VBDL Ltd., (the Builder) is a company engaged in the business of construction of multi-storey flats in Mumbai. It started working on a project named as 'Sare Jahan Complex' in Panvel, Navi Mumbai. At the site, the builde

CS Professional · Labour Laws & Practice · PYQS · December 2022
VBDL Ltd., (the Builder) is a company engaged in the business of construction of multi-storey flats in Mumbai. It started working on a project named as 'Sare Jahan Complex' in Panvel, Navi Mumbai. At the site, the builder opened its office and employed two persons named as Sonali and Kamal, to book flats, receive money from the prospective buyers through cheques, and to do all other managerial, supervisory and administrative work. Besides Sonali and Kamal, one peon was also appointed for their office purposes. While Sonali was taking care of the in-office work, whereas Kamal was overseeing the field duty, like inspection of the work done by the labours, purchase of building raw materials etc. The builder engaged KCPL, a contractor company engaged in the construction work. The KCPL provided the labours at site, to do the civil work. One day, an Inspector came to site for checking, whether adequate safety measures are being followed on not. During his inspection, he observed that some labours have defective vision and some labours are deaf too. He prepared a detailed report and summoned to the contractor to give explanation. Amrish, who is a regular employee of KCPL was given the task of pulling the chain, operated through electricity, to lift the mixture of cement and concrete. One day, while he was doing this work, the chain broke and fell down on the land which caused a serious bodily injury to Amrish. Sonali's father Hari Ram is having a small piece of land in a village near by Panvel. Hari Ram thought to construct a dwelling house for his family. So he contacted a person named Ashutosh, who takes contracts for small house projects (not the multi-storey project) costing around 15-20 lakh rupees. Ashutosh agreed to construct the house for Hari Ram for a total cost of 15 lakh rupees including the building material, labour cost, sanitary and electrical fittings and flooring. Based on the above fact, answer the following questions: Whether Sonali and Kamal can be treated as 'Building worker'?

Answer & Explanation:

In terms of Section 2(1)(e) of the Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment & Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, 'building worker' means a person who is employed to do any skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, manual, supervisory, technical or clerical work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be expressed or implied, in connection with any building or other construction work but does not include any such person: who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or who, being employed in a supervisory capacity, draws wages exceeding one thousand six hundred rupees per mensem or exercises, either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by reason of the powers vested in him, functions mainly of a managerial nature. Since in the given case, Sonali and Kamal were hired by the builder to do only the managerial, supervisory and administrative nature of work, hence these two people shall not be treated as 'Building worker'.

Topics: Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996

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