Presentation On

ADR Under The Labour Act 2006

Submitted By
Jannatul Ferdous
ID: 18104009
School Of Law
Submitted To
M.B Hossain Galib
Assist. Prof.
School Of Law
Chittagong Independent University

Date of submission 31 March 2020

 ADR Under The Labour Act 2006
The first legislation where the concept of ADR in the form of
negotiation and conciliation has been effectively introduced
and recognized by law is in the field of Labour Law. The
Labour Act 2006 has discussed about the rules and procedures
relating to industrial dispute resolution through ADR
techniques from section 209 to 213.
 Industrial Disputes

According to section 2 (62) of the Labour Act 2006 industrial

dispute means any dispute or difference of opinion between
employers and workers or between workers and workers or
between employers and employers in respect of appointment or
conditions of service or conditions of work or environment of
work of any person. Industrial dispute can be in the form of
economic, institutional and psychological.
 How can an industrial dispute be
raised?
Section 209 lays down that no industrial dispute shall be deemed
to exist unless it has been raised in the prescribed manner by a
collective bargaining agent or an employer.
The Supreme Court has also echoed its voice in the same manner
in Railway Men’s Stores v Labour Court, Chittagong(1978) 30
DLR (SC) 251 --
where it held that an industrial dispute shall not be deemed to
be in existence unless, as has been provided for in section 43
of the IRO, it has been raised in the prescribed manner by
CBA or employer.
 Settlement of industrial dispute
The basic idea underlying the provisions of chapter 14 is to settle
industrial disputes; promote industrial peace and to establish a
harmonious and cordial relationship between labour and capital by
means of conciliation, mediation and adjudication. With this end in
view different authorities under this Code have been set out to
resolve an industrial dispute. The Code has streamlined for some
non-adjudicatory as well as adjudicatory authorities. Non-
adjudicatory authorities include Participation Committee,
Conciliator and Arbitrator while adjudicatory (judicial) authorities
include Labour Court and Labour Appellate Tribunal.
 Continue…….
Settlement of Industrial
Disputes

Non-Adjudicatory Methods Adjudicatory Methods

Labour Court
Negotiation
Labour Appellate
Tribunal
Conciliation
High Court Division

Arbitration Appellate Division

 Stages
Stages of
of ADR
ADR in
in industrial
industrial disputes
disputes resolution
resolution

The Labour Act 2006 has discussed a process of ADR following a

sequence of the three different modes:
1) Negotiation
2) Conciliation and
3) Arbitration
These three modes have been practiced at three different levels of
disputes. Negotiation is used to settle some issue even before such
issue is raised as an industrial dispute. Conciliation is used to
resolve disputes when any attempt for bilateral negotiation fails to
settle a dispute .
 Continue….
Arbitration used as the advanced stage of a dispute when even a
conciliation is not able to settle a dispute through consensual
decision between the parties and the dispute is thus referred to a
third party arbitrator for making a binding decision.

Now I would like to explain this three modes to resolve industrial

dispute according to the Labour Act 2006.
 1) Negotiation
The procedure of negotiation has been discussed from sub-section
1 to 3 of section 210 of The Labour Act 2006.
If at any time an employer or a collective bargaining agent finds
that an industrial dispute is likely to arise between the employer
and the workers , the employer or the collective bargaining agent
shall communicate his or its views in writing to the other party
within 15 days.
If the parties reach a settlement on the issue discussed, a
memorandum of settlement shall be recorded in writing and signed
by both the parties, and a copy thereof shall be forwarded by the
employer to the Government the Director General of Labour and
the Conciliator.
 2) Conciliation
If no settlement is reached through dialogue within a period of 1
month from the date of first meeting then any of the parties report
the matter to a competent conciliator and may request him in
writing to settle the dispute through conciliation.

AIR 1964 Mad 538---

It was held that the paramount duty of a conciliator is to
arrange exchange of views between the employer and worker
and to find out a way to settle the dispute.
 Continue…
The conciliator shall within 10 days of receipt of the request as
aforesaid, start conciliation and shall call a meeting between both
the parties to bring about a settlement.
If any settlement of the dispute is arrived through conciliation, the
conciliator shall submit a report thereon to the government
together with a memorandum of settlement signed by the both
parties.
If no settlement is arrived at within 30 days of receipt of any
request for settlement of any dispute by the conciliator, the
conciliator shall issue a certificate to the parties to the dispute to
the effect that it has failed.
 3) Arbitration
If the parties agree to refer the dispute to an Arbitrator, they shall
make a joint request in writing for settlement of the dispute to
Arbitrator agreed upon by them.
The Arbitrator shall give his award within 30 days from the date of
receipt of the request for arbitrator or within such further period as
may be agreed upon in writing by the parties.
The award of the Arbitrator shall be final and no appeal shall lie
against it. An award shall be valid for such period not exceeding
two years as may be fixed by the Arbitrator.
 Application to the Labour court
According to section 210(11) if no settlement is arrived by way of
conciliation and the parties agree not to refer the dispute to an arbitrator,
the conciliator shall within 3 working days of the failure of the
conciliation proceeding give certificate to the parties to the dispute to the
effect that such proceeding have failed.
According to section 211(1,2,and 3) within 15 days from the date of
receipt certificate under sub-section 210(11) the worker may go on strike
or the employment may declare lock-out. The parties at dispute may,
either before or after the commencement of a strike or lock-out make
joint application to the Labour Court for adjudication of the matter.
Again if a strike or lock-out lasts for more than 30 days the government
may prohibit such strike or lock-out and in that case the government
must refer the dispute to the labour court.
 Compulsory Adjudication

If the conciliation fails to bring about settlements and if the parties

do not agree to Arbitration, then the appropriate Government may
refer the entire dispute or particular issues to adjudication. The
final stage in the settlement of disputes is compulsory arbitration
which envisages Government reference to statutory bodies such as
Labour Courts, Labour Appellate Tribunal etc.
 Consequences
Consequences of
of ADR
ADR conducted
conducted under
under the
the Labour
Labour Act
Act
2006
2006

Section 210,212, and 213 of The Labour Act 2006 deals with the of
consequences of ADR conducted under this act . These are:
1) Equally binding to all
According to section 210(19), any agreement signed between
employers and workers shall be equally binding to all of the
organization.
2) Bar on the rejuvenation of a diffused dispute
According to section 212 if an industrial dispute is diffused the same
dispute shall not be revived within one year from the date of such
diffusion.
3) Bar on appeal against award
Any arbitral award made by an Arbitrator is final and no appeal shall
be made against it.