Supreme Court upholds recommendations of Majithia Wage Board

The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam on 7th February upheld the recommendations of Majithia wage Board for Journalists and non-journalists on their pay structure and directed that the revised salaries be granted to the employees. The Apex Court further elaborated that the revised pay structure should be given to the employees from November 11, 2011 when the Centre notified the recommendations of the Board. It said that new pay structure would be given from April 2014 and the employer will have to pay arrears within a year in four installments.

The bench further said, that the Board had followed proper procedures in giving its recommendations and the allegations leveled against it and its constitution are not right. The bench dismissed the pleas filed by various newspaper managements challenging the validity of the Board's constitution and its recommendations.

The 6th (Majithia) Wage Board was constituted by the Labour Ministry in 2007 despite strong reservations from the newspaper industry, and thereafter announced an adhoc interim relief of 30 per cent of basic pay with effect from January 2008. This was implemented by the industry despite the heavy financial burden. The Wage Board submitted its final recommendations on December 31, 2010, which were notified by the Centre with certain modifications, a year later on November 11, 2011.

Source: http://cablequest.org/news/legal-news/item/4242-supreme-court-upholds-recommendations-of-majithia-wage-board.html