# 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 | Ceylon National Congress | 1931 | 1935 | Governors of British Ceylon | Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce |
| Claude Corea | Ceylon National Congress | 1936 | 1946 | Governors of British Ceylon | Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce |
| I. X. Pereira | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | 1946 | 4 July 1947 | Governors of British Ceylon | Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce |
| T. B. Jayah | United National Party | 26 September 1947 | 1950 | D. S. Senanayake | Minister of Labour and Social Services |
| M. C. M. Kaleel | United National Party | 1952 | 12 April 1956 | Dudley Senanayake | Minister of Labour |
| M. C. M. Kaleel | United National Party | 1952 | 12 April 1956 | 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 | Independent | 23 July 1960 | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour and Nationalised Services |
| M. P. de Z. Sriwardene | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | | | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour and Nationalised Services |
| D. S. Goonesekera | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 28 May 1963 | 25 March 1965 | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour and Social Services |
| M. H. Mohamed | United National Party | 25 March 1965 | 29 May 1970 | Dudley Senanayake | Minister of Labour, Employment and Housing |
| M. P. de Zoysa | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 29 May 1970 | 23 July 1977 | Sirimavo Bandaranaike | Minister of Labour |
| C. P. J. Seneviratne | United National Party | 23 July 1977 | 2 January 1989 | 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 | 1 May 1993 | Ranasinghe Premadasa | Minister of Labour and Vocational Training |
| Mahinda Rajapaksa | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 19 August 1994 | 12 November 1994 | D. B. Wijetunga | Minister of Labour and Vocational Training |
| Alavi Moulana | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 19 October 2000 | 10 April 2004 | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Labour |
| Athauda Seneviratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 14 September 2001 | 10 April 2004 | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Labour, Youth Affairs and Mineral Resources Development |
| Athauda Seneviratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 10 April 2004 | 28 January 2007 | Chandrika Kumaratunga | Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment |
| Athauda Seneviratne | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 28 January 2007 | 28 January 2010 | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour Relations and Manpower |
| Gamini Lokuge | United National Party | 23 April 2010 | 22 November 2010 | Mahinda Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour Relations and Productivity Improvement |
| Gamini Lokuge | United National Party | 22 November 2010 | 12 January 2015 | 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 | 12 April 2018 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour, Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamuwa Development |
| Malik Samarawickrama | United National Party | 12 April 2018 | 1 May 2018 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour, Trade Union Relations and Sabaragamuwa Development |
| Ravindra Samaraweera | United National Party | 1 May 2018 | 26 October 2018 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations |
| Gamini Lokuge | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 9 November 2018 | 15 December 2018 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour, Foreign Employment and Petroleum Resources Development |
| Daya Gamage | United National Party | 20 December 2018 | 11 January 2019 | Maithripala Sirisena | Minister of Labour, Trade Union Relations and Social Empowerment |
| Nimal Siripala de Silva | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 12 August 2020 | 11 January 2019 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour |
| Vidura Wickremanayake | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna | 18 April 2022 | 9 May 2022 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour |
| Manusha Nanayakkara | Samagi Jana Balawegaya | 20 May 2022 | 9 July 2022 | Gotabaya Rajapaksa | Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment |
| Manusha Nanayakkara | United National Party | 22 July 2022 | Incumbent | Ranil Wickremesinghe | Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment |

## 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 |