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Can Contract Workers enjoy the same job benefits as offered to regular employees? A case was heard in Supreme Court and the apex court has finally delivered its verdict.
The Supreme Court has stated that workers hired through contractors cannot demand the same status or benefits as regular employees. The Court said giving equal benefits to contractual workers would weaken the system of fair and transparent recruitment, especially in government jobs.
The judges stated that regular government employment is a public asset and every citizen has the right to compete for such jobs through a proper and open selection process. In contrast, workers hired through contractors are chosen by the contractor, not through a transparent government procedure. Because of this basic difference, the two types of employment cannot be treated the same under law.
The case came from Andhra Pradesh, where several sanitation and other workers had been working for the Nandyal Municipal Council since 1994 through different contractors. Even though the contractors changed over the years, the workers continued doing the same jobs for nearly 30 years. They argued that since they were doing the same work as regular municipal employees, they should get equal pay and regular status.
Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal rejected their plea, but the High Court later ruled in their favour and directed the municipality to pay them at least the minimum salary given to regular employees. The municipal council then approached the Supreme Court, saying there was no direct employer-employee relationship with these workers.
The Supreme Court agreed with the municipality. It said the council’s responsibility was only to pay the contractor as per the agreement, and it was the contractor’s duty to pay wages to the workers. Since the workers were hired through an intermediary, the council was not legally bound to give them the same benefits as regular employees.
The Court also clarified that earlier judgments allowing equal pay were different because, in those cases, workers were directly hired by the government on a contractual basis. Here, the presence of a contractor changed the legal relationship completely.
However, the Court took a humane view considering the long years of service. While setting aside the High Court order, it asked the municipality to examine whether these workers could be regularized, since their jobs appeared to be permanent in nature. At the same time, the Court clearly said this direction applies only to this case and should not be treated as a general rule for other cases.
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