Cabinet approval to amend Industrial Disputes Act

• To impose time limits on disciplinary inquiries in private sector

The Cabinet of Ministers this week gave its nod to amend the Industrial Disputes Act, to expedite the procedure of disciplinary inquiries or interdictions against the private sector employees.

Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to amend Industrial Disputes Act No. 43 of 1950, to issue a final disciplinary order within six months from the date of interdiction of an employee and to include provisions that allow the employee to receive a half payment of the salary, unless the relevant charge is a 
financial fraud.

He pointed out that in the absence of time limits for such formal disciplinary inquiry on allegations and a final decision in the event of an interdiction of private sector employees, certain private sector employers exploit the current system, adversely impacting the livelihoods of 
their employees. 

“Some private sector firms interdict their employees and drag the cases for a long time. With the proposed legislations, the inquiry will have to be completed within six months,” he said.

In some instances, there have been reports of certain employers dragging disciplinary proceedings for several years, severely impacting the livelihoods of the employees. 

However, in recent years, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the employees who had undergone such suspensions of their employments without pay by their employers for a long period of time, suggesting that the employers must complete disciplinary proceedings on their employees within a short period 
of time.