute Act 1947 Awards, Settlement
The Industrial Dispute Act of 1947, Section 2(b), defines Award as follows:
Awarded means an interim or final determination of any Industrial Dispute or any question relating thereto by any Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal, or National Industrial Tribunal, and includes an arbitration award made under section 10A, according to Section 2(b) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
Award Ingredients:
The following conditions must be met in order for an award to be made under Section 2(b) of the Industrial Dispute Act of 1947:
- An Award is a decision made in the middle or at the end of a labour dispute.
- It is a preliminary or final decision on any subject pertaining to the dispute.
- Any Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal, or National Industrial Tribunal may make such an interim or final ruling.
- Arbitrator’s Award (Judgement) under Section 10A is an Award.
- Industrial Dispute Resolution Method:
Cordial connections between the employer and workers should be maintained in the interests of the industry in particular and the national economy in general. The Act provides for the following means of resolving industrial disputes in order to promote amicable labor-management relations and establish industrial harmony:
Collective Bargaining: One of the ways for resolving an industrial dispute is collective bargaining, sometimes known as negotiation. It is crucial in strengthening labor-management relations and maintaining industrial peace.
Collective Bargaining is a method of resolving pay and working-conditions disputes amicably, calmly, and freely between labour and management. The parties to a disagreement, i.e., the employer and the employees/workmen, resolve their differences via bilateral conversations and agreements without the involvement of a third party in collective bargaining.
The term “bipartite settlement” refers to such agreements. Since a result, resolving labour issues via direct negotiation or collective bargaining is always preferred, as it is the most effective approach to resolve labour disputes. Collective bargaining is regarded as a socially important right, and India’s five-year plans lay a higher focus on it. In their renowned book ‘Industrial Democracy,’ published in 1897, Sidney and Webb created the phrase ‘Collective Bargaining’ for the first time. It entails
The process of reaching an agreement on working conditions between an employer and a group of employees. Collective bargaining was defined by N. W. Chamberlain (in his ‘Source Book on Labour: 1958 p. 327) as “the process by which management and the union agree on the terms under which workers shall perform their duties.” Collective bargaining may be defined as “bargaining between an employer or group of employers and a legitimate labour union.”
- Negotiation:
Conciliation is a procedure in which a neutral third party persuades the parties involved in an industrial dispute to reach an agreeable agreement. The ‘Conciliation Officer’ of the Board of Conciliation is one such third party. Sections 4 and 5 of the act, respectively, deal with the appointment of a Conciliation Officer and the formation of a Board of Conciliation.
- Arbitration on a voluntary basis:
The word “arbitration” simply implies “the settlement or decision of a dispute outside of the judicial system.” Parties to a conflict may refer the dispute/Matter to a person in whom they have trust to recommend an amicable settlement rather than going to court.
The term “arbitrator” refers to a person who serves as a mediator between disputants in order to resolve a disagreement. The term “Award” refers to a decision made by the parties that is legally binding on them. As a result, arbitration is a judicial procedure in which one or more third parties deliver a binding judgement on the merits of a dispute. Parties have the authority to engage into arbitration agreements under Section 10-A of the Industrial Dispute Act of 1947. The agreement must be written in a defined format and include the name(s) of the arbitrator(s).
- 4) Decision-making:
When bipartite negotiations, the Conciliation machinery, or voluntary Arbitration fail to resolve an industrial dispute, the final stage is Adjudication or compulsory Adjudication, which entails Governmental referral to statutory bodies such as the Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal, or National Tribunal. The Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 establishes the Labour Court, Industrial Tribunal, and Labour Tribunal, respectively, under sections 7, 7-A, and 7-B.
- Mediator
Conciliation, a kind of mediation, is the act of making a passive and indirect attempt to reach an agreement between two disputing parties. It’s the “practise of using the services of a neutral party in a dispute to assist disputing parties in reducing the scope of their differences and arriving at an amicable settlement of an agreed solution.”
The conciliator or mediator seeks to bridge the gap between the parties by urging them to reconsider the situation using a give-and-take method, but he or she does not impose his or her own point of view. The conciliator is free to adjust his or her approach from case to case as he or she sees appropriate in light of other considerations.
Conciliation is provided for under the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, and it may be used by appointing conciliation officers, either permanently or for a short time, or by forming a board of conciliation. This conciliation mechanism has the option of taking notice of or apprehending a conflict on its own or when contacted by a party.
Time constraints have been set in order to speed up the process. Conciliation officers have 14 days, while a board of conciliation has two months. The parties are bound by the solution reached during the course of conciliation for the term agreed upon by the parties or for a period of six months. It will remain in effect until one of the parties revokes it. Strikes and lockouts are prohibited during the pendency of conciliation procedures before a Board and for seven days following the completion of such proceedings.
- Arbitration is required by law.
Compulsory arbitration is a kind of labour arbitration that certain communities require both labour and management to participate in. These regulations usually apply when the threat of a strike poses a substantial threat to the public interest. If the two parties are unable to achieve an agreement via the traditional collective bargaining mechanism, some labour contracts include mandatory arbitration clauses.
In circumstances when the government directs the two parties to use the arbitration procedure. The arbitrator’s decision is final and binding on both parties.
- Settlement Memorandum (MOS)
When both parties appear before the Conciliation Officer, and the Conciliation Officer persuades them to achieve an agreement, both parties sign a Memorandum of Settlement that is binding on both parties for the duration. Section 2 (P) of the settlement stipulates that both parties sign a written agreement, with an executed copy being provided to the relevant authority. MOS must be completed in Form H, according to Rule 59 of the Industrial Dispute (Central) Rules, 1957. (4). The settlement shall take effect on the date of the Parties’ signing of the MOS and shall expire as specified in the MOS or after the expiration of two months’ notice, if no date is specified in the MOS.