[attachment=14887]
Legal environment (meaning) – legal environment refer to all legal factors that govern the business from pre-formation stage till its closure .legislations and judiciary have great influence on the business sector. A business has to understand the legal environment falling which legal dispute can arise.
Legal environment of hosiery industry –
The history of hosiery industry dates back to around 3000 BC. The diversity of fibres found in India, intricate weaving on its state-of-art manual looms and its organic dyes attracted buyers from all over the world for centuries. India saw the building up of hosiery and textile capabilities, diversification of its product base, and its emergence, once again, as an important global player.
Indian hosiery and apparel industry need to move forward with greater sense of urgency and purpose. Currently, India's total textile industry market size is only one-fourth of that of China and to bridging this gap requires concrete planning and implementation. The Government needs to take a planned policy decision to face competition with china.
Feature of Legal environment in hosiery industry (various provisions) –
a. Important acts which effect the legal environment of India are
1. Industrial dispute act , 1947
2. Factories act, 1948
3. The Industries Development and Regulation Act, 1951
4. Companies act, 1956
5. Foreign exchange and management act, 1999
6. Competition act, 2002
b. Provisions related to workers-
1) Health and safety (provisions under factories act 1948, section 11 to 20)
Given the nature of cotton farming work, worker/farmer health and safety is a critical issue in cotton cultivation: the key risks are that workers – family or hired, depending on regional context – are exposed to harmful toxins, primarily because they are not provided with – or do not wear – adequate personnel protective equipment (PPE) while spraying chemical pesticides and herbicides. Children are particularly vulnerable to arduous work on cotton farms; however, there are few reports of children working with toxic materials. In the context of worker health and safety, special attention should be given to working conditions in ginneries – work characterised by seasonality, dust pollution, machine danger and long hours, albeit with differences between regions
2) Child labour
(Article 24- “no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any hazardous employment”.)
In several regions, children – including young children – contribute labour to cotton growing; depending on the age of the child and the nature of the activity – particularly whether it affect the child’s health and schooling – this may or may not be acceptable under international standards (ILO conventions provide for light work for over-12s and make exception for children’s work on family smallholdings where produce is for local consumption) Children are primarily involved in cotton picking, and to a lesser degree in weeding and nutritional activities. Key issues are children’s health and safety, and access to education (though the latter may depend on factors
outside the control of parents, such as availability of local facilities). Child labour is difficult to assess and monitor as it is (almost by definition) informal
3) Forced labour / labour coercion
(Article 39 (e) :” the tender aged children shall not be abused or forced by economic necessity to enter into a vocations unsuited to their age or strength” )
Forced labour constitutes a violation of a fundamental international human right – freedom of employment – and there are few cultural relativities in the debate surrounding its continued use. The underlying factors that contribute to forced labour and bonded labour include the use of labour intermediaries providing casual labour under conditions which compromise the workers’ rights, recruitment agencies with service fees which can be repaid only by continued work, social exclusion, often connected to caste or tribe, asymmetric information, whereby illiterate workers are not aware of their rights, labour migration – particularly ‘irregular’ migrant workers, who are commonly unaware but also unable to assert their legal labour rights, as non-registered workers, inequitable loan or credit schemes managed by the employer; in-kind remuneration, which allows employers to exacerbate dependent relations and hide low wages