Vol.:(0123456789) The Indian Journal of Labour Economics https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-019-00169-6 1 3 ISLE RESEARCH NOTE Contract Labour Conundrums in the Manufacturing Sector: Time for Regulators to Wake Up and Smell the Cofee Arun Sasi 1  · Tina K. Stephen 2 © Indian Society of Labour Economics 2019 Abstract Indian contract labour regulation in the manufacturing sector has been the subject of a plethora of studies over the years, and many amendments to the legislation have been proposed and enacted. However, these have failed to identify or solve a num- ber of chronic issues plaguing the sector, as evidenced by the widespread contract labour unrest in the manufacturing sector and dissatisfaction among all stakeholders. Contract labour law is archaic and obsolete, and thus unable to meet the needs of the present-day organizational order.Here, a practical diagnostic study is undertaken to identify issues and examine potential remedies based on comparative analysis with other jurisdictions wherever possible, and to suggest innovative solutions for addressing India’s unique problems. Keywords Contract labour · Labour unrest · Labour law reform · Manufacturing sector 1 Introduction In a Neo-Tayloristic organizational order, contract labour is a critical cog in the workings of any organization. Similar to other areas of the world, the manufacturing sector in India has seen a surge in contract labour. The share of contract labour in the workforce of the manufacturing sector rose from 16.5% in 1997–1998 to 35.5% in 2014–2015 (Fig. 1). * Arun Sasi advarunsasi@gmail.com Tina K. Stephen tina@xlri.ac.in 1 Faculty of Law, Xavier University Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar, India 2 Faculty of Law, XLRI Jamshedpur, Jamshedpur, India