Understanding Central Labour Licence
What do you mean by Central Labour Licence? How can you run an establishment with managerial-level personnel only?
Defining a Manager
Who is a manager? A manager means an employee who has managerial authority, not just someone with the title of manager. He should be a person who is managing the employees under him. When all the persons are managing the employees, who are reporting to them? Therefore, there cannot be any organization that is run without workers.
Applicability of Labour Laws
If the total number of employees, including the managers, is less than 20, certain labor laws will not be applicable to it. However, some other laws, like the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, Payment of Wages Act, Minimum Wages Act, ESI Act, Payment of Gratuity Act, Maternity Benefits Act, etc., would still apply. It is immaterial whether the employees (managers) will be covered or not because for coverage under the ESI Act, the employee should be earning a salary of not more than Rs 21,000, but the Act will apply to the establishment anyway. A manager leaving the organization after continuous service of 5 years should be given gratuity as per the Payment of Gratuity Act. It is payable irrespective of the salary that the employee has been receiving. A female manager should be given 26 weeks of maternity leave. You cannot claim that your establishment contains only managers and hence no registration under the Shops and Commercial Establishment Act is required. You cannot pay a salary to the manager after 7 days of the wage period. You cannot pay a salary that is less than the notified minimum wages.