Curious About Casual Laborers: When Do They Qualify for Permanent Status?

Respected Sir,

I want to know in how many days of continuous work from the daily wages laborers (casual laborers) become eligible to be permanent.

Please refer to your standing order where you have defined the category of employees with definitions, i.e., Permanent, Casual, Badli worker. If no standing order exists, check the Model Standing Order Act. Each act and rule have different definitions of Workman, so refer to each act.

Ensure a single line break between paragraphs.

Permanency in Contract Labor Positions

Permanency in which position? It all will be subject to strict proof that contract labor has been performing jobs that are regular in nature and directly connected to manufacturing or business. This means that a contract laborer, like others, if they do not perform assigned tasks, the manufacturing process will halt further. A fitter working shift duties in the assembly shop may claim permanency if they have been doing so for many years. However, a taxi driver, a driver engaged by me (HR Head) and whose wages are paid by me, cannot claim permanency. A person engaged by a licensed contractor cannot claim a permanent position just because they have worked in a company; it is very difficult.

We see every day that security, guest house, canteen, gardening, travel and transportation, housekeeping, and many more jobs such as CSR, payroll, colony maintenance, etc., have been outsourced in almost every organization. Additionally, almost all central and state governments are continuing their operations in this manner.

Regards,
RDS Yadav
Labor Law Adviser

Eligibility of Casual Labor for Permanent Service

There is no such rule making casual labor eligible for permanent service. At the time of their appointment, their service conditions are defined or clearly spelled out in the letter of appointment. They are governed by the company's standing orders or service rules. The company or the concerned appointing authority considers its requirements and the performance of the incumbents for making them permanent or otherwise.

If someone or a group of such workers become aggrieved, they can raise their grievance with the appropriate authority. They can also approach a Labor Court, which often becomes a long-drawn dispute.

Thank you.

I believe your question pertains to casual employment directly conducted by the employer without any intermediary, such as a contractor. Therefore, I prefer to exclude the scenario of the permanency of contract labor in my response.

Understanding Casual Employment

First and foremost, it is crucial to analyze the definition of casual employment. Even the Model Standing Orders listed in Schedule I of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, simply define a casual workman as a workman whose employment is of a casual nature—that's all. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the nature of the work for which a person is employed or engaged and the method of payment are the determining factors in this regard. The nature of work is relative to the principal or main activity of the establishment or the employer. Any work that is incidental and required to be performed intermittently alone can be categorized as casual work. Thus, the irregularity of the work dictates the method of payment for such workers on a daily, hourly, or piece-rate basis, depending on the convenience of quantifying the work done by them monetarily. In essence, it is not the mode of payment, i.e., the frequency at which wages are disbursed or simply put, the wage period, but the method of payment.

Transitioning Casual Workmen to Permanent Status

Regarding the issue of transitioning casual workmen into permanent workmen, I don't believe the Standing Orders of any establishment would be of much assistance as they typically classify workmen based on the nature of their work or purpose of engagement. Even in cases where a special enactment on the subject of employment permanency, such as the Tamil Nadu Industrial Establishment (Conferment of Permanent Status to Workmen) Act, 1981, is in effect, if I am correct, the term "permanent status" has not been clearly defined.

Conclusion

In conclusion, since the nature of a specific work is a matter of fact, the questions of converting casual workmen into permanent workmen of the establishment and the timeframe within which it should be done cannot be definitively answered. However, it is essential to remember that item no. 10 of Part 1 of the Fifth Schedule to the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, explicitly states that employing workmen as 'badlis,' casuals, or temporaries and retaining them as such for years with the intent of depriving them of the status and privileges of permanent workmen constitutes an unfair labor practice on the part of employers.

Regards

Umakanthan.M,

Isn't there some court decision stating that any worker who has worked more than 240 days in a year will be eligible to be made permanent, or at least that they can't be terminated just like that? I was always under the impression that they should not be allowed to work beyond 240 days in a year.

Like I said earlier, permanency is a question of fact. The employer, if he so desires, can keep a temporary workman on a permanent job and depute a permanent workman on a temporary job in his industrial establishment depending on the exigencies of work. So, whatever the rationale behind any judicial decision regarding permanency on the ground of a workman's employment for more than 240 days, it might be the facts of the particular case such as the nature of the jobs, regularity of employment, and disparity of service conditions enjoyed by permanent workmen doing the same work leading to such a conclusion. That's why I cited the clause of unfair labor practice in my previous post. If I am correct, the requirement of completion of 240 days of service in a year under the same employer is propounded for determining "continuous service" as defined under Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, for the purposes of lay-off and retrenchment of workmen.

Permanency of Casual Workman

Coming to the issue of the permanency of a casual workman, we should first delve deep into the meaning of casual work. Casual work is a short-term job in the nature of any incidental and intermittent activity. Therefore, the absence of regularity of employment would be a conspicuous feature of casual employment. When the work is over and the wages are paid, the contract of employment comes to an end. Even if such a workman makes himself available for work again, the employer has no obligation to offer him employment again if any suitable work is not available. Similarly, the workman is at liberty to seek any alternative employment elsewhere, and the employer cannot compel his presence for work again. Therefore, a casual workman doing odd jobs intermittently cannot equate himself with a temporary workman doing permanent nature work or a permanent workman regularly appointed for any job in the same establishment and claim permanency only on the ground of the elapsed time like 240 days of service in the establishment.

Thank you, sir. Now we need to wait for Mukund to tell us whether he actually meant a casual worker doing intermittent work or a non-permanent worker who was given perennial work.