Labour Protection Act of 1998
Section 1. This Act shall be referred to as the "Labour Protection Act of 1998."
Section 2. This Act shall enter into force one hundred and eighty days from the date of its publication in the Government Gazette.
Section 3. The following shall be repealed:
- (1) Announcement No. 103 of the National Executive Council to revise the laws on labour and the settlement of labour disputes, dated 16 March, 1972;
- (2) Act No. 1 of 1990 to amend Announcement No. 103 of the National Executive Council to revise the laws on labour and the settlement of labour disputes, dated 16 March, 1972;
Provisions of all laws, regulations and other rules which are the same as provisions of this Act or which contradict or conflict with the provisions of this Act shall be replaced by this Act.
Section 4. This Act shall not apply to
- (1) The central government administration, provincial government administration and local government administration.
- (2) State enterprises under the law governing state enterprise labour relations.
In addition to Subsection (1) above, a ministerial regulation may be issued prohibiting the application of part or all of this Act to any specific class of employers.
Section 5. In this Act:
"Boss" shall mean a person who agrees to accept an employee for work in return for a wage and shall also mean
- (1) A person who has been assigned to work on behalf of an employer;
- (2) Where a boss has legal personality, "boss" shall also mean the persons who are authorized to act on behalf of such a boss and the persons who are assigned by persons authorized to act on behalf of such a boss to act on their behalf.
- (3) Where the operator of a business has contracted out the supervision of work and payment of wages, or has assigned any person to recruit employees for work, other than an employment service, such that the work is a part of the entire production or business which is under the responsibility of the business operator, the business operator shall be deemed to be the boss of the said employees.
"Employee" means a person who agrees to do work for an employer in return for a wage, regardless of the name given to describe his status;
"Employer" means a person who agrees to employ another person to carry out all or part of any work for his own benefit, in return for employment remuneration for satisfactory performance of the work.
"First level contractor" means a person who agrees to undertake to carry out all or part of a job for the benefit of the employer..
"Sub-contractor" means a person who makes an agreement with a first level contractor by undertaking to carry out all or part of a job under the responsibility of the first level contractor for the benefit of the employer, and shall also mean a person who makes an agreement with a subcontractor to undertake a sub-contracted job under the responsibility of the sub-contractor, regardless of how many stages of sub-contract there may be.
"Employment agreement" means a written or verbal agreement which is clearly stated or which is implicitly understood, where a person referred to as the employee agrees to do work for another person referred to as the boss, and the boss agrees to pay a wage throughout the period of work.
"Work day" means a day fixed for an employee to do normal work..
"Holiday" means a day fixed for an employee as a weekly holiday, a traditional holiday or an annual holiday.
"Concession leave day" means a day on which an employee takes: medical leave; leave in order to be sterilized; leave for the purpose of essential business; leave for the purpose of military service; leave for the purpose of training or development of knowledge and competence; or maternity leave.
"Wage" means the amount of money which a boss and an employee agree on as remuneration for performance of the work under the employment agreement for the normal working period, based on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or other period of time, or which is paid according to the amount of work achieved by the employee during the normal working hours of a working day, and shall also mean the amount of money which a boss pays to an employee on a holiday and a leave day on which the employee did not perform any work but for which the employee is entitled to receive payment under this Act.
"Wage on a working day" means the wage which is paid for normal full-time work.
"Minimum wage" means the wage prescribed by the Wages Board under this Act.
"Basic minimum wage" means the wage prescribed by the Wages Board for use as the basis for prescribing the minimum wage.
"Overtime" means work on a working day or holiday, outside or in excess of the normal working hours or in excess of the number of working hours in each day agreed on between a boss and an employee under Section 23, whichever the case may be.
"Overtime pay" means the money which a boss pays to an employee as remuneration for overtime on a working day.
"Holiday pay" means the money which a manager pays to an employee as remuneration for working on a working day.
"Compensation payment" means the money which a boss pays to an employee upon termination of employment over and above other categories of money which the boss has agreed to pay to the employee.
"Special compensation payment" means the money which a boss pays to an employee when the employment agreement ends as a result of special circumstances prescribed in this Act.
"Savings" means the money which an employee pays into the Employees Welfare Fund.
"Contribution" means the money which a boss pays as a contribution for an employee for the purpose of payment into the Employees Welfare Fund.
"Labour Inspection Officer" means the person appointed to perform as such in accordance with this Act.
"Director-General" means the Director-General of the Labour Welfare and Protection Department.
"Minister" means the Minister in charge of the enforcement of this Act.
Section 6. The Minister of Labour and Social Welfare shall be responsible for enforcement of this Act and he or she shall have the authority to appoint the Labour Inspection Officer and issue ministerial regulations and notifications for performance in accordance with this Act.
In the matter of the appointment of the Labour Inspection Officer, the scope of the authority, duties and conditions for performance of duties may also be prescribed.
Such ministerial regulations and notifications shall come into force after they have been published in the Government Gazette.