Ask the Constitution → Your rights, by who you are
The Constitution abolished forced labour outright, made child labour in factories unconstitutional, and told the state to aim for a living wage. The first two you can enforce in court today. The third is a promise still being kept.
Descriptive, not legal advice · text as amended through the 106th Amendment (2023)
Forced labour and begar are prohibited. Any form of it is an offence, and this is an enforceable fundamental right. The Supreme Court has read paying below minimum wage in some contexts as forced labour.
No child below fourteen may be employed in a factory, mine, or other hazardous employment. Enforceable, not aspirational.
19(1)(c) protects the right to form associations and unions. The right to form a union is fundamental; the right to strike, courts have held, is statutory.
If your employer is the state: equal opportunity in public employment.
The state must direct policy toward adequate livelihood, equal pay for equal work, and protecting workers' health and strength. A Directive Principle.
The right to work, to education, and to public assistance in unemployment, old age, and sickness, within the limits of the state's economic capacity. Also a Directive Principle.
Just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. Directive Principle, and the root of much labour welfare law.
A living wage and a decent standard of life for all workers. The aspiration the labour codes are measured against.