Labour law (also known as employment or labor law) is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. Labour rights have been integral to the social and economic development since the industrial revolution.

The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class of workers dependent on wages as their source of income. The terms of the labor contract, working conditions, and the relations between workers and employers early became matters of public concern.

In England, Parliament was averse to legislating on subjects relating to workers because of the prevailing policy of laissez-faire . The earliest factory law (1802) dealt with the health, safety, and morals of children employed in textile mills, and subsequent laws regulated their hours and working conditions. Labour law arose due to the demands of workers for better conditions, the right to organise, and the simultaneous demands of employers to restrict the powers of workers' many organizations and to keep labour costs low. The state of labour law at any one time is therefore both the product of, and a component of, struggles between different interests in society.

Individual labour law deals with peoples rights at work place on their contracts for work. There has been a steady shift in many countries to give individuals more legal rights that can be enforced directly through courts.

Following are the rights which comes under individual labour law:

1. The basic feature of labour law in almost every country is that the rights and obligations of the worker and the employer between one another are mediated through the contract of employment between the two.
2. Each country sets its own minimum wage laws and regulations, and while a majority of industrialized countries has a minimum wage, many developing countries have not.
3. Working time is a quantity that can be measured for an individual or, in the aggregate, for a society. So this right initially says that working time should be limited for a individual.
4. An employee should not have to risk injury at work, nor should others associated with the work environment. So that this occupational security and health right is concerned about employees health and security at work place.
5. Anti discrimination clause means that discrimination against employees is morally unacceptable and illegal, on a variety of grounds, in particular racial discrimination or sexist discrimination.