Labour law (or "labor", or "employment" law) is the body of laws, administrative

rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working
people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship
between trade unions, employers and employees.

However, there are two broad categories of labour law. First, collective labour law
relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, employer and union. Second,
individual labour law concerns employees' rights at work and through the contract for
work. The labour movement has been instrumental in the enacting of laws protecting
labour rights in the 19th and 20th centuries. Labour rights have been integral to the
social and economic development since the industrial revolution.

Labour law arose due to the demands for workers for better conditions, the right to
organize, and the simultaneous demands of employers to restrict the powers of workers'
many organizations and to keep labour costs low. Employers' costs can increase due to
workers organizing to win higher wages, or by laws imposing costly requirements, such
as health and safety or equal opportunities conditions. Workers' organizations, such as
trade unions, can also transcend purely industrial disputes, and gain political power -
which some employers may oppose. The state of labour law at any one time is therefore
both the product of, and a component of, struggles between different interests in society.

Traditionally Indian governments at federal and state level have sought to ensure a high
degree of protection for workers

Collective labour law

• The Industrial Disputes Act (1947) requires companies employing more than 100
workers to seek government approval before they can fire employees or close
down.[5] In practice, permissions for firing employees are rarely granted.[5]
• Trade Unions Act 1926
• Provisions of the Factories Act, 194

Individual labour law

All India Organisation of Employers points out that there are more than 55 central labour
laws and over 100 state labour laws.[1]

• The Contract Labour Act (1970) prohibits companies from hiring temporary
workers.[5] Women are not permitted to work night shifts.[5]
• Minimum Wages Act 1948
• Weekly Holidays Act 1942
• Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966
• The Payment of Wages Act, 1936
• The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923
• The Factories Act, 1948
International Labor Organization
Main article: International Labor Organization

The International Labor Organization (ILO), whose headquarters are in Geneva, is one
of the oldest surviving international bodies, and the only surviving international body set
up at the time of the League of Nations following the First World War. Its guiding
principle is that "labour is not a commodity" to be traded in the same way as goods,
services or capital, and that human dignity demands equality of treatment and fairness in
dealing within the workplace.[12] The ILO has drawn up numerous conventions on what
ought to be the labor standards adopted by countries party to it. Countries are then
obliged to ratify the Conventions in their own national law. However, there is no
enforcement of this, and in practice most conventions are not agreed to, even if they are
adhered to.