Industrial Relations Act, 2012 — section 2

2. Definitions..—In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,

(i)“arbitrator” means a person appointed as such under Section 40;

(ii)“award” means the determination by the Commission or Arbitrator of any industrial dispute or any matter relating thereto and includes an interim award;

(iii)“Bench” and “Full Bench” mean a Bench and Full Bench of the Commission;

(iv)“collective bargaining agent” in relation to an establishment, group of establishments or industry, means the trade union of the workmen which under Section 19, is the agent of workmen in the establishment or, as the case may be, industry, in the matter of collective bargaining;

(v)“collective bargaining unit” means those workers or class of workers of an employer in one or more establishment falling within the same class of industry whose terms and conditions of employment are, or could appropriately be, the subject of collective bargaining together;

(vi)“Commission” means the Industrial Relations Commission constituted under Section 53;

(vii)“conciliation proceedings” means any proceedings before a conciliator;

(viii)“Conciliator” means a person appointed as such under Section 36;

(ix)“employer” in relation to an establishment, means any person or body of persons, whether incorporated or not, who or which employs workmen in the establishment under a contract of employment and includes

(a)an heir, successor or assign, as the case may be, of such person or body as aforesaid;

(b)any person responsible for the management and control of the establishment;

(c)in relation to an establishment run by or under the authority of any department of the Federal Government, the authority appointed in this behalf or, where no authority is so appointed, the Head of the department;

(d)in relation to an establishment run by or on behalf of a local authority, the officer appointed in this behalf, or where no officer is so appointed, the chief executive officer of that authority; Explanation.—For the purpose of distinction from the category of “workers” or “workmen”, officers and employees of a department of the Federal Government who belong to the superior, managerial, secretarial, directorial, supervisory or agency staff and who have been notified for this purpose in the official Gazette shall be deemed to fall within the category of “employers”; and

(e)in relation to any other establishment, the proprietor of such establishment and every director, manager, secretary, agent or officer or person concerned with the management of the affairs thereof;

(x)“establishment” means any office, firm, factory, society, undertaking, company, shop or enterprise, which employs workmen directly or through a contractor for the purpose of carrying on any business or industry and includes all its departments and branches in the Islamabad Capital Territory or falling in more than one province, whether situated in the same place or in different places and except in Section 62 includes a collective bargaining unit, if any, constituted by any establishment or group of establishments;

(xi)“executive” means the body, by whatever name called, to which the management of the affairs of a trade union is entrusted by its constitution;

(xii)“Government” means the Federal Government;

(xiii)“Group of establishments” means establishments belonging to the same employer and the same industry;

(xiv)“illegal lock-out” means a lock-out declared, commenced or continues otherwise than in the provisions of this Act;

(xv)“illegal strike” means a strike declared, commenced or continues otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act;

(xvi)“industrial dispute” means any dispute or difference between employers and employers or between employers and workmen or between workmen and workmen which is connected with the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or the conditions of work of any person;

(xvii)“industry” includes any business, trade, calling, employment or occupation for production of goods or provisions of services in the Islamabad Capital Territory and falling in more than province, and excluding those set up exclusively for charitable purposes;

(xviii)“industry-wise trade union” means a trade union having its membership in more than one province in a group of establishments owned by one employer;

(xix)“inspector” means an inspector appointed under this Act;

(xx)“Labour Court” means a Labour Court established in a province;

(xxi)“lock-out” means the closing of place of employment or part of such place, or the suspension, wholly or partly, of work by an employer, or refusal, absolute or conditional, by an employer to continue to employ any number of workmen employed by him, where such closing, suspension or refusal occurs in connection with an industrial dispute or is intended for the purpose of compelling workmen to accept certain terms and conditions of or affecting employment;

(xxii)“officer” in relation to a trade union, means any member of the executive thereof but does not include an auditor or legal adviser;

(xxiii)“organization” means any organization of workers or of employers for furthering and defending the interests of workers or of employers;

(xxiv)prescribed” means prescribed by rules;

(xxv)“public utility service” means any of the services specified in Schedule I;

(xxvi)“registered trade union” means a trade union registered under this Act;

(xxvii)“Registrar” means a Registrar of trade unions appointed under Section 4;

(xxviii)“rules” and “regulations” mean rules and regulations made under this Act;

(xxix)“settlement” means a settlement arrived at in the course of a conciliation proceeding, and includes an agreement between an employer and his workmen where there is no Collective Bargaining Agent, or Collective Bargaining Agent, as the case may be, arrived at or in the course of any conciliation proceedings, where such agreement is in writing, has been signed by the parties thereto in such manner as may be prescribed and a copy thereof has been sent to the Government, the Conciliator and such other person as may be prescribed;

(xxx)“strike” means a cessation of work by a body of persons employed in any establishment acting in combination or a concerted refusal, or refusal under a common understanding of any number of persons who have been so employed to continue to work or to accept employment;

(xxxi)“trade union” means any combination of workmen or employers formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and employers, or workmen and workmen or employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade or business, and includes a federation of two or more trade unions;

(xxxii)“trans-provincial” means any establishment, group of establishments, industry, having its branches in more than one province;

(xxxiii)“worker” and “workman” mean person not falling within the definition of employer who is employed (including employment as a supervisor or as an apprentice) in an establishment or industry for hire or reward either directly or through a contractor whether the terms of employment are express or implied, and, for the purpose of any proceedings under this Act in relation to an industrial dispute includes a person who has been dismissed, discharged, retrenched, laid off or otherwise removed from employment in connection with or as a consequence of that dispute or whose dismissal, discharge, retrenchment, lay-off, or removal has led to that dispute but does not include any person who is employed mainly in managerial or administrative capacity. CHAPTER-II REGISTRATION OF TRADE UNIONS