A Conciliation Officer, an appellate authority and a welfare Board: the headload workers law of Kerala

Background

Kerala is drafting its rules for the new central labour codes, and loading and unloading work in the State is still governed by the Kerala Headload Workers Act, 1978. It is printed as ACT 20 OF 1980, and it regulates the employment of headload workers, provides for their welfare, and provides for the settlement of disputes about their employment or non-employment. A Conciliation Officer is appointed for an area under section 3 and an appellate authority under section 4. A Board is constituted under section 14, and a committee under section 18 acts as the employer of a worker not engaged by any employer or contractor. A dispute, for the Act, is one connected with employment or non-employment or the terms or conditions of employment. An adolescent has completed the fifteenth year of age but not the eighteenth year of age, and an adult has completed the eighteenth year of age. The word contractor is read widely enough to take in a broker and a clearing and forwarding agent.