Kerala state human rights commission said cooperative societies are not outside the purview of labour laws and it is incumbent on them to follow them.
The commission pronounced this view while hearing a complaint from an employee of Mullur rural cooperative society who had lost her job for demanding maternity leave.
The employee had put in seven years at the cooperative society. The human rights body also ordered the cooperative society to refund her the amount it had received from her husband.
The commission made a reference to the relevant Supreme court ruling to underpin its opinion. Legal observers have described the commission’s opinion as a landmark verdict.
Applicability of Labour laws does not depend on the form of organisation engaged in commerce – profession (Service provider) or trade or manufacturing. So to generalise that labour law applies to cooperatives is oversimplification for no law gives any exemption from its operation because its a cooperative format.