After stopping Gujarat Govt from enforcing 12-hour work shifts, Supreme Court has delivered yet another landmark judgement.
On October 2nd, Supreme Court ordered that all employees in Gujarat will be provided with overtime wages.
Why Supreme Court had to give this verdict?
Keep reading to find out more.
Supreme Court Says Overtime Wages Must For All
During the lockdown, Gujarat Govt had passed few amendments in the Factories Act, which allowed employers to stop giving overtime wages to the workers.
Now Supreme Court has quashed that amendments, and ordered immediate payment of overtime wages to all the employees who worked extra.
The Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and KM Joseph dismissed the justifications put forth by the Gujarat Govt to stop overtime wages.
Gujarat Govt had termed ‘internal disturbances’ as the main reason for stopping overtime wages, which has been dismissed.
The 41-page verdict said, “In any event, no factory/classes of factories could have been exempted from compliance with provisions of the Factories Act, unless an ‘internal disturbance’ causes a grave emergency that threatens the security of the state, so as to constitute a ‘public emergency’ within the meaning of Section 5 of the Factories Act,”
Workers Are Backbone Of Economy
The Bench observed that workers are the backbone of Indian economy, the burden of slowdown and recession cannot be passed on to them.
Under Article 142, the Bench ordered that employers must adhere with Section 59 of the Factories Act, and provide the overtime wages to all eligible employees.
The Supreme Court said that stopping overtime wages is a direct violation of both Section 21 and Section 23 of Indian Consstitution.
The Bench said, “The notifications, in denying humane working conditions and overtime wages provided by law, are an affront to the workers’ right to life and right against forced labour that are secured by Articles 21 and 23 of the Constitution,”
The petition against stopping overtime wages are filed against Gujarat Labour and Employment Department, which the employees have won.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
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