Contract Labor Dilemma: How to Navigate Legal Issues with Employee Ratios?

Is there any guideline in the labor laws for the proportion of engagement of contract labor to the number of employees on the company's role? Please guide.

The local dy labor commissioner is refusing to sign a certificate of registration under the Contract Labor R&A Act on the grounds that the company has only 15 workmen on its muster roll and is employing around 30 to 35 contract laborers through the contractor. What are the legal issues involved? Please guide.

Dear Member,

It is the internal circular issued by the labor authorities themselves that states contract laborers should be engaged in a ratio of one third to regular employees. According to the CLRA Act, there is no provision to reject your application on this basis by the authority. Legally, you can contest this decision, but you may be able to persuade the authority based on your relationship with them.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Dear,

There is no such provision in the act regarding how many contract laborers should be employed compared to permanent workers. However, you need to justify the use of contract labor because they cannot be hired for production purposes. Contract labor is typically hired for tasks such as loading/unloading, housekeeping, and security. In your case, it does not seem justified to have 35 individuals for these tasks when you only have 15 for production purposes.

Thank you,
J.S. Malik