The central govt has asked its ministries & departments to implement a 2017 Top Court order guaranteeing ‘equal pay for equal work’ for all casual workers.

The move could affect hundreds of casual workers employed with the govt as daily wage employees, ad hoc or temporary appointees, etc.

In an office memorandum dated 7 Oct, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) directed all ministries & public sector units (PSUs) to submit the action taken by them to implement the Top Court order.

While there is no official data on exactly how many such workers are employed, for a large number of tasks that are temporary or project-based, the govt prefers to employ temporary workers instead of permanent staff who are entitled to lifetime benefits such as promotions, pensions, etc.

In another Office Memorandum issued by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) in September, all ministries & departments were asked to implement the Top Court order “in letter & spirit”.

‘Not giving equal pay is exploitative’
The Top Court had in 2017 ruled that the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ has to be extended to those engaged in ad hoc or contractual work. Denying the same amounts to “exploitative enslavement,” & is “oppressive, suppressive & coercive”, the court had said.

In March, the Delhi HC had also asked the central govt to file a status report on the implementation of the Supreme Court order by govt departments & ministries.

The HC had asked the central govt to “file the status report on affidavit as to whether all Govt Departments/PSUs/Corporations under the Central Govt including CWC are complying with the law declared by the Top Court…

“If all the Govt Departments PSUs/Corporations are not complying with the directions of the Top Court…the Govt shall forthwith issue O.M to all the Govt departments/PSUs/Corporations to comply with the aforesaid directions…,” the High Court had stated.

DoPT’s September memorandum
After the Delhi HC’s instructions, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) through its office memorandum sent in September had said: “Where the nature of work entrusted to the casual workers & regular employees is the same, the casual workers may be paid at the rate of 1/30th of the pay at the minimum of the relevant pay scale plus dearness allowance for work of 8 hours a day.”

It added: “In cases where the work done by a casual worker is different from the work done by a regular employee, the casual worker may be paid only the minimum wages notified by the Ministry of Labour & Employment or the State Govt/Union Territory Administration, whichever is higher, as per the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.”

The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) also said that people employed as daily wagers should not be recruited for work of regular nature.

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