The Hindu : New Delhi News : High Court quashes order on wages to women

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Saturday, Aug 14, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

High Court quashes order on wages to women

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 13. Quashing an order by a Joint Labour Commissioner of Delhi holding rightful the payment of lower wages to female employees compared to male workers by the Super Bazar (since closed down) here on the ground of their different designations, the Delhi High Court today ruled that it is violative of the Constitutional provisions and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.

Pronouncing the verdict on a joint petition by a group of 51 female workers whose salaries had been fixed at a lower grade than their male counterparts, Justice Madan B. Lokur said: "I am afraid, this is a completely erroneous way of approaching the question at issue. What designation is given to an employee is of no consequence at all. It is the nature of work which is important, not the designation.''

The women petitioners as well as their male colleagues were doing the job of packers but they had been designated as Packing Cleaners and Packers respectively. On this ground, the Super Bazar management justified the discriminatory pay scale saying that the nature of work was dissimilar.

However, an Authority below the Joint Labour Commissioner level had earlier allowed the plea by the petitioners that since their nature of job was similar to the one done by their male colleagues, they should be placed in the same scale.

The Joint Labour Commissioner order had come on an appeal by the Super Bazar authorities.

Upholding the order by the Authority, Mr. Justice Lokur said: "The entire evidence on record has been exhaustively discussed by the Authority and the conclusions arrived at by it did not require any interference on merits, and certainly not, as has been done by the Appellate Authority (Joint Labour Commissioner), on the basis of the designation of the employees.''

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