UGC NET/JRF EXAM, JUNE-2025 Labour and Social Welfare

B. This agreement sets out mutual expectations: A psychological contract is an unwritten set of beliefs and expectations between employer and employee regarding obligations on both sides.

C. Perceptions vary across cultures: Employees in different cultures form different expectations about fairness, job security, trust, autonomy, and authority; hence psychological contracts are culturally shaped.

D. Violations lead to negative effects: When employees perceive that promises or expectations are unmet, it results in reduced trust, lower commitment, dissatisfaction and increased turnover.

(A) is incorrect because a psychological contract is not an expressed or written agreement; it is implicit.

(E) is incorrect because it does not arise from one's structural position but from perceived mutual obligations.

В. Rely heavily on verbal and subtle situational cues: High-context cultures (e.g., Japan, China, Arab nations) depend on tone, body language, relationships and context rather than direct statements.

C. Official status and reputation carry weight: Hierarchical position and social reputation strongly influence communication and decision-making.

D. Implies more trust between parties: High-context cultures expect longstanding relationships and deeper relational trust.

(A) is incorrect because reliance on spoken/ written words defines low-context cultures.

(E) is incorrect because explicit and precise communication is a feature of low-context cultures.

A. Works Committees: Promote dialogue between workers and management, mandated under the Industrial Disputes Act.

B. Joint Management Councils: Share decisionmaking responsibilities between employers and employees.

C. Trade Unions: Represent workers in participatory mechanisms such as collective bargaining and joint consultation.

D. Joint Councils in Government Services: Provide consultative platforms for employee participation in administrative decisions.

(E) Domestic Enquiry Committee deals with disciplinary processes, not workers' participation.

B. Outside Authority Approach: Uses external experts or agencies to assess HR systems objectively.

C. Comparative Approach: Compares HR practices with those of benchmark organisations or industry standards.

E. Statistical Approach: Uses quantitative measures such as ratios, turnover data, absenteeism rates, and productivity metrics to evaluate HR efficiency.

(A) and (D) are not standard or recognised HR audit approaches; they describe internal process mechanisms, not audit frameworks.

C. Industrial conflict as political and social conflict: Radical theory sees workplace conflict as an extension of broader class struggle in capitalist societies.

E. Favour transformation of unions into revolutionary organisations: Unions are seen not merely as bargaining bodies but as instruments for challenging capitalist structures.

(A) is incorrect because trusteeship is a Gandhian, not radical, concept. (B) is incorrect because radicals argue that class conflict arises from exploitation, not for increasing profits.

(D) is incorrect because radical theory does not promote mutuality or reciprocal influence; these belong to pluralist perspectives.

A. Granting wage increase to workmen at crucial periods of trade union organization: The Act treats it as an unfair practice if an employer deliberately announces wage increases or other benefits at sensitive stages of union formation or recognition, with the intention of weakening or breaking trade union organising efforts. It distorts free choice of workers and interferes with their right to form or join a union.

B. Taking active interest in organizing a trade union of his workmen: Employers are not permitted to dominate or interfere with the formation of a union. If the employer takes active interest in organising a union, funds it, or controls its functioning, it becomes an employer-sponsored union and is treated as an unfair labour practice because it undermines workers' independent collective voice.

С. To abolish the work of a regular nature being done by workmen and give such work to contractors during industrial unrest: Shifting regular work to contractors during a dispute/strike to break workers' collective strength is specifically mentioned as an unfair labour practice. It amounts to victimisation and bypassing the legitimate bargaining process.

(D) supporting families to join'refrain from unions and (E) promoting activities favouring certification of a bargaining executive in the form given are not stated as ULPs of employers in the Fifth Schedule; the Act's wording focuses on interference with workers themselves, not their families, and on recognition/certification in a different context.

A. The Act does not apply to Societies Registration Act, 1860: Section 14 of the Trade Unions Act clarifies that the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and certain Companies Acts do not apply to any registered Trade Union. In other words, once an association is registered as a trade union under this Act, it is exempt from being treated as a "society" under the Societies Registration Act.

B. Executive members and office bearers... hold office for a maximum period of three years: Section 6(1)(hh) (inserted by later amendment) requires union rules to specify the term of office of its executive, not exceeding three years. So, the Act indirectly limits the tenure by mandating that the union's constitution must fix a term up to this maximum.

C. General funds... may be spent on book publications authored by trade union office bearers: Section 15 lists permissible uses of general funds, including expenses on administration and on publication of periodicals or literature for the purpose of the trade union. If a book written by an officebearer is for union education/propaganda and for members’ benefit, spending general funds on such a publication is within the allowed purposes.

D. Minimum of 7% workmen... for registration: The current legal requirement is 10% or 100 of the workmen, whichever is less, subject to a minimum of seven members, not a flat 7%.

E. Registration... is compulsory: Registration under the Trade Unions Act is voluntary; an unregistered association can still exist but lacks the specific legal immunities/benefits of a registered trade union.

A. The fair wage was something between minimum wage and living wage: Classical wage policy in India (and in ILO thinking) defines minimum wage as the legal/ subsistence floor, living wage as the ideal level ensuring a decent standard of life, and fair wage as lying between these two-higher than minimum, but generally below the full living wage. This concept guided Indian wage boards and early wage policy debates.

C. As per the Wages Fund Theory there exists pre-determined fund for the payment of wages: The Wages Fund Theory (classical theory) assumes a fixed "fund" of capital set aside for wages; wages per worker depend on dividing this fixed fund by the number of workers. So, there is a predetermined fund for wages in this theory.

D. Living wage provides workers and their families to live on some level considered adequate: Living wage is defined as a wage that enables a worker and their family to maintain a socially acceptable standard of living, including nutrition, housing, health, education, and some measure of comfort and social participation-so this statement is correct.

B. Surplus Value Theory is associated with Maurice Dobb: Surplus value theory is fundamentally associated with Karl Marx, though Dobb later wrote Marxist economic analyses; therefore linking the theory itself to Dobb is inaccurate.

E. Bargaining Theory... wage determined by the capitalist: Under the bargaining theory, wage is determined by relative bargaining strength of workers and employers, not unilaterally by the capitalist; hence this formulation is wrong.

A. Labour legislations were enacted to protect those workers unable to do so on their own: A core principle of labour welfare is protection of the weaker party in employment. Labour law recognises that individual workers usually lack bargaining power, information, and resources, so the State intervenes through legislation to protect them from exploitation and unsafe or unfair conditions.

B. To establish equality in social relationships especially among discriminated groups of labour: Labour welfare also promotes social justice and equality, especially for women workers, scheduled castes/tribes, migrants and other vulnerable groups. Anti-discrimination and equal treatment measures (e.g., Equal Remuneration Act, provisions on non-discrimination in ILO conventions) are grounded in this principle.

C. To regulate workers' organizations from misusing their strengths: Modern labour policy recognises that both employers and worker organisations (trade unions) must be regulated so that their power is used responsibly. Laws on internal democracy. usage of union funds, and rules against coercive or violent tactics reflect the idea that labour welfare includes ensuring unions do not misuse their strength in ways that harm other workers, the public, or the economy.

D. To promote employer efficiency and profit making ability: While labour welfare can indirectly improve efficiency and productivity, the principle is not to promote employer profit as such, but to protect and develop workers. Profit may be a by-product, not the core welfare principle.

E. To nullify international conventions and recommendations ratified by nations: This is the opposite of what labour welfare seeks. Labour standards in India are often influenced by ILO conventions and recommendations, not intended to nullify them.

A. It prohibits engagement of children and adolescents in all occupations: After the 2016 amendment, employment of children (below 14 years) is prohibited in all occupations and processes, with limited family/entertainment exceptions. However, adolescents (14-18 years) are prohibited only in hazardous occupations and processes, and may work in non-hazardous work under regulated conditions. So it does not ban adolescents from all occupations.

B. Adolescent means any person who has completed 14 years of age: The legal definition is "a person who has completed his fourteenth year of age but has not completed his eighteenth year". The upper limit (18 years) is missing here, so the statement is incomplete and therefore not correct.

C. A child can help his/her family enterprise (other than non-hazardous) after his/her school hours: Section 3(2) (after amendment) allows a child to help his family or family enterprise in non-hazardous occupations after school hours or during vacations, subject to conditions that education, health and safety are not adversely affected. This exception is specifically provided in the Act and related rules.

D. A Technical Advisory Committee shall be formulated by every State Government: The Act provides for a Technical Advisory Committee at the Central level, constituted by the Central Government to advise on adding occupations/processes to the Schedule (Section 5). There is no mandatory requirement that every State Government must constitute such a Committee under this Act.

E. In the absence of birth certificate, age can be determined by ossification test: The rules under the Act (and related juvenile/POCSO jurisprudence) state that, if standard documents like school records or municipal birth certificates are unavailable, age may be determined by a medical authority using ossification test or another modern medical age determination test. This is treated as a last-resort method, but it is legally recognised.