1. Short title, extent, commencement and application.—(1) This Act may be called the Contract
Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date1
as the Central Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act.
(4) It applies—
(a) to every establishment in which twenty or more workmen are employed or were employed on
any day of the preceding twelve months as contract labour;
(b) to every contractor who employees or who employed on any day of the preceding twelve
months twenty or more workmen:
Provided that the appropriate Government may, after giving not less than two months’ notice of its
intention so to do, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply the provisions of this Act to any
establishment or contractor employing such number of workmen less than twenty as may be specified in
the notification.
(5) (a) It shall not apply to establishments in which work only of an intermittent or casual nature is
performed.
(b) If a question arises whether work performed in an establishment is of an intermittent or casual
nature, the appropriate Government shall decide that question after consultation with Central Board or, as
the case may be, a State Board, and its decision shall be final.
Explanation.—For the purpose of this sub-section, work performed in an establishment shall not be
deemed to be of an intermittent nature—
(i) if it was performed for more than one hundred and twenty days in the preceding twelve
months, or
(ii) if it is of a seasonal character and is performed for more than sixty days in a year.
STATE AMENDMENT
Maharashtra
Amendment of section 1 of 37 of 1970.—In Section 1 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and
Abolition) Act, 1970, in its application to the State of Maharashtra, in sub-section (4),—
(a) in clause (a), for the words “twenty or more workmen” the words “fifty or more workmen”
shall be substituted;
1. 10th February, 1971, vide notification No. G.S.R. 190, dated 1st February, 1971, see Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II,
sec. 3(i).
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(b) in clause (b), for the words “twenty or more workmen” the words “fifty or more workmen”
shall be substituted;
(c) in the proviso, for the words “less than twenty” the words “less than fifty” shall be substituted.
[Vide Maharashtra Act 2 of 2017, s. 2.]
Andhra Pradesh
Amendment of section 1 central Act 37 of 1970.—In the Contract Labour (Regulation and
Abolition) Act, 1970, in section 1, in sub-section (4), in clauses (a), (b) and the provisio thereunder, for
the word “twenty” the word “fifty” shall be substituted.
[Vide Andhra Pradesh Act 21 of 2015, s. 2.]
Uttar Pradesh
In section 1 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 hereinafter referred
to as the principal Act, for sub-section (4) the following sub-section shall be substituted—
“(4) It applies—
(a) to every establishment in which fifty or more workmen are employed or were employed
on any day of the preceding twelve months as contract labour;
(b) to every contractor who employs or who employed on any day of the preceding twelve
months fifty or more workmen.
Provided that the State Government may, after giving not less than two months’ notice of its
intention so to do, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply the provisions of this Act to any
establishment or contractor employing such number of workmen less than fifty as may be
specified in the notification.”
[Vide the Uttar Pradesh Act 14 of 2018, s. 2]
Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
Section 1.—In sub-section (4), in clause (a), for "twenty", substitute "forty".
[Vide Union Territory of Ladakh Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Order, 2020,
Notification no. S.O. 3465(E), dated (5-10-2020) and vide Union Territory of Ladakh Reorganisation
(Adaptation of Central Laws) Order, 2020, Notification No. S.O. 3774(E), dated (23-10-2020).]
Rajasthan
Amendment of section 1, Central Act No. 37 of 1970.—For the existing sub-section (4) of section
1 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 (Central Act No. 37 of 1970), in its
application to the State of Rajasthan, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
“(4) It applies-
(a) to every establishment in which fifty or more workmen are employed or were employed on
any day of the preceding twelve months as contract labour;
(b) to every contractor who employs or who employed on any day of the preceding twelve
months fifty or more workmen:
Provided that the State Government may, after giving not less than two months’ notice of its intention
so to do, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply the provisions of this Act to any establishment or
contractor employing such number of workmen less than fifty as may be specified in the notification.”
[Vide Rajasthan Act 19 of 2014, s. 2]
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Gujarat
Amendment of section 1 of 37 of 1970.—In the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, in its
application to the State of Gujarat (hereinafter referred to as “the principal Act”), in section 1, sub-section (4),—
(i) in clause (a), for the word “twenty”, the word “fifty” shall be substituted;
(ii) in clause (b), for the word “twenty”, the word “fifty” shall be substituted;
(iii) in the proviso, for the word “twenty”, the word “fifty” shall be substituted.
[Vide Gujarat Act 2 of 2021, s. 2]
2. Definitions.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
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[(a) “appropriate Government” means,—
(i) in relation to an establishment in respect of which the appropriate Government under the
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), is the Central Government, the Central Government;
(ii) in relation to any other establishment, the Government of the State in which that other
establishment is situate;]
(b) a workman shall be deemed to be employed as “contract labour” in or in connection with the
work of an establishment when he is hired in or in connection with such work by or through a
contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer;
(c) “contractor”, in relation to an establishment, means a person who undertakes to produce a
given result for the establishment, other than a mere supply of goods of articles of manufacture to
such establishment, through contract labour or who supplies contract labour for any work of the
establishment and includes a sub-contractor;
(d) “controlled industry” means any industry the control of which by the Union has been declared
by any Central Act to be expedient in the public interest;
(e) “establishment” means—
(i) any office or department of the Government or a local authority, or
(ii) any place where any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation is carried on;
(f) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(g) “principal employer” means—
(i) in relation to any office or department of the Government or a local authority, the head of
that office or department or such other officer as the Government or the local authority, as the
case may be, may specify in this behalf,
(ii) in a factory, the owner or occupier of the factory and where a person has been named as
the manager of the factory under the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), the person so named,
(iii) in a mine, the owner or agent of the mine and where a person has been named as the
manager of the mine, the person so named,
(iv) in any other establishment, any person responsible for the supervision and control of the
establishment.
Explanation.—For the purpose of sub-clause (iii) of this clause, the expressions “mine”, “owner” and
“agent” shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clause (j), clause (l) and clause (c) of
sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Mines Act, 1952 (35 of 1952);
(h) “wages” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (vi) of section 2 of the Payment of
Wages Act, 1936 (4 of 1936);
(i) “workman” means any person employed in or in connection with the work of any
establishment to do any skilled, semi-skilled or un-skilled manual, supervisory, technical or clerical
1. Subs. by Act 14 of 1986, s. 2, for clause (a) (w.e.f. 28-1-1986).
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work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied, but does not include
any such person—
(A) who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or
(B) who, being employed in a superviory capacity draws wages exceeding five hundred
rupees per mensem or exercises, either by the nature of the duties attached to the office or by
reason of the powers vested in him, functions mainly of a managerial nature; or
(C) who is an out-worker, that is to say, a person to whom any articles or materials are given
out by or on behalf of the principal employer to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered,
ornamented, finished, repaired, adapted or otherwise processed for sale for the purposes of the
trade or business of the principal employer and the process is to be carried out either in the home
of the out-worker or in some other premises, not being premises under the control and
management of the principal employer.
(2) Any reference in this Act to a law which is not in force in the State of Jammu and Kashmir* shall,
in relation to that State, be construed as a reference to the corresponding law, if any, in force in that State.