Labour Welfare: 5 Different Categories of Labour Welfare

Some of the major categories of labour welfare are: (1) Intra-mural Facilities (2) Extra-mural Facilities (3) Statutory Facilities (4) Mutual Facilities and (5) Voluntary.

It is very difficult to classify the welfare activities into certain broad categories.

(1) Intra-mural Facilities:

The facilities provided inside the factory are known as intra-mural facilities. These facilities include activities relating to minimisation of industrial fatigue, provision of safety measures like fencing and covering of machines, good layout of the plant and machinery, sufficient lighting conditions, provision of first aid appliances etc.

Provisions of such facilities are also obligatory in all industrial establishments all over the world.

(2) Extra-mural Facilities:

Facilities offered to the workers outside the factory are known as extra-mural facilities. They include better housing accommodations, indoor and outdoor recreation sports, educational facilities etc. The provision of these facilities is voluntary. Earlier, due attention was not given to the provision of extra-mural facilities to the workers but now it is realised that these facilities are very important for the general welfare and upliftment of the workers.

(3) Statutory Facilities:

Under this category, welfare facilities are provided according to the labour legislations passed by the Government. The nature and coverage of these facilities vary from country to country. Again these facilities may be either intra-mural facilities or extra-mural facilities. These facilities must be provided by all the employers and cannot be ignored. Any contravention of the statutory provisions shall render the employer punishable under the Act concerned.

The National Commission of Labour has divided all the statutory measures under two distinct heads:

1. Facilities which have to be provided irrespective of the size of the establishment e.g., drinking water.

2. Facilities which are to be provided subject to the employment of a specified number of persons, e.g., creches.

(4) Mutual Facilities:

These facilities are usually outside the scope of the statutory facilities. These activities are voluntarily undertaken by the workers themselves for their own interest. As such the employer has no say in it.

(5) Voluntary:

The facilities which are voluntarily provided by the employers come under this category. Hence these are not statutory. No doubt, the activities under this category ultimately lead to increase in the efficiency of workers.