With Samadhan portal, industrial dispute resolution is now a click away

The Union government has launched a portal to help workers and employers raise industrial disputes online.

The portal, known as Samadhan (Software Application for Monitoring and Disposal, Handling of Industrial Disputes), has been launched on a pilot basis for workers belonging to five states – Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Odisha. However, this will only aid industries belonging in the central sphere, essentially public sector companies, banks, insurance, major ports, mines, Food Corporation of India, among others.

“Samadhan is a dedicated web portal to bring all stakeholders - government, industry, and labour - involved in industrial disputes on a single integrated platform,” the Union labour and employment ministry said in a statement. 

The bodies which help in resolving the disputes – office of chief labour commissioner (central), industrial relations division, and central government industrial tribunal (CGIT)-cum-labour courts – will be able to get the requests and send updates to workers and employers on this portal.

Through the portal, workers and their representatives or employers will also be able to submit relevant documents.

“With the introduction of the online portal, the process of settling industrial disputes is simplified, standardised and streamlined, resulting in a process which will be faster and easy to monitor,” the ministry said.

Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, an industrial dispute is defined as any dispute or difference between employers and employees or amongst a group of workers or employers related to employment, termination, and condition of work, among others. Employees in managerial or supervisory roles, drawing a salary more than Rs 10,000 a month, are not allowed to raise an industrial dispute under the law.

Workers have the option to go to the CGIT directly in case no action is initiated within 45 days of raising a dispute online. There is no fixed timeline for resolving disputes under the law.

According to the process, a worker can raise a dispute before a conciliation officer appointed by the government to act as a mediator and hold meetings with employers and employees. In case the conciliation fails, the officer informs the labour ministry which, in turn, refers the dispute for adjudication to the industrial tribunals-cum-labour courts.