Labourers At Construction Site

Labour Law

Construction Site survey Done: Delawar Barekzai DM's college Goa University 6/9/2008

Table of contents S # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Topic

Introduction Interview with contract labourers Labourers Suggestions

Page no 5 6--10 10

Interview with Contractor and his Suggestions

10-11

Interview with CID officer and his suggestions

11

Comparison of Organized sector and non organized sector

11-13

Conclusion and our findings

13

Group members' observations/viewpoints

14

* Delawar Barekzai's view points

14

* Nikita Dhempo's view points * Chaturti Shirodkar view points

14 14-15

* Apurva Rege's view points

15

* Tania Shirokar view points

16

* Utkarsh Naik

16

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Project Report on ISANI & VIRANI HOTELS PVT.LTD (Construction Division) A project report submitted on ISANI & VIRANI HOTELS PVT.LTD (construction division) Mapusa-Goa, in the partial fulfillment of the requirement of subject Labour Law (Second year of Faculty of Bachelor of Business Administration) of Dnyanprassarak Mandal’s College of Arts, Science, Commerce & Management Studies, Assagao, Bardez, Goa, India.

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Limitation In this study except those labourers who were busy at work and were not ready for interview all other labourers, contractor, and work supervisor were cooperative with us in providing information which was required for the study. There were no restriction and limitation at all to prevent gathering information and prepare our project report.

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Acknowledgment I Delawar Barekzai, Studying Bachelor of Business administration in DM’s college affiliated to Goa University, Goa, India. My successful completion of labour law assignment gave me an immense corporate exposure. In this research oriented study all ISANI &VIRANI PVT.LTD labourers, contractor and work supervisor assisted and supported me. I appreciate their perpetuate cooperation and I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to them. I would like to thank all labourers for their cooperation in providing the information that was required for the study. I would like to thank Mr. Mayur M. Sawant for arranging the construction site for me and I would also like to thank Mrs. Isha Sawant our Labour Law lecturer for teaching this subject and her guidance. During my research I have earned lots of information regarding the labourers life condition, their rights, their income, and their position in the society which is completely different from those employees who are working in organized sector. At the end I would like to thank all those who assisted me in this study and preparation of the final report.

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Executive Summary The aim of this study was to conduct a survey to find out the application of labour law in real life especially when the contract labourer, their working condition, their income (wages, bonus, remuneration…etc), their rights, their position in the society...etc are concern and whether they are aware of labour Law or not. It is a research oriented study and its report is to provide an understanding of the labour law in current scenario and its application in real life for its reader. Primary and Secondary data are used for information gathering primary data has collected through interviews with the labourers, contractor and work supervisor of ISANI &VIRANI PVT.LTD and a formal discussion with the CID officer Donapaula, panjim, Goa. Secondary data has been taken from Newspapers “Times of India Goa edition, Nahvind Time” and TV channels. The assignment report is consisted of four major sections. The section one describes the introduction of the report, back ground, purpose, scope the methodology and scheme of the report. The second section of the report includes the questionnaire and labourers’ responses, labour law related concepts applications, and labours’ suggestions. The third section of report purely polices’ actions regarding the cases which are filed against the contactor and their suggestion to contract labourers and people. The final section of report covers, the comparison of Non-organized sector with organized sector, conclusion and recommendation for Non-organized sector.

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ISANI & VIRANI Hotels PVT.LTD This company established in the year 2005 and started with the hotels and resorts in Goa, Karwar, Mangalore, and Maharashtra. In the year 2006 they started construction activities and expanded to other cities of the country as well. In Goa it has one main branch which is located in Mapusa and other branches are located in Margao, Ponda, and Bicholem. Every branch has their own contractor and while taking a construction projects all the constructing resources are provided to the contractor. Inspite of that the labourers responsibility is belongs to the contractor and work supervisor, the branch also have a monitor and overtime they come and monitoring the work and ask the labourers if they have any problem and suggestions regarding their working condition, constructing resources…etc. As it was a short discussion with the branch manager of the ISANI & VIRANI Hotels PVT.LTD Mapusa, we would not mention more about the background and history of this site. During this study we have been interviewed 10 labourers ( six women, and 4 men) and their contractor and work supervisor. The interviewed labourers list is as beneath: S # 1

Gende r

Age

Marital status

No years working

Type of work

Originalit y

Uma Koli

Male

25

Single

15

Carpentry

Karnataka

Balchandran

Male

22

Single

5

Fitting

UP

Nagesh

Male

35

Married

20

Digging

Karnataka

Annopama Aadanam

Male

33

Married

18

Carrying stone

Karnataka

Shri Mohan

Female

40

Married

21

Carpentry

UP

Rama Devi

Female

58

Married

25

Centering steel

Maharasht ra

Janatabi

Female

28

Married

15

Carpentry

Karnataka

Kushenbi

Female

30

Married

18

Brick carrier

Karnataka

Coseeshare loli

Female

29

Married

15

Carpentry

UP

Name

2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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1 0

Wataarana

Female

33

Married

16

Brick carrier

UP

After their identification we asked the following questions; 1. How many hours you work per day?

Answer: Out of ten labourers 3 of them were working from 9:00am to 4:30pm, 5 of them were working from 8:00am to 6:00pm and two of them were working from 8:00am to 7:00pm.

2. What are your monthly or weekly holidays?

Answer: Sundays are their holiday during every week which is declared, other holidays are festivals (such as Diwali, Ganesh …etc). And they are paid differently, and if they are sick they also have leave for 3 days, and they are paid for those days as well. 3. What is your family size? Answer: Two of them said that they are only two (their mom and themselves), six of them said that their family size is 3-5 and 2 of them said that their family size is 5-7 persons (out of these six some of them have 4 children, and some of them have 5 children both girls and boys) while among the female labourers two of them were pregnant.

4. Are your children involved in work?

Answer: Out of those labourers who were married 5 of them said that their children are small and not able to work therefore they are not involved, 2 of them said our children are partly involved and of them said I have one daughter and one son with the age of 11 and both of them are involved.

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5. What is the minimum wages you get? Answer: Out of ten labourers 2 of them said 90 Rupees per day, 2 of them said 130 Rupees per day, 5 of them said 200 Rupees per day, and 1 of them get 250 Rupees per day. This is paid based on the kind of work they do and this is paid daily, weekly, and monthly (As per the contract and request of the labourer). But infact it is negotiable.

6. How much wages you are entitled and how much you get?

Answer: They don’t know how much is the actual wages and how much they are paid. They are not aware that how much wages per day are prescribed by the government but they said as per the market rate they expect the wages. Sometimes they take Rupees 1000 in advance and the balance pay is paid at the end of the week. 7. How is the behavior of the contractor and work supervisor with you, is there any imbalance or any harassment? Answer: There is no harassment at all and the contractor threat them friendly, work supervisor supervise their work and incase of negligence of a labourer first of all supervisor point out their mistakes and will tell them during work or at the end of the day if a labourer continues the same for next day he will be fired. But as we observed psychologically they were not happy. 8. How people treat you?

Answer: Some of them said people treat us very well; they speak with them with respect. Some of them said as they cannot speak Konkani language some people don’t like them and they behave with them very badly. Some of them said we don’t bother who we are and why we are here, we are separate and they are separate and how much they are concern about ours that much we respect.

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9. Are you aware of Law? Answer: Majority of them are illiterate, they are not aware of their rights and they are not aware of any law or regulations. 10. Grievances? Answer: No grievances, everything is fine, the only problem is whatever is earned by one person is not sufficient for 6 people in the family. Besides as far as the health of the labourer is concern in case of sickness they don’t have sufficient money for the treatment. 11. What welfare facilities you are provided? If you are provided theses facilities are

you satisfied with that? Answer: As for welfare facilities are concern only sufficient supply of wholesome drinking water is provided. There are no latrines and urinals or any other washing facilities but some of them were satisfied but not fully satisfied as one lady told us that they are provided fuel and wood as well but not sufficient and expect the contractor to be more concern about these issues.

12. In case of any unexpected injury are you provided with the firs-aid facilities? Answer: In case of a small injury there is first aid kit in the workplace itself and every labourer can use it. In case of a big injury contractor take them to hospital and the doctor fair and other expenses are paid by the contractor. 13. Do you get your wages on time or the contractor postpones for some time? Answer: Out of ten labourers 5 of them said it is paid on time, 3 of them said it is postponed for some times, and two of them said it is depend on the situation when we expect to be paid. But some of them take some amount of money in advance and balance will be paid at the end of the week.

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14. Is there any offence in case of any contravention?

Answer: Only shouting from contractor no payment of money by labourer. But sometimes even fired by contractor or by principle employer. 15. Does the contractor pay you remuneration? Answer: Some of them said Rupees 1000 is paid during Diwali festival and some of them said it is not paid to them. But this is depending on the situation and contractor decides how much should give to which labourer.

16. Do you think that contractor discriminate in the form of place, language, gender…etc while employing the labourers? Answer: Out of ten four labourers said there is no discrimination and 6 of them said there is discrimination in the form of gender where women are paid less than men. Besides the contractor is not concern about women because sometimes they have health problem and cannot afford with heavy works.

17. Does the contractor deduct any amount of money in case of your absence from duty, in case of damages or loss…etc? Answer: Three of them said yes if we not attending the work wages are deducted, others said it is conventional and based on the contract. But sometimes they inform the contractor in case of a serious sickness or other problem. That time the contractor considers them present but if the payment is on daily base then the contractor will not pay for that consider day. 18. How the police treat you if you have any case against your contractor?

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Answer: They said till this time we didn’t approach police for anything against our contractor but we are given cards which we record our working days and if the contractor don’t pay for a single day, we can complain to police.

19. If a person dies or hardly injures in the workplace and loss an organ of his body,

does the contractor pay any compensation to the concern, if not who else is responsible? Answer: They said yes compensation is paid but they didn’t know about the exact amount of that and said that it is depend on the injury or loss but nothing has been happened yet. 20. What bonuses are paid by the contractor? Answer: Out of ten employees 4 of them said they are paid 200 Rupees during Diwali festival, 2 of them said the contractor distributed sweets and cloths, and the remaining labourers denied they are paid nothing. 21. Labourers suggestion: As the cost of food increases day by day majority of them were complaining that the wages paid to them are not sufficient and they ask the government and construction companies to do the needful regarding the issue. Besides provide them better welfare facilities and food at workplace itself, while some of them said that they bring their own food Tiffin to the workplace. They wanted free education for their children and ask the government to provide them free education. Out of the ladies interviewed only one said that her two children go to school. She said that it is free of cost and there is nobody to look after them at home. Only because of this she sends them to school. Most of them they said that there is no school of Hindi language nearby and they don’t know Konkani and Marathi which is thought in the local primary schools and therefore they don’t want to send their children to school and they ask the government to pay attention to this . At the end of the interview they were very thankful of us that we visit them and asked them about their life and their working condition. Besides we distributed chocolates and sweets to their children and thanked them that they allocated their precious working time for us to discuss. Contractor views regarding contract labours life and working condition: As we discussed these issues with Mr. Galgali the licensed contractor of this site, he said that it is very difficult to run and financially support a family with these minimum wages but as we see the business growth nowadays is also slow and the construction company are not ready to provide high wages and even they want to control current wages as well. As far as welfare and health of contract labour is concern they are two first-aid kits in the workplace, latrine is not constructed because of the improper water supply but they can use other local

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latrines and toilets because this site is close to Mapusa market they don’t need canteen as well because they can take food or other items from nearby shops. The involvement of children is not as per the request of the contractor but it is as per the request of labours so they can earn a little more, but he said we never recommend them for heavy work and always tell the labours to not allowed children for dangerous works, because he declared to them that if anything happened contractor is not responsible. The principle employer “Manager of Mapusa branch” said that we discuss each every issue and we cooperate together and as soon as possible we solve the problem of contract labours. Principle employer said we try to inform them about the labour law and make them aware of their rights and principles of employment but it takes time, and the labours leave over a period of time therefore sometime inconsistencies happens. The muster roll is applicable and they maintain register and other records such as the hours of work, nature of duty, wages, deductions, overtime, fines, advance payment, and also wages slips and such other information which is prescribed. Contractor also said that they want to motivate labours by providing them remuneration and bonuses and also would like to provide them better health and welfare facilities.

CID officer In a short discussion with CID officer crime department in Dunapuala, panjim, Gao we found that the police are cooperative with contract labourers and they said that sometimes even for a small problem the contract labourers approach police and ask them to take an action, and when they go to the area and ask the contractor they find that it is a misunderstanding between contractor and contract labourers and not worth of that the police take an action against them. Officer said, as for as the labour market is down and employment opportunities are less, labours nowadays are agree for even less wages but sometimes they are not paid the actual wages which they are entitled and these cases are increasing day by day. Besides sexual harassment cases are increased compare to last two or three years. He didn’t mention about the exact number of the cases which are filed during 2007-2008 but he said that all companies whether organized sector or non-organized sector should observed and maintain the law and regulations, otherwise the consequences of these inadequacies and inconsistencies have bad impact in the future of the economy and other factors of the country.

Comparison of Non-organized sector with organized sector: Organized sector is the sector which operates through institutions which feed figures into official statistics. This includes firms organized as companies, payments made via the banking system, incomes reported to the tax authorities, sales reported to the VAT authorities, and employment reported to the National Insurance authorities. These constitute the vast majority of total economic activity in advanced economies. In India, a major chunk of labor force is employed in the unorganized sector. The unorganized / informal employment consists of causal and contributing family workers; self employed persons in unorganized sector and private households; and other employed in organized and unorganized

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enterprises that are not eligible either for paid, sick or annual leave or for any social security benefits given by the employer. In order to compare non-organized sector with organized sector, and see the working condition of a labour in non-organized sector and an employee in organized sector we would like to mention as beneath; 1. Recruitment job specification: As for as organized sector is concern employees

are recruited based on interview and each and every employee are specified a job and they report to their immediate boss overtime, while in non-organized sector labours are employed simply and sometimes even their jobs are not specified and there is no reporting. 2. Working condition: employees in organized sector are provided good working

condition (Separate office room, Telephone, computer, stationary, latrine and urinal facilities, wholesome drinking water, A/c …etc), while labours in nonorganized sector especially this site which we have visited only drinking water and a rest room is provided. 3. Salary & Wages: As for as organized sector is concern they usually pay monthly

salary to their employees or sometime both salary and commission and salaries are quite enough to finance themselves and their family except some employees working in government offices but nowadays government salaries are also increasing, while in non-organized sector daily base wages are paid daily base or sometimes they are paid weekly but it is not sufficient to finance a family. In organized sector the employees’ compensation, remuneration and bonuses are paid based on his performance measures and sometimes it comes more than his/her salary but in non-organized sector only some amount of money are paid during festivals which will not exceed 1000Rupees. 4. Insurance facilities: There is difference of insurance for employees in organized

sector and labours in non-organized sector. In organized sector employees’ insurance money are paid by the company itself or sometime if he/she insured him/her self will be paying by themselves but nowadays companies take the responsibility of their employees insurance as well. But in non-organized sector the insurance premiums and other monthly payment are paid by the labour only in the form of contribution. While in some construction sites even there is no ESI. 5. Transport facilities: In organized sector the employees are provided transport to

pick up employees from home and drop them back if not, the transport fare is provided to them and calculate it with their monthly salary. But in non-organized sector there is no transport and or travel facilities for the labours 6. Leave with pay: Employees in organized sector have different leaves like, annual

leave, sick leave, paternity leave, maternity leave…etc, while in non-organized sector labours have few days leave in Diwali festival, and other leaves are in

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negotiation and there is no annual leave especially when we visit this construction site labours were complaining from consequent work and low wages. 7. Management: In organized the most important and main thing is management of

the employees, teams, and cross functions but in non-organized sector each and every labour is individually employed for a job and no contribution in work. 8. Scope for promotion: As for as the organized sector is concern employees are

given promotion over a period of time based on his/her performance but in nonorganized sector no promotion is given to the labourer. Beside in organized sector the salary of the employee will increase with his promotion while in nonorganized sector labourer wages remain the same. 9. Training & development: In organized sector employees are given on job or out

of job training over a period of time to improve the performance of the employee but in non-organized sector there is no training and development scope for labourers. At the end we can say that in organized sector the employees are often permanent and in non-organized sector labourers are often temporary.

Conclusion and our findings: After conducting the survey and construction site analysis we would like to conclude our report; ISANI & VIRANI Hotels PVT.LTD (construction division) is one of the major construction companies which provide better constructing resources and have a steady contact with different contractors all over Goa. Labours working condition is good comparing to other construction company’s but as per the labour law and regulations there are still inconsistencies. As far as contract labour Act 1970 is concern the contractor and principle employer exploit labourers rather than giving them their proper rights, labourers are not provided proper welfare facilities and benefits therefore lost of disputes are among contractor and principle employer with labourers, the same in the case of equal remuneration Act, the remunerations are not provided equally and there is often empathy and sympathy in the case of employing women and men. As far as payment of wages Act is concern some time the contractor postpone the payment, beside that there is no nominated representative duly authorized by principle employer to be present at the time of distribution of wages by contractor to labourers, also labourers don’t get actual wages they are entitled with, but it is based on the hard work they do. In the case of child labour Act the contractor doesn’t have a register to maintain the record of the children employed or permitted to work. Government doesn’t pay proper attention to the education of their children and they always complain for the same. As far as Employees’ State insurance Act is concern there is no such scheme for the same besides that labours don’t know about it the contractor said these labours are not

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permanent and even some of them are daily base therefore it is difficult to consider ESI for them temporarily. As for as the minimum wages Act is concern labours are often paid as per the market rate but when we interviewed the labours they told us that they are not aware of how much minimum wages are prescribed by the government, also they said these wages are in negotiation and the type of work the labours do. As far as the Industrial disputes Act is concern if any issue arises first of all they try to solve and comprise upon that issue, if not usually contract labours approach police and complain against contractor or principle employer. Police often behave very empathetic with contract labours especially women are concern and always suggest them to inform police in case of harassment, insecurity, or lack of righteousness.

Our group members’ observation/view points: 1. Delawar Barekzai: After conducting the survey by our group I come to know that

the reasons for the ineffective implementation of labour law is the lack of adequate enforcement machinery, lack of political will, deliberate attempt of employers to flout the legal provisions and so on. As far as child labour is concern the main reason is the lack of consciousness within the minds of parents themselves who obtain certificates from medical practitioners inflating the age of their children to enable them to work therefore they are deprived from education and their future become horrible, also the number of labour inspector is quite low to inspect the appropriate age of the child whether the eligible for work or not. Benefits and other rights are not properly observed and due to inadequacy of all these things labours are neglected. Therefore I suggest the government and all those companies or organizations especially non-organized sector, to pay attention to these issues, because non-organized sector and these people who work “labours” play an effective role in the economy of the country, and if they are poor, several problems will arise such as food crisis, and also the crime rate will increase. 2. Nikita Dhempo: Usually when we join any work or any job we are aware about the

name of the organization for which we are working and we are entitled with, but these labours only knew what kind of work they do, and they don’t have any idea about the organization or company they join and they are not aware of any rules and regulations. Whether it is government or private organization people employed waits for an opportunity of declaration of holiday, but these poor people feel that there should not be any kind of festival or any celebration. They are not provided any food and they don’t get any payment if they are not on duty. Even during the sickness they have to work, also they know that the job market is very low if they don’t work and not present at job they will be at loss. They don’t work for future and their purpose is not to save but they work for present (food, clothing, and place). 3. Chaturti Shirodkar: We as a group did the project on the laborers. This project

helped us knowing the problems faced by the laborers and their relations with contractors, police, and local people. With this project we also came to know about

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their real practical world and with this we can compare it with what we learnt during our labor law session. These laborers really don’t know about the rules and regulations made by the Goan Government for them and therefore they cannot take its benefit. They don’t know about the different facilities offered for them by the government. When they were interviewed by us I came to know that they are really unaware of the facilities, schemes, rules, regulations and labor law. The ladies specially when interviewed refused to answer correctly whatever was asked to them. In one case one son of the lady did not allowed her to answer anything and told that she is very tired and hence he will answer whatever4 to be answered. Some of the ladies were not aware of the wages which are being paid to them as the contractor pays it directly to their husbands. Most of the ladies said that they are paid less compared to the men in spite of working equally or for equal work. They were paid almost double compared to women. None of the lady was ready to agree that they are being harassed at the workplace either by the contractor or by the others. There were no crashes provided for their children but the ladies had to keep them at home or have to make some arrangement for them. Not a single lady knew that there is some maternity law and they get some benefit out of that. They said their contractor never talked about this to them anytime nor their husbands know about this. One lady “Uma” told me about one death which was occurred at the workplace. One lady had fallen from the top and died. She had one daughter. The police came and looked after the matter. The contractor paid some thousands of money to her husband and said that he will look after her daughter, but her husband refused. These laborers have weekly holiday on Sundays and on the festivals. If they need holiday then they have to take prior permission from the contractor. During the holidays and their absence they are not paid as their wages are counted on daily bases. From all the interviews conducted and information gathered I came to know that the laborers are not aware of any labor laws which are beneficial for them. Even they don’t want to know as they think that their contractor is correct and pay as per their work although I found that there is no other remuneration or bonuses paid to them. They don’t know any laws and live a very different life from the organized sector.

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