Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment
# Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment

The Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment (Sinhala: කම්කරු හා විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යාංශය; Tamil: தொழில் மற்றும் வெளிநாட்டு வேலைவாய்ப்பு அமைச்சு) is the central government ministry of Sri Lanka responsible for labour, foreign employment services and development of Petroleum Resources. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on labour and other subjects which come under its purview. The current Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment is Manusha Nanayakkara. The ministry's secretary is S. M. Gotabaya Jayaratna.

## Ministers

The Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment is a member of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.

Ministers of Labour :

| Name | Party | Took office | Left office | Head of government | Ministerial title |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Peri Sundaram | | 1931 | 1935 | | Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce |
| Claude Corea | | 1936 | 1946 | | Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce |
| I. X. Pereira | | 1946 | 4 July 1947 | | Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce |
| T. B. Jayah | | 26 September 1947 | 1950 | D. S. Senanayake | Minister of Labour and Social Services |
| M. C. M. Kaleel | | 1952 | | Dudley Senanayake | Minister of Labour |
| M. C. M. Kaleel | | | | John Kotelawala | Minister of Labour |
| T. B. Ilangaratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 12 April 1956 | | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour, Housing and Social Services |
| M. P. de Zoysa | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 26 September 1959 | 8 December 1959 | W. Dahanayake | Minister of Labour |
| C. Wijesinghe | | 23 July 1960 | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour and Nationalised Services |
| M. P. de Z. Sriwardene | | | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour and Nationalised Services |
| D. S. Goonesekera | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 28 May 1963 | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour and Social Services |
| M. H. Mohamed | United National Party | March 1965 | | Dudley Senanayake | Minister of Labour, Employment and Housing |
| M. P. de Zoysa | | | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour |
| C. P. J. Seneviratne | United National Party | 23 July 1977 | | J. R. Jayewardene | Minister of Labour |
| Ranjit Atapattu | United National Party | 18 February 1989 | 5 January 1990 | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Labour and Social Welfare |
| D. B. Wijetunga | United National Party | 11 January 1990 | | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Labour and Social Welfare |
| G. M. Premachandra | United National Party | 30 March 1990 | | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Labour and Vocational Training |
| D. B. Wijetunga | United National Party | 14 March 1991 | | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Labour and Vocational Training |
| Mahinda Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 19 August 1994 | | D. B. Wijetunga | Minister of Labour and Vocational Training |
| Alavi Moulana | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 19 October 2000 | | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Labour |
| Athauda Seneviratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 14 September 2001 | | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Labour, Youth Affairs and Mineral Resources Development |
| Athauda Seneviratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 10 April 2004 | | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment |
| Athauda Seneviratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | | | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment |
| Athauda Seneviratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 28 January 2007 | | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower |
| Gamini Lokuge | | 23 April 2010 | | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour Relations and Productivity Improvement |
| Gamini Lokuge | | 22 November 2010 | | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour and Labour Relations |
| Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe | United National Party | 12 January 2015 | 22 March 2015 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Justice and Labour Relations |
| S. B. Nawinne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 22 March 2015 | 17 August 2015 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour |
| John Senewiratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 4 September 2015 | 22 May 2017 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations |
| John Senewiratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 22 May 2017 | | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour, Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamuwa Development |
| Raveendra Samaraweera | United National Front | 2018 | | | Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations |
| Gamini Lokuge | People's Alliance | 2018 | | | Minister of Labour, Foreign Employment and Petroleum Resources Development |

## Secretaries

Labour Secretaries :

| Name | Took office | Title |
| - | - | - |
| M. Madihahewa | 25 April 2010 | Labour Relations and Productivity Improvement Secretary |
| W. J. L. U. Wijeweera | 22 November 2010 | Labour and Labour Relations Secretary |
| W. Kamalini F. de Silva | 19 January 2015 | Justice and Labour Relations Secretary |
| S. M. Gotabaya Jayaratna | 8 September 2015 | Labour and Trade Union Relations Secretary |
| S.A. Nimal Saranathissa | May 2017 | Labour, Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamuwa Development Secretary |
| H.M. Gamini Senevirathne | November 2018 | Labour, Foreign Employment and Petroleum Resources Development Secretary |
