ANNUAL SURVEY OF INDUSTRIES, 2001-02 VOL. II : REPORT ON , ABSENTEEISM LABOUR  TURNOVER, EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR COST IN SAMPLE SECTOR

 CHAPTER-V

LABOUR COST 

Labour cost is one of the significant factors for studying the economic viability of any industrial activity for an entrepreneur before venturing into the industrial field.   It helps in reliable costing, wage fixation on a realistic basis, logical collective bargaining, evolving implementation and evaluation of welfare measures, study of trends in labour cost over a period of time, location of an industry, etc.   Labour Cost data are also important for wage policy formulation at the national and regional levels.  With this objective in view, data on various aspects of labour cost are collected every year, which inter-alia, include the expenses incurred by the industrial establishments on wages/salaries, bonus, contributions to provident & other funds and staff welfare expenses in respect of all category of workers employed directly as well as through contractors.   The aggregate of all these components gives the total labour cost.   When used in conjunction with the number of mandays worked, it gives the average labour cost per manday worked. 

5.1         Average Labour Cost 

State-wise and Industry-wise data on average labour cost per manday worked by category of workers during the year 2001-02 are given in Tables 5.1.1 and 5.1.2, respectively.  These Tables reveal that at all India level; average labour cost per manday worked in respect of all the workers was Rs. 129.94.  Amongst directly employed workers, the average labour cost per manday worked for men was Rs. 145.58, while for women it was just Rs. 88.24.   Average labour cost per manday worked for children was reported as Rs. 26.83 only. For workers employed through contractors, the average labour cost per manday worked was Rs. 106.86.  In Public Sector units, average labour cost per manday worked was Rs. 233.10 as compared to Rs. 127.67 in the Private Sector and Rs. 208.65 in the Joint Sector. 

5.2         Average Labour Cost by States 

Table 5.1.1 reveals that highest average labour cost per manday worked in respect of all workers was reported at Rs. 185.83 in Delhi, followed by Rs. 180.72 in Maharashtra and Rs. 160.19 in Goa.  On the other hand, the lowest average labour cost per manday worked was reported at Rs. 66.13 in Bihar, followed by Rs. 70.93 in Assam and Rs. 72.32 in Orissa.  Among women workers, the highest average labour cost per manday worked was reported in Delhi at Rs. 172.49, whereas the lowest average labour cost per manday worked was reported in Orissa at Rs. 54.67 only.  Among children, the highest and the lowest average labour cost per manday worked was reported in Karnataka (Rs. 79.88) and Assam (Rs. 23.93), respectively. 

In three States of Uttaranchal, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the average labour cost per manday worked in respect of women workers was reported higher than that of their male counterparts. The reason for more average labour cost on woman workers in these states may be either due to some arrears payment to these workers during the current financial year or employment of majority of women workers in more skilled jobs in some of the industries in these states.

 5.3         Average Labour Cost by Industries 

Analysis of Table 5.1.2 reveals that in respect of all workers, the highest average labour cost per manday worked was reported at Rs. 415.52 in the industry group '353–Manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft‘, whereas, the lowest average labour cost per manday worked was reported in industry group '371-Recycling of metal waste and scrap’ at Rs. 52.01 only.  Among woman workers, the highest and lowest average labour cost per manday were reported in industry groups ‘232-Manufacture of refined petroleum products' (Rs. 507.32) and '201-Saw milling and planning of wood’ (Rs. 47.85), respectively.  Among children, the highest and lowest average labour cost per manday worked were reported in industry groups ‘400-Miscellaneous industry group' (Rs. 79.88) and '154–Manufacture of other food products‘ (Rs. 23.93), respectively. 

Atleast in seven industry groups, viz., 232, 271, 293, 333, 351, 352 and 359, the average labour cost per mandays worked in respect of women workers was higher than that of their male counterparts. The reason for more average labour cost on women workers may be either due to some arrears payment to these workers during the current financial year or employment of majority of women workers in more skilled jobs in these industries. 

5.4         Composition of Labour Cost by Components 

5.4.1 Wages/Salaries as Component of Labour Cost

 State-wise and Industry-wise statistics on wages/salaries per manday worked are presented in Tables 5.2.1 and 5.2.2, respectively.  These Tables reveal that at all India level, average labour cost per manday worked on wages/salaries for all workers combined was reported at Rs. 105.03. At all India level, labour cost on wages/salaries by category of workers was reported at Rs. 115.42 for men, Rs. 70.00 for women, Rs. 22.16 for children and Rs. 94.27 for contract workers. 

Amongst States, the highest wages/salaries per manday worked for all workers was reported in Delhi at Rs. 142.64, followed by Maharashtra at Rs. 142.61. Among woman workers, the highest and lowest wages/salaries paid per manday worked were reported in Uttaranchal (Rs. 141.37) and Assam (Rs. 42.94), respectively. 

Among Industries, the highest and lowest wages/salaries paid per manday worked to all workers were reported in industry groups ‘353–Manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft‘ (Rs. 356.40) and ‘371-Recycling of metal waste and scrap’ (Rs. 48.84), respectively.  Among women workers, the highest and lowest wage/salary per manday worked were observed in industry groups ‘232-Manufacture of refined petroleum products’ (Rs. 327.94) and ‘201-Saw milling and planning of wood' (Rs. 38.99), respectively.  

5.4.2      Bonus as Component of Labour Cost 

State-wise and Industries-wise statistics on bonus paid per manday worked during the year 2001-02, are presented in Tables 5.3.1 and 5.3.2, respectively.  These Tables show that at all India level, average amount of bonus paid per manday worked for all workers was Rs. 9.21.  Among States, the highest amount of bonus paid per manday worked to all workers was reported at Rs. 13.93 in Delhi, followed by Rs. 13.48 in Maharashtra and Rs. 12.68 in Goa. The lowest amount of bonus paid per manday worked to all workers was reported at Rs. 4.76 in Orissa, followed by Rs. 4.80 in Bihar and Rs. 4.94 in Andhra Pradesh. 

Amongst different category of workers, the average amount of bonus paid per manday worked was reported to be at Rs. 11.33 paid to male workers, Rs. 7.41 to women workers, Rs. 6.22 to contract workers and Rs. 2.37 to child workers.  

Among contract workers, the highest amount of bonus paid per manday worked was reported to be at Rs. 9.17 in Assam, whereas, no bonus was paid to these workers in Chandigarh and Goa.  The highest and lowest amount of bonus paid per manday worked to male workers was reported at Rs. 16.48 in Maharashtra and Rs. 5.98 in Andhra Pradesh, respectively.  For women workers, the highest amount of bonus paid per manday worked was reported at Rs. 13.48 in Haryana and the lowest at Rs. 3.40 in Bihar.  In three States of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the average amount of bonus paid per manday worked to women workers was higher than that of their male counterparts. 

Among Industries, the highest and lowest amount of bonus paid per manday worked to all workers was reported in industry groups '353-Manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft‘ (Rs. 27.48) and ‘182-Dressing and dyeing of fur, manufacture of articles of fur' (Rs. 0.41), respectively.  Among contract workers, the highest amount of bonus paid per manday worked was reported at Rs. 26.64 in industry group ‘351-Building and repair of ships & boats’ and the lowest at Rs. 1.77 in the industry group '361-Manufacture of furniture'.  Among directly employed women workers, the highest amount of bonus paid per manday worked was recorded as Rs. 38.02 in industry group ‘232-Manufacture of refined petroleum products' and the lowest at Rs. 3.73 in the industry group '182-Dressing and dyeing of fur, manufacture of articles of fur'. 

Atleast in 8 industry groups, viz., 232, 243, 271, 273, 300, 332, 351 and 359, women workers were paid higher amount of bonus per manday worked as compared to their male counterparts. 

5.4.3            Contributions to Provident and other funds as Component of

 Labour Cost 

State-wise and Industry-wise statistics on contributions to provident funds and other funds made by employers for their employees are presented in Tables 5.4.1 and 5.4.2, respectively.  It is observed that at the all India level, employers contributed Rs. 13.30 per manday worked for all workers towards provident and other funds.  For men, women, child and contract workers, such contribution was Rs. 15.84, Rs. 8.58 and Rs. 3.60 and Rs. 8.82, respectively. Among Sectors, contribution towards provident and other funds per manday worked was Rs. 28.09 in Public Sector, Rs. 32.64 in Joint Sector and Rs. 12.86 in Private Sector. 

Table 5.4.1 reveals that among states, the highest and lowest contribution towards provident and other funds per manday worked by all workers was reported in West Bengal (Rs. 22.46) and Jammu & Kashmir (Rs. 5.00), respectively. 

     Analysis of Table 5.4.2 reveals that the highest and lowest contribution towards provident and other funds per manday worked by all workers was made by employers in industry groups ‘333-Manufacture of watches and clocks' (Rs. 44.98) and ‘371-Recycling of metal waste and scrap’ (Rs. 2.67), respectively.

5.4.4       Welfare Expenses as Component of Labour Cost 

State-wise and Industry-wise statistics on expenses incurred by employers on the welfare of their workers during the year 2001-02 are presented in Tables 5.5.1 and 5.5.2, respectively.

 The Table 5.5.1 reveals that at all India level, on an average Rs. 7.99 per manday worked were spent by the employers on providing welfare facilities to all workers.  Among States, the highest amount on the welfare of their workers was spent by employers in Goa at the rate of Rs. 12.01 per manday worked, whereas, the lowest amount of Rs. 2.26 was spent on this account in Bihar.  Among contract workers, the highest amount per manday worked on welfare of the workers was spent in Dadar & Nagar Haveli at the rate of Rs. 10.33, whereas the lowest welfare expenses per manday worked were incurred in Chandigarh at the rate of Rs. 0.55.  

Table 5.5.2 reveals that the highest amount of Rs. 40.78 per manday worked was spent on providing welfare facilities by the employers in industry group '232-Manufacture of refined petroleum products‘, followed by Rs. 32.74 in industry group ‘333-Manufacture of watches and clocks’ in respect of all workers. Employers spent the lowest amount of Rs. 1.77 per manday worked on welfare expenses in industry group ‘014-Agriculture and animal husbandry service activities, except veterinary activities’. 

5.5          Percentage of Different Components of Labour Cost to Total Labour Cost

 State-wise and Industry-wise statistics on percentage of various components of Labour Cost, viz., (i) wages/salaries; (ii) bonus; (iii) contribution to provided and other funds, and (iv) staff welfare expenses to total labour cost has been depicted in Tables 5.6.1 and 5.6.2, respectively.   

 At all India level, the percentage share of different components of labour cost to total labour cost on wages/salaries, bonus, provident  & other funds and staff welfare expenses was 80.82 percent, 5.54 percent, 8.46 percent and 5.18 percent, respectively.

Among States the share of wages/salaries in the labour cost varied between a highest of 89.89 percent in Bihar and a lowest of 73.14 percent in West Bengal.  Contribution of bonus to total labour cost ranged between a highest of 7.16 percent in Kerala and the lowest of 2.96 percent in Andhra Pradesh.  Contribution to provident and other funds in total labour cost was highest at 15.93 percent in West Bengal and lowest at 4.00 percent in Jammu & Kashmir.  The highest and lowest percentage on staff welfare expenses as component of labour cost were reported in Dadar & Nagar Haveli (8.15 percent) and Chhattisgarh (1.69 percent), respectively. 

Among industries, the percentage of wages/salaries to the total labour cost was the highest at 93.90 percent in the industry group '371-Recycling of metal waste and scrap', followed by 92.50 percent in the industry group ‘014-Agriculture and animal husbandry service activities, except veterinary activities'.  The percentage contribution of bonus in the total labour cost ranged between the highest of 8.60 percent in industry group ‘191-Tanning and dressing of leather, manufacture of luggage handbags, saddlery and harness’ and the lowest of 0.43 percent in industry group ‘182-Dressing and dyeing of fur, manufacture of articles of fur'.  The industry group '371-Recycling of metal waste and scrap' did not pay any bonus to its workers.  The percentage contributions of provident and other funds to total labour cost was highest at 16.62 percent in industry group ‘291-Manufacture of general purpose machinery‘ and lowest at 1.28 percent in industry group ‘371-Recycling of metal waste and scrap'.  The percentage share of staff welfare expenses in total labour cost varied between a highest of 10.99 percent in industry group ‘314-Manufacture of accumulators, primary cells and primary batteries' and a lowest of 1.10 percent in industry group '014-Agricultural and animal husbandry service activities, except veterinary activities’. 

5.6          Percentage of Labour Cost to Total Cost of Production 

Labour cost is one of the main components of the total cost of production for any industrial establishment.  The percentage of labour cost on workers to total cost of production indicates the share of the labour in industrial sector in a country.  In the changing scenario of world economy in terms of liberalization, privatization, globalization and modernization, the percentage share of labour cost to total cost of production is bound to change over a period of time.   The time series data on the percentage of labour cost to total cost of production may be of immense use in overall economic planning and framing labour policies and programmes.  With this aim in view, the data on percentage share of labour cost to total cost of production by States, Industries and Sectors have been presented in Tables 5.7.l and 5.7.2, respectively. 

The Table 5.7.1 reveals that at all India level, labour cost constituted just 3.18 percent of the total cost of production during the year 2001-02 in Sample Sector.  The percentage of labour cost to total cost of production was 4.61 percent in Public Sector, 3.38 percent in Joint Sector and 3.16 percent in Private Sector. 

Among States, the highest percentage of labour cost to total cost of production was reported in south Indian states of Kerala (4.74 percent), followed by Tamil Nadu (4.69 percent) and Karnataka (4.46 percent).  The lowest percentage of labour cost to total cost of production at 1.22 percent was reported in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.   

In Public Sector, the percentage of labour cost to total cost of production varied between a lowest of 0.32 percent in Dadar & Nagar Haveli and a highest of 25.62 percent in Gujarat.  In Joint Sector, the percentage of labour cost to total cost of production varied between a lowest of 0.73 percent in Bihar and a highest of 94.66 percent in Chandigarh.  In Private Sector, the percentage of labour cost to total cost of production varied between a lowest of 1.22 percent in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and a highest of 4.64 percent in Tamil Nadu. 

Industry-wise and Sector-wise percentage of labour cost to total cost of production is presented in Table 5.7.2.   It may be seen from the Table that the highest percentage of labour cost to total cost of production was recorded at 23.57 percent in industry group ‘333-Manufacture of watches and clocks', whereas, the lowest percentage of such cost was reported in industry group '371–Recycling of metal waste and scrap‘ at 0.35 percent. 

In Public Sector, the percentage of labour cost to total cost of production varied between a lowest of 1.67 percent in industry group ‘232-Manufacture of refined petroleum Products’ and a highest of 62.41 percent in industry group ‘191-Tanning and dressing of leather, manufacture of luggage handbags, saddlery & harness’.  In Joint Sector, the percentage of labour cost to total cost of production varied between a lowest of 0.33 percent in industry group  ‘343-Manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines' and a highest of 80.81 percent in industry group '312-Manufacture of electricity distribution and control apparatus'.  In Private Sector, the percentage of labour cost to total cost of production varied between a lowest of 0.35 percent in industry group '371–Recycling of metal waste and scrap‘ and a highest of 23.46 percent in industry group '333-Manufacture of watches and clocks’.