Employee :
“Employee” means any person who is employed for wages in any kind of work, manual or otherwise, in or in connection with the work of an establishment and who gets his wages directly or indirectly from the employer and includes any person
(i) employed by or through a contractor in or in connection with the work of the establishment;
(ii) engaged as an apprentice, not being an apprentice engaged under Apprentices Act, 1961 or under the standing orders of the establishment. [Section 2(f)]
The definition is very wide in its scope and covers persons employed for clerical work or other office work in connection with the factory or establishment. The inclusive part of the definition makes it clear that even if a person has been employed through a contract in or in connection with the work of the establishment, he would yet fall within the description of employee within the meaning of the Act.
The dominant factor in the definition of ‘employee in Section 2(f) of the Act is that a person should be employed in or in connection with the work of the establishment. Sons being paid wages are employees (Goverdhanlal v. REPC 1994 II LLN 1354). In case of doubt whether a particular person is an employee or not, both the parties should be heard by the Commissioner before deciding the issue (1976-II Labour Law Journal, 309).
The definition of employee in Section 2(f) of the Act is comprehensive enough to cover the workers employed directly or indirectly and therefore, wherever the word employee is used in this Act, it should be understood to be within the meaning of this definition (Malwa Vanaspati and Chemical Co. Ltd. v. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, M.P. Region, Indore, 1976-I Labour Law Journal 307).
The definition of “employee”, includes a part time employee, who is engaged for any work in the establishment, a sweeper working twice or thrice in a week, a night watchman keeping watch on the shops in the locality, a gardener working for ten days in a month, etc. (Railway Employees Co-operative Banking Society Ltd. v. The Union of India, 1980 Lab. IC 1212). The Government of India, by certain notification extended the application of Act and EPF scheme to beedi industry. It was held that the workers engaged by beedi manufacturers directly or through contractors for rolling beedi at home subject to rejection of defective beedies by manufacturers, were employees (1986 1 SCC 32). But working partners drawing salaries or other allowances are not employees. When members of cooperative society do work in connection with that of society and when wages are paid to them, there would be employer-employee relationship and such member-workers would be covered under the definition (1998 LLJ I Mad. 827).