Introduction –
The Labour law reform needed in India that is 40 laws of the central government and 100 laws of the state government and many compliances, this stage was of labor law before 2019 and therefore it needs to be reformed, this is what the government had to say while bringing changes in the labor law. Since we have accepted the policy of liberalism, then all the labor laws that run the business were gradually reduced so that the business can run well, if we say it in the language of the World Bank, then the level of “EASE OF DOING BUSINESS” should increase. And government interference in business should be less.
The problem is that in the democracy we live in, both the employer and the employee should get benefits, it has been told in the Directive Principles. So today we hope that about 29 laws have been included in the four labor codes that have been made. To avoid the complexity of many laws, these laws have been made in four codes. In this article, we will see in detail which laws were abolished and which laws are still applicable. The reason for writing this article will be the guidance that will be given to the employees and the confusion of the employer will also be removed.
Labor Laws & New Code –
Code and Act are important than the Code Acts and many laws work in one code, that means if there is a contradiction or contradiction in the code and act, then the things written in the code are considered. Labor law comes in the Concurrent List in this constitutional right, it means that the states also get the right to make their own labor laws.
The labor law codes given below act as a guideline to the states, meaning if the states want to make laws better than the rules made by the central government, then they can make laws, but on the contrary, the state government cannot make laws. Before this code was created, many interpretations were different in each act, which created many problems.
- THE CODE ON WAGES 2019
- THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY ,HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS CODE 2020
- THE CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY 2020
- THE INDUSTRIAL RELATION CODE 2020
1) THE CODE ON WAGES 2019
The Wage Code was introduced in the Parliament in July 2019 and was passed as a law in August 2019. After the creation of this code, the previous laws related to wage were repealed and from August 2019, the wage code was implemented for every company in every region of India. The old laws which were repealed under this are
THE PAYMENT OF WAGES ACT 1936
THE MINIMUM WAGES ACT 1948
THE PAYMENT OF BONUS ACT 1965
THE EQUAL REMUNERATION ACT 1976
THE CODE ON WAGES 2019 FEATURES OF THE LAW –
Employees under the Central Government – Railways, Mines, Oil Fields and others were placed under this jurisdiction and the rest were placed under the jurisdiction of the State Government.
Salary and allowances have been kept in the definition of wages, expenses like bonus or traveling allowance are not included in it.
The right to fix the minimum wage has been kept under the central government, that below the floor wage or without the advice of the center, the state government will not fix this rate.
No employer will give wages to any employee below the floor wage rate, for this the rules and regulations will be made jointly by the Center and the states and will be implemented under the law made.
This law will not make any discrimination, gender or any other regarding wages.
Before the rules of the four laws made earlier are merged into a single wage code, the complexity will be much less than this.
2) THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY ,HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS CODE 2020
This law was introduced in the Parliament on 19 September 2020 and was passed in both the houses by 23 September 2020. Under which the laws regarding safety and health regarding employees have been made by merging the laws made earlier. In this, the old 10 laws have been made in a code, under which the confusion will end from now on, the government claims. Those ten laws are given next…
- THE FACTORY ACT 1948
- THE CONTRACT LABOUR (REGULATION & ABOLITION ) 1970
- THE MINES ACT 1952
- THE DOCK WORKERS (SAFETY,HEALTH AND WELFARE) ACT 1986
- THE BUILDING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKERS ( REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT 1996
- THE PLANTATION LABOUR ACT 1951
- THE INTER-STATE MIGRANT WORKMEN (REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE)ACT 1979
- THE WORKING JOURNALIST (FIXATION OF RATES OF WAGES) ACT 1958
- THE CINE WORKERS AND CINEMA THEATER WORKERS ACT 1981
- THE MOTOR TRANSPORT WORKERS ACT 1961
- THE SALES PROMOTION EMPLOYEES (CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT 1976
- THE BEEDI AND CIGAR WORKERS (CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT) ACT 1966
THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY , HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS CODE 2020 FEATURES OF LAW –
ONE LICENSE AND ONE RETURN Multiple registrations and multiple licenses prior to the introduction of this code will relieve the business people of what we call “EASE of BUSINESS” which will help in improving the ranking of the World Bank.
A lot of improvements have been made to this code regarding the safety and health of the workers.
Employers have been compelled to do health check ups of workers every year.
Every employee has been given the right to get the appointment letter.
Rights to workers and employees to get overtime, double the regular salary.
3) THE CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY 2020
After the creation of the Social Security Code, the old law which has been merged into it, which is given next.
- THE EMPLOYEES COMPENSATION ACT 1923
- THE EMPLOYEES STATE INSURANCE ACT 1948
- THE EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS ACT 1952
- THE EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES (COMPULSORY NOTIFICATION OF VACANCIES) ACT 1959
THE MATERNITY BENEFIT ACT 1961 - THE PAYMENT OF GRADUITY ACT 1972
- THE CINE WORKERS WELFARE FUND ACT 1961
- THE BUILDING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WELFARE CESS ACT 1996
- THE UNORGANIZED WORKERS SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 2008
Features of THE CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY 2020 –
In this code, the concept of gig workers was brought, which workers doing small jobs did not get protection earlier, their rights have been protected in this code.
All the remaining UNORGANIZED workers have been protected under this code.
Registering every single gig worker, or other worker, has been made compulsory so that this number is understandable.
The applicability of EPF has been revised and the employer will have to pay 10% of the salary whether the employee is on contract or direct register, the contribution of both will be equal.
The ESI Act has also been merged in this code, if an employer does not give ESI of a worker, then the government will give that money to that employee and collect it from the company, meaning the government is taking the employee’s liability here.
4) THE INDUSTRIAL RELATION CODE 2020 –
The old laws falling under this code are given further which have been merged into it.
- THE TRADE UNION ACT 1926
- THE INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT (STANDING ORDERS) ACT 1946
- THE INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE ACT 1947
THE INDUSTRIAL RELATION CODE 2020 FEATURES OF THIS LAW –
- Trade union law merging in it strike and lockout will be considered a breach of contract, it is considered to be the most controversial amendment of this law.
- A Workers committee consisting of employers and employees will have members who will look after the interests of both, the company in which more than 100 employees work.
- EASE OF DOING BUSINESS Due to this purpose, the employers have got more facilities in this code, it seems that a lot of power was given to the employees earlier.
- The company has been given more rights under the employee’s retrenchment ie hire and fire policy, which encourages the establishment of the company and increases the employment, such a defense has been given by the government.
- The process of closure of the company has been simplified, which was not so easy to close any company earlier. 60 days before the government has to give advance notice to the employer and the workers who are working in the company for more than one year have to be compensated.
Criticism of Labor Law Reforms –
As the liberal policy of the 1990s was implemented by the Congress government, the BJP government has kept it, under the same policy, such a policy is being made to make it easier to do business under the policy of the World Bank. What is already developed in a capitalist country like America, they can understand the citizens to depend on themselves because the income level of the citizens there is much higher than that of India, so the labor law made in India faced a lot of opposition. Is.
According to what the Constitutional Articles 36-51 say, it is the duty of any government to protect the rights of the employers and employees and to keep a balance between the two, so in the coming time it will be known that how much goodwill the workers and employees It will be because it is right to encourage the employers, but it is necessary to balance in the interest of both rather than in excess. Therefore, many government employees’ organizations have opposed these reforms. Due to the increase in the contribution of the workers, the salary is coming down in his hands.
Conclusion –
By reducing the complexity of many laws, the government has made only four labor law codes, so that the remaining laws can be reduced gradually, which will give an opportunity to improve the authority and regulations, the government believes. This will make it easier to do business in India, which will encourage companies to do business in India.
The purpose of this labor code has been stated to maintain a balance between the rights of the employer and the employees. In this, protection has been given to many workers, but in the matter of minimum salary, some good improvement was expected. As labor law, this subject comes under the jurisdiction of both the state and the center, so the states have got the right to make some policies under which they keep the minimum wage, mainly the state government keeps the minimum wage more than the central slab.
The rights of the government union have been reduced, anyway, in the era of privatization, the amount of opposition to this law that could have happened 20 years ago is not seen today. Hire and Fire Policy, EASE of Business and Contract Workers Labor reforms have been brought under such a policy so that the company can increase its business and help in increasing the development of the country, this has been the objective of the government.