Viewing from a business angle, core jobs are those jobs which the company considers to be of strategic importance, although there may be agencies available to outsource the job. Non-core jobs are those jobs which are not of strategic importance to the organization, although there may or may not be outsourcing agencies available to do the job. In other words, core jobs reflect the organization's core competency and anything other than that is considered non-core activity.
Legally speaking, Andhra Pradesh is one state that has endeavored to define core and non-core activities in any industrial undertaking. It amended the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act to list out what are considered non-core activities that could be outsourced without any legal issue. The relevant portion of the AP amendment to Section 10 reads as follows:
Prohibition of employment of Contract Labour:-- 10.(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, employment of Contract Labour in Core Activities of any establishment is prohibited. Provided that the Principal employer may engage Contract Labour or a Contractor for any core activity if:
(a) The normal functioning of the establishment is such that the activity is ordinarily done through Contractors, or
(b) The activities are such that they do not require full-time workers for the major portion of the working hours in a day or for longer periods as the case may be, or
(c) Any sudden increase of volume of work in the core activity which needs to be accomplished in a specified time.
The Act was further amended by the AP Government to list out the general non-core activities in the state. Section 2 in sub-section (1) after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:
(dd) Core Activity of an establishment means any activity for which the establishment is set up and includes any activity which is essential or necessary to the core activity, but does not include:
(1) Sanitation works, including Sweeping, Cleaning, Dusting, and Collection and disposal of all kinds of waste.
(2) Watch and ward services, including security services.
(3) Canteen and Catering services.
...
(11) Any activity that is intermittent in nature, even if it constitutes a core activity of an establishment, and
(12) Any other activity that is incidental to the core activity. Provided that the above activities by themselves are not the Core Activities of such an establishment.
Thus, what constitutes core and non-core activity in Andhra Pradesh is clear, while outside Andhra Pradesh, it is still a matter of interpretation. A recent judgment of the AP High Court in Ramaswamy vs The Union of India, decided on 9th March 2016, provides further clarification.