The Finance and Guarantee Ltd vs Assistant Commissioner of Labour – CA WRIT/413/2013-2016

In the case between The Finance and Guarantee Ltd (now known as UB Finance Company Ltd) and the Assistant Commissioner of Labour, Colombo South, Commissioner of Labour, and R.G.S. Jayasekara, the court addressed whether a Labour Department order requiring payment of salary arrears violated Central Bank directives on directors’ and employees’ remuneration. It was held that while Central Bank authority prevails where specific remuneration directives exist, in the absence of such directives for employees (as distinct from directors), the Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act remains applicable. Thus, the Labour Department’s order to pay arrears, made without consideration of Central Bank directives and in the absence of specific directives for employees, wa