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Off-Shored Services Workers: Labour Law and Practice in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Carolyn Penfold
Carolyn Penfold*
Affiliation:
The University of New South Wales
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Abstract

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The growth of information technology has enabled the ‘off-shoring’ of many business processes, and such off-shoring has grown exponentially in the past decade. India has been a major recipient of such off-shored work. To understand the effects of this phenomenon on off-shore workers, it is necessary to understand the legal context within which such work is undertaken.

This article thus explains the labour law framework of India, from Constitutional protections down to local laws, policies and rules. It then examines labour practices, and identifies the gaps between formal labour law and actual practice in this sector. The article notes that some of these gaps between law and practice are a result of public matters, such as corruption, legal exemptions, and lack of law enforcement; but others are due to features of the sector itself, such as its newness, the types of work it offers, and the ready availability of alternative jobs.

Type
Article
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , July 2009 , pp. 91 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2009

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