As long as any activity in the establishment is not prohibited under Section 10 of the CLRA Act, 1970, it is not illegal to engage contract labor for such work. However, from an ethical standpoint, changing contractors periodically while maintaining the same set of contract labor for the same work within the principal employer's establishment continuously is not advisable for the following reasons:
1) Such a practice suggests that the outsourced activity, despite being incidental, is of a perennial nature.
2) Changing the contractor after each contract expiration while retaining the same contract labor may imply that the contract is merely a facade or an umbrella agreement.
3) The issue of gratuity payment could potentially become contentious over time.
4) Over time, this practice may lead to industrial disputes arising for the absorption of contract labor as regular employees of the establishment.
When the principal employer is obligated to provide the same work conditions to contract labor as to regular employees doing the same tasks and to ensure minimum wage payment, why does the management not consider eliminating contract labor for such perpetual work?
Thank you.