A General Guide To Sri Lanka’s Labour Law
Author: Somapala Egalahewa
Publisher: Stamford Lake (Pvt) Ltd
Pages: 965
I consider it a privilege and pleasure to review this book. My only regret is the delay in doing so. This book was launched to a very large and well attended gathering at the BMICH Colombo on July 26, 2018. The chief guest was, then Chief Justice Priyasath Dep, President’s Counsel. Also in attendance were many judges of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, a number of Presidents of Labour Tribunals and retired judges. Representing the Bar, there was a significant number of President’s Counsel and lawyers.
What is remarkable about this Book is not only its size (about 1,000 pages) but its coverage, contents and quality. Admittedly, although Sri Lanka has a well established judicial and legal system and nearly twenty thousand lawyers, few legal texts are published today. This is not for want of printers or publishers, but for want of competent and qualified Authors. In that context Somapala Egalahewa’s “A General Guide to Sri Lanka’s Labour Law” is in my view a masterpiece. In recent times I have never seen any Sri Lankan text with such a wide coverage and so well written. It is indeed a Magnum Opus, a book of a lifetime.
The Book carries a Foreword by Justice R K S Sureshchandra a former judge of the Supreme Court and currently a Resident Justice of Appeal and Supreme Court in Fiji. Justice Sureshchandra quite rightly says, “There is a dearth of legal literature in law in Sri Lanka, especially, in the field of Labour Law which is a growing and living subject. The Author’s effort in bringing out this text on Labour Law is indeed a valuable contribution.”
Displaying humility which is a significant trait among his generation, Egalahewa has named his text A General Guide to Sri Lanka’s Labour Law. I disagree. It is a definitive treatise on the subject and should be titled a Treatise on Sri Lankan Labour Law.
It is interesting to note, Somapala Egalahewa the distinguished father of an illustrious son (Uditha Egalahewa President’s Counsel) has told the readers how and why he came to write this book and in doing so has given his qualifications and experience of authorship. Egalahewa dedicates the book to his past students at Sri Lanka Law College who prompted him to write it. He states, in his long years of teaching at the Sri Lanka Law College whenever he recommended his students to read some text on Labour Law, they always wanted him to name a text where all the relevant topics on the subject were covered, saying that it was difficult to find time to read several texts. It was this lacuna or gap that prompted him to write this book.
Hence, this book is the result of Egalahewa’s experience as a lecturer and examiner in Labour Law, especially, at Sri Lanka Law College. Being a leading practitioner in Labuor Law, he has filled the need for a comprehensive and up to date treatise on Sri Lanka’s Labour Law. Having gone through the book and noticing its extensive coverage of Case Law, Statute Law and Practices, I can say without hesitation that it would be the best authority on the subject presently available in the country. Not only Sri Lankan Law, the Author has well researched and included in the text many relevant laws from comparative jurisdictions such as, India, The United Kingdom and South Africa, as well as providing the related principles of the Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
This text analyses the salient aspects of the subject, and makes the life of the reader easier by making all the recent case-law authorities available at their fingertips. Special coverage is given to (i) Contract of Employment, (ii) Termination of Employment and (iii) Compensation for Wrongful Termination. These are some of the fundamental issues that crop up today in disputes between employers and employees which is of great practical importance.
As a reviewer, I would be failing in my duty if I don’t refer to some of the important Chapters in the text which consists 18 Chapters. Naturally, the first Chapter is on the Concept of Labour, the 2nd, on the Master and Servant Concept which to a great extent was the origin of Labour Law. In Chapter 3 comes Social Justice and Industrial Law. Chapter 4 deals with the Contract of Employment. Chapter 5 covers types of Employment such as Casual, Temporary, Fixed Term and Apprenticeship. Chapter 6 deals with Probationary Employment which some Human Resource Managers have not fully grasped.
Part 2 of the book contains Chapters 7, 8 and 9. Chapter 7 ( over 100 pages) covers the Dispute Resolution Mechanism under the Industrial Dispute Act, which I consider as essential reading for any practitioner of Labour Law. Chapter 8 refers to Collective Bargaining and Collective Agreements and gives the ILO Conventions. Chapter 9 gives a full coverage of Labour Tribunals in Sri Lanka.
Part 3 of the book containing Chapters 10, 11 and 12 deals with Termination of Employment and Services.Part 4 – Chapter 13 covers Unfair Labour Practices under the Industrial Disputes Act, while Chapter 14 is on The Employment of Workman (Special Provisions) Act No. 45 of 1971 (TEW). It is interesting to note that under this Act Sri Lanka does not recognize the Hire and Fire Rule. I was told that this Legislation was enacted by the Socialist Government of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike elected to office in May 1970 with the support of the Marxist parties. The JVP Insurgency also had taken place and some employers were taking advantage of the Insurgency to get rid of unsavoury staff. This legislation prohibited such steps. Chapter 15 to 18 (the last Chapter) deals with Workmen’s Compensation, Superannuation and Termination Benefits, Employee Organizations and lastly Trade Union Actions.
The Author’s choice of the topics of discussion in relation to the Industrial Disputes Act, Termination of Employment (Special Provisions) Act, Workmen’s Compensation Ordinance, the Employment Provident Fund Act, Employees Trust Fund Act, The Trade Unions Ordinance have to be commended, as these are the areas which regularly come up in the operation and application of Labour Law.
This text is invaluable to all those interested in Labour Law, such as students, trade unionists, academics, practitioners and Judicial Officers, Human Resource professionals, Presidents of Labour Tribunals and the general public. The thoroughness of the work and the easily readable language in which it has been written enhances its value.
The book is hard bound and well printed, and amounts to nearly thousand pages in volume and is reasonably priced at Rs. 4,000. It is published by Stamford Lake (Pvt) Ltd. a company well known in the legal publication arena. The book cover which depicts how the interests of the employer are counter weighed by the interests of the workmen by Labour Law is eye-catching. It has been designed by D.C.Karunaratne.
I admire Egalahewa’s patience, industry, hard work and tireless effort he would have put in to write and compile this text and he would have surely breathed a sigh of relief when the book was launched in July 2018. I say this because having written several texts myself I know the anxiety that Authors go through in meticulously preparing texts for publication. I congratulate the Author and recommend this excellent treatise for purchase which is well written and thoroughly researched. As predicted in this review this text will soon become the most sought after text on the subject, in Sri Lanka.