Lay-off
Topic: Employment, Unemployment and Informalisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A lay-off is a temporary failure or refusal of an employer to give work to workers who are still on its rolls. It happens because of a shortage of power or raw materials, a machine breakdown, or similar reasons. The job itself does not end. Under the Industrial Relations Code, a firm needs prior government permission for a lay-off only if it has at least 300 workers, up from 100 under the old law. States may raise this threshold further.
Example
A textile mill runs out of cotton during a supply disruption and sends workers home for two weeks. Their names stay on the rolls, and they return once cotton arrives.
Don't confuse with
- Retrenchment: this permanently ends a worker's service.
- Closure: the whole enterprise shuts down permanently.
Related concepts
- Labour laws
- Tripartism
- Floor wage
- Fair wage
- Living wage
- Need-based minimum wage
- Retrenchment
- Hire and fire
- Standing orders
- Fixed-term employment