Labour Code Advisor

CHAPTER I - PRELIMINARY

Section 2. Definitions.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) “adolescent” means a person who has completed his 3[fourteenth] year but has not completed his eighteenth year;

(b) “adult” means a person who has completed his eighteenth year;

(c) “child” means a person who has not completed his 3[fourteenth] year;

(d) “day” means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight;

(e) “employer” when used in relation to a plantation, means the person who has the ultimate control over the affairs of the plantation, and where the affairs of any plantation are entrusted to any other person (whether called a managing agent, manager, superintendent or by any other name) such other person shall be deemed to be the employer in relation to that plantation;

4[Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, "the person who has the ultimate control over the the affairs of the plantation" means in the case of a plantation owned or controlled by—

(i) a company, firm or other association of individuals, whether incorporated or not, every director, partner or individual;

(ii) the Central Government or State Government or any local authority, the person or persons appointed to manage the affairs of the plantation; and

(iii) a lessee, the lessee;]

5[(ee) “family”, when used in relation to a worker, means—

(i) his or her spouse, and

(ii) the legitimate and adopted children of the worker dependent upon him or her, who have not completed their eighteenth year,

6[and includes parents and widow sister, dependent upon him or her;]

7[(eee) “inspector” means an inspector of plantations appointed under sub-section (1) of section 4 and includes an additional inspector of plantations appointed under sub-section (1A) of that section;]

1[(f) “plantation” means any plantation to which this Act, whether wholly or in part, applies and includes offices, hospitals, dispensaries, schools, and any other premises used for any purpose connected with such plantation, but does not include any factory on the premises to which the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948) apply;]

(g) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

2[(h) “qualified medical practitioner” means a person holding a qualification granted by an authority specified or notified under section 3 of the Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916 (7 of 1916), or specified in the Schedules to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), and includes any person having a certificate granted under any Provincial or State Medical Council Act;]

(i) “wages” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (h) of section 2 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948);

(j) “week” means a period of seven days beginning at mid-night on Saturday night or such other night as may be fixed by the State Government in relation to plantations in any area after such consultation as may be prescribed with reference to the plantations concerned in that area;

3[(k) “worker” means a person employed in a plantation for hire or reward, whether directly or through any agency, to do any work, skilled, unskilled, manual or clerical 4[and includes a person employed on contract for more than sixty days in a year], but does not include—

(i) a medical officer employed in the plantation;

(ii) any person employed in the plantation (including any member of the medical staff) whose monthly wages exceed 5[rupees ten thousand];

(iii) any person employed in the plantation primarily in a 6[managerial or administrative capacity, notwithstanding that his monthly wages do not exceed ten thousand]; or

(iv) any person temporarily employed in the plantation in any work relating to the construction, development or maintenance of buildings, roads, bridges, drains or canals;]

(l) “young person” means a person who is either a child or an adolescent.

View Act Footnotes

Note: In the legacy archives, footnotes are grouped by original PDF page numbers rather than by section.

Page 4

  • 1. The Act comes into force in Pondicherry on 1-10-1963 by Reg. 7 of 1963, s. 3 and Sch. I. The Act has been amended in Keralaby Kerala Act 25 of 1969.
  • 2. 1st April, 1954: see S.R.O. 880 dated 6th March, 1954, Gazette of India, 1954, Pt. II, Sec. 3, p. 530
  • 3. Subs. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 2, for sub-section (4) (w.e.f. 21-11- 1960).
  • 4. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 2, for "or cinchona" (w.e.f. 26-1- 1982).
  • 5. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for “10.117 hectares” (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 6. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for “thirty” (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 7. Ins. by s. 2, ibid. (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).*. Vide notification No. S.O. 3912(E), dated 30th October, 2019, this Act is made applicable to the Union territory of Jammu andKashmir and the Union territory of Ladakh.

Page 5

  • 1. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 2, for “10.117 hectares” (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 2. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for “thirty” (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 3. Subs. by Act 61 of 1986, s. 24, for “fifteenth” (w.e.f. 23-12-1986).
  • 4. Ins. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 5. Ins. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 3 (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
  • 6. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2, for certain words (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 7. Ins. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 3 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).

Page 6

  • 1. Subs. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 3, for cl. (f) (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
  • 2. Subs. by s. 3, ibid., for cl. (h) (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
  • 3. Subs. by s. 3, ibid., for cl. (k) (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
  • 4. Ins. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 2 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 5. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for “rupees seven hundred and fifty” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 6. Subs. by s. 2, ibid., for “managerial capacity, notwithstanding that his monthly wages do not exceed rupees seven hundred andand fifty” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).

Page 7

  • 1. Ins. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 4 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).

Page 8

  • 1. Ins. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 5 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).

Page 9

  • 1. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 3, for “and children are, or are to be” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 2. Ins. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 4 (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
  • 3. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 4, for “chief inspector” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).

Page 10

  • 1. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 6, for sub-section (1) (w.e.f. 26-1- 1982).
  • 2. Ins. by s. 6, ibid. (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).

Page 11

  • 1. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 6, for “such rooms” (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 2. Subs. by s. 7, ibid., for section 15 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).

Page 12

  • 1. Certain words and figures omitted by Act 34 of 1960, s. 5 (w.e.f. 21-11- 1960).
  • 2. Ins. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 8 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).

Page 15

  • 1. Ins. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 5 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).

Page 16

  • 1. Section 19 renumbered as sub-section (1) thereof by Act 58 of 1981, s. 9 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 2. Subs. by s. 9, ibid, for “fifty-four hours” (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 3. The words “or child’ omitted by Act 17 of 2010, s. 6 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 4. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 9, for “forty hours” (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 5. Ins. by s. 9, ibid. (w.e.f. 6-1-1982).

Page 17

  • 1. Subs. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 10, for clause (b) (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 2. Subs. by Act 42 of 1953, s. 4 and the Third Schedule, for “19”.
  • 3. Ins. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 7 (we.f. 7-6-2010).

Page 18

  • 1. The words “and children” omitted by Act 17 of 2010, s. 8 (we.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 2. The words “or child” omitted by s. 8, ibid. (we.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 3. The words “child and no” omitted by Act 17 of 2010, s. 9 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 4. The words “child or” omitted by s. 9, ibid. (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 5. The words “either as a child or” omitted by s.10, ibid. (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).

Page 19

  • 1. The proviso omitted by Act 58 of 1981, s. 11 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 2. Ins. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 6 (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
  • 3. The existing Explanation numbered as Explanation 1 thereof by Act 58 of 1981, s. 11 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 4. Ins. by s. 11. ibid. (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 5. Subs. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 7, for sub-section (1) (w.e.f. 21-11- 1960).

Page 20

  • 1. Subs. by Act 42 of 1953, s. 4 and the Third Schedule, for "any period less than".
  • 2. Ins. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 12 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 3. Ins. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 11 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).

Page 21

  • 1. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 12, for “three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both” (w.e.f.7-6-2010).
  • 2. Subs. by s. 12, ibid., for “three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 3. Subs. by s. 13, ibid., for “one month, or with fine which may extend to fifty rupees, or with both” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 4. Subs. by s. 14, ibid., for “six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both” (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 5. Ins. by Act 58 of 1981, s. 13 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).

Page 22

  • 1. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 12, for section 39 (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).

Page 23

  • 1. Ins. by Act 34 of 1960, s. 8 (w.e.f. 21-11-1960).
  • 2. The word "and" omitted by Act 58 of 1981, s. 14 (w.e.f. 26-1- 1982).

Page 24

  • 1. Added by Act 58 of 1981, s. 14 (w.e.f. 26-1-1982).
  • 2. Subs. by Act 17 of 2010, s. 16, for sub-section (3) (w.e.f. 7-6-2010).
  • 3. Sub-section (4) omitted by Act 4 of 2018, s. 3 and the Second Schedule (w.e.f. 5-1-2018).