Workman
Also called: Worker, Industrial workman
A person employed to do manual, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 now uses the term worker in Section 2(zr).
Explained
Workman was the key term of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, whose Section 2(s) decided who could raise an industrial dispute. That Act is among the enactments repealed by Section 104 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, which uses the term worker instead. Section 2(zr) of the Code defines a worker as any person, except an apprentice, employed in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment are express or implied. It includes working journalists and sales promotion employees, and, for proceedings relating to an industrial dispute, a person dismissed, discharged or retrenched in connection with that dispute.
The exclusions carry the old law forward. A person subject to the Air Force Act, Army Act or Navy Act, a person employed in the police service or as an officer or employee of a prison, a person employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity, and a person employed in a supervisory capacity drawing wages above eighteen thousand rupees a month, or such amount as the Central Government notifies, are not workers. The test is the substantial nature of the work actually done, not the designation given by the employer.
The older word still appears in other statutes. Section 12(f) of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 entitles an industrial workman to free legal services. Section 3 of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and Section 17 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 give no fault relief to persons other than workmen, defining workman by reference to the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923. That Act was later renamed the Employee's Compensation Act and is now repealed by Section 164 of the Code on Social Security, 2020.
Examiners compare Section 2(s) of the 1947 Act with Section 2(zr) of the Code, test the supervisory wage limit, and ask who is entitled to legal aid under Section 12.
What the law says
Section 2, Industrial Relations Code
(zr) “worker” means any person (except an apprentice as defined under clause (aa) of section 2 of the Apprentices Act, 1961) (52 of 1961) employed in any industry to do any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward, whether the terms of employment be express or implied, and includes working journalists as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 195 (45 of 1955) 5 and sales promotion employees as defined in clause (d) of section 2 of the Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976 (11 of 1976), and for the purposes of any proceeding under this Code in relation to an industrial dispute, includes any such person who has been dismissed, discharged or retrenched or otherwise terminated in connection with, or as a consequence of, that dispute, or whose dismissal, discharge or retrenchment has led to that dispute, but does not include any such person—
(i) who is subject to the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950), or the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), or the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957); or
(ii) who is employed in the police service or as an officer or other employee of a prison; or
(iii) who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or
(iv) who is employed in a supervisory capacity drawing wages exceeding eighteen thousand rupees per month or an amount as may be notified by the Central Government from time to time:
Section 2(zr) defines worker
Section 104, Industrial Relations Code
[(1) The following enactments shall stand repealed on and from the date appointed in the notification issued under sub-section (3) of section 1, namely:—
(a) the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (16 of 1926);
(b) the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 (20 of 1946); and
Repeals the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
Section 12, Legal Services Authorities Act
(f) an industrial workman; or
(g) in custody, including custody in a protective home within the meaning of clause (g) of section2 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (104 of 1956), or in a juvenile home within the meaning of clause (j) of section 2 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (53 of 1986), or in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home within the meaning of clause (g) of section2 of the Mental Health Act, 1987 (14 of 1987); or
[(h) in receipt of annual income less than rupees nine thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the State Government, if the case is before a court other than the Supreme Court, and less than rupees twelve thousand or such other higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Government, if the case is before the Supreme Court.]
Industrial workman entitled to legal services
Section 3, Public Liability Insurance Act
(i) “workman” has the meaning assigned to it in the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 (8 of 1923);
No fault relief for persons other than workmen
(o) “workman” has the meaning assigned to it in the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923
Section 2(o) defines workman by reference
Section 164, Social Security Code
7. The Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981 (33 of 1981);
8. The Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996 (28 of 1996);
9. The Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008 (33 of 2008).
Repeals the Employee's Compensation Act, 1923
For the exam
- Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 repealed by Section 104 IRC 2020; 'worker' in Section 2(zr) replaces 'workman'.
- Excludes managerial or administrative staff, armed forces, police and prison staff.
- Supervisory staff earning above Rs 18,000 a month (or notified amount) are excluded.
- Nature of duties, not designation, decides status.
- An industrial workman gets free legal services under Section 12(f) LSA Act.
135 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Labour & Industrial Law questions
Related terms
- Industrial disputeA dispute between employers, employers and workers, or workers, connected with employment, non-employment, terms of employment or conditions of labour, including an individual termination dispute (Section 2(q) IRC).
- WagesUnder Section 2(y) of the Code on Wages, 2019, all remuneration in money or money's worth payable for employment, including basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance, but excluding listed items.
- RetrenchmentTermination by the employer of a worker's service for any reason other than disciplinary punishment, excluding retirement, non renewal or end of contract, end of fixed term and ill health. Section 2(zh) of the IR Code, 2020.
- StrikeCessation of work by persons employed in an industry acting in combination, or a concerted refusal to work, including concerted casual leave by 50% or more workers on a day. Section 2(zk), IR Code.
- Lock-outThe temporary closing of a place of employment, suspension of work, or an employer's refusal to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him (Section 2(u), Industrial Relations Code, 2020).
- Trade unionUnder Section 2(zl) of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, any combination formed primarily to regulate relations between workers and employers, workers and workers, or employers and employers.
Further reading
- The Industrial Relations Code, 2020, official text on India Code
- The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, official text on India Code
- The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, official text on India Code
- The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, official text on India Code
- The Code on Social Security, 2020, official text on India Code
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.