Himachal Pradesh High Court: Years of service of contract workers before regularisation to be considered for calculation of pension and gratuity
28 December 2019: The division bench of Justices Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Chandar Bhusan Barowalia of Himachal Pradesh High Court upheld that if adhoc service is followed by regular service in the same post, the said service can be counted for the purpose of increments. The Court ordered that years of service of a worker employed on contractual basis before their regularisation could qualify as service for grant of pension, gratuity and other such retirement benefits.
Madras High Court: Minority union has a right to representation in disputes
22 December 2019: Hearing the matter of Roca Bathroom Products Private Limited, the division bench of Chief Justice A P Shahi and Justice Subramonium Prasad held that a minority union has an equal right of representation in disputes arising under the Industrial Disputes Act. The court held that even though the collective bargaining agreement was signed between the management and the majority union, the interest of workers who are members of the minority union cannot be overlooked.
Bombay High Court: Government rapped for increasing sewer deaths in the state
18 December 2019: Division bench of Justices Ranjit More and SP Tavade while hearing the Public Interest Litigation concerning increasing number of deaths of Safai Karmcharis pulled the government for violation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 and its inaction in securing safe working conditions for conservancy workers. The Court also rapped the government for not abiding by the Supreme Court judgement of 2014 wherein the court had directed the government to pay Rs.10 Lakh as compensation to the kin of the deceased workers.
