Case Law Analysis
|Calcutta High Court
Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 | Artisans Reclassified as Employees If Paid Through Structured Allowances, Not Self-Employment Labels: Calcutta HC
The Calcutta High Court ruled that artisans in Khadi institutions with 10 or more workers are covered under the ESI Act if their compensation is structured as payroll allowances with PF deductions, regardless of claims of self-employment. This sets a critical precedent for social security coverage in the unorganized sector, impacting thousands of artisanal units across India that rely on informal payment models.