14. Interpretation

Official English translation. The Sinhala text prevails. Open the official Sinhala text, official PDF on documents.gov.lk

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

“Commissioner-General” means the person for the time being holding the office of Commissioner-General of Labour and includes any person for the time being holding office as an Additional Commissioner-General, a Commissioner of Labour, a Deputy

Commissioner of Labour, an Assistant

Commissioner of Labour or a Labour officer;

“employer” means any person who employs or on whose behalf any other person employs, any worker and includes a body of employers (whether such body is a firm, company, local authority or trade union), and any person who on behalf of any other person employs any worker including a competent authority of a business undertaking vested in the

Government under any written law, the legal heir, successor in law, executor or administrator and liquidator of a company and in the case of an unincorporated body the president or secretary of such body, and in the case of a partnership the managing partner or manager;

National Minimum Wage of Workers

“industry or service” includes –

(a)

any trade, business, manufacture and agriculture, any undertaking or occupation by way of trade, business, manufacture or agriculture and any branch or section of trade, business, manufacture or agriculture;

(b)

work or labour of any description whatsoever performed by persons in the employment of a local authority, or of a corporation established by or under any written law for carrying on an undertaking whether for purposes of trade or otherwise;

(c)

every occupation, calling or service of workers, and

(d)

every undertaking of employers, but does not include any industry, business or undertaking which is carried on by any corporation, board or other body which was or is established by or under any written law where the Government holds a majority of the share capital with funds or capital wholly or partly provided by the Government by way of grant, loan or otherwise; or any registered society within the meaning of the Co-operative Societies Law,

No. 5 of 1972 or any religious institution or any charitable institution within the meaning of the Inland

Revenue Act, No. 10 of 2006;

“national minimum wage” means -

(a)

the contractual wage or salary of the worker or the wage prescribed under the Wages Boards

Ordinance (Chapter 136) for the industry or service to which the worker belongs; and

(b)

wages or basic salary together with the cost of living allowance, special living allowance or any other similar allowance;

“worker” means, any person who has entered into or works under a contract with an employer in any capacity, whether the contract is expressed or implied, oral or in writing and whether it is a contract of service or of apprenticeship excluding a contract of apprenticeship covered under the Tertiary and

Vocational Education Act, No. 20 of 1990 and the

Employment of Trainees (Private Sector) Act, No. 8

of 1978, or a contract personally to execute any work or labour and includes any person ordinarily employed under any such contract whether such person is or is not in employment at any particular time and includes any person whose services have been terminated but does not include a domestic servant.

Read on from s 15