INTRODUCTION
In India, there are more than 40 labour regulation acts. It appears to be quite challenging to deal with all of these laws at once, which has given rise to various arguments concerning the laws’ superseding effects. The labour law amendments might be advantageous since they will make employment laws more transparent, make them easier to follow, and make them less complicated. The new industrial relations legislation appears to have included a number of foreign labour laws and practises.
The labour law amendments might be advantageous since they will make employment laws more transparent, make them easier to follow, and make them less complicated. The new industrial relations legislation appears to have included a number of foreign labour laws and practises.
The classification of workers, payday, holidays, and wage rates are only a few of the labor-related provisions included in this act. This rule will be applied to factories with more than 300 employees. Other clauses include retrenchments, closures, and layoffs[1].
Strong regulation that can safeguard the informal sector’s stakeholders or the people who work in it is currently desperately needed. According to estimates, 92% of Indians are employed in the unorganised economy. This shows that just 8% of those who are employed and making money may actually benefit from advantages associated to employment security.
They are not on the government’s radar, company owners in this sector are able to operate unlawfully. Additionally, because their employees are not protected by contracts or unions, they are able to give them appalling wages.
INDIA’s LABOUR LAWS HAVE DRAWN CRITICISM
Numerous economists and sociologists have claimed that Indian labour laws are plainly biased in favour of employees and workers and against businesses and company owners.
Many of them also argue that India’s diminishing business friendliness is due to the continued existence of out-dated legislation and labour-related limitations.
This is a claim that may be backed up by business owners who lack the connections and resources needed to secure the official approvals required to open their firm or who lack the funding to do so[2].
To guarantee that labour laws are in favour of employees, it is essential to make a clear distinction between laws for industrial reforms and labour welfare. This is due to the fact that some important aspects of labour, such as its dignity, salary levels, and time constraints, cannot be entirely addressed by industrial regulation. Consequently, a healthy worker population would favour a thorough analysis of labour law.
THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS CODE 2020
This law added several new provisions that are focused on the grievances of employees who have been fired following a dispute. This law’s legislative amendment is essential because it promotes more employment prospects and allows for the hiring of 300 employees without prior approval from the government or the administration, which is a positive step in the battle against unemployment.[3]
Industrial disputes are disagreements regarding the release, firing, layoff, or termination of employment of a particular employee. Employees may go to the National Industrial Tribunal for conciliation of an industrial issue, including termination, retrenchment, or dismissal, within 45 days of requesting for conciliation. if an employer places a worker on leave while conducting a probe or inquiry. Before making any layoffs, retrenchments, or closures, employers of industrial facilities, such as mines, factories, and plantations, that employ at least 300 people, are required to get prior consent from the federal or state government.
“Any person engaged by an industrial establishment to carry out physical, operational, supervisory, managerial administrative, technical, or clerical work is now considered an employee under the definition that has been broadened.”
Illustration: Under the new meaning of the term “worker,” which is now defined in terms of the wages obtained by the worker, any worker or employee earning up to INR 18,000 will be regarded as a worker. We present “Fixed Term Employees,” or employees hired for a specific period of time in accordance with the conditions of a contract between the employee and the employer.
THE CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY, 2020
In the history of labour law development, the social security of employees in the unorganised sector, such as migrant workers, platform workers, etc., has never been addressed. The Central Government will create a “Social Security Fund” for Unorganised Workers in accordance with this rule.[4]
The employers of the firms will contribute to the fund. They are referred regarded as aggregators. They must invest 1% to 2% or more of their yearly income to this fund. Most alterations have been made in accordance with this Code. The long-term process of popularising social safety is anxiously awaited. By include gig and platform workers, this code has catered to the millions of self-employed and contract workers for the service industry in companies like Ola, Uber, Flipkart, Amazon, etc.
No matter if they work in an organised or unorganised industry or in another profession, it strives to guarantee social security to everyone who works. That term refers to the Code on Social Security, 2020, which repeals nine current legislation. Any institution that meets the size requirement as it may be specified may be subject to the Central Government’s application of this Code by notice.
THE EMPLOYMENT SAFETY, HEALTH, AND LABOUR CONDITIONS CODE, 2020
Interstate migrant workers are now eligible for Public Distribution System benefits as a result of this new legislation. This can be accessed in either their home state or the state where they are employed[5].
Eight hours is the maximum workday; any more hours need overtime pay, which is paid at twice the standard rate. This time limit is now in accordance with the ILO Convention. A prohibitive safety and security measure against prospective threats may be this. Based on self-declaration, a state-by-state database was created to keep track of migrant workers’ information. In comparison to India’s per-capita income levels, the Rs. 18,000 monthly income criterion imposed to categorise interstate migrants is inadequate.
THE 2019 WAGES CODE
It makes an effort to regulate wages for all jobs in manufacturing, business, industry, and commerce. The Code on Wages replaces four current statutes[6]. the Equal Remuneration Act of 1976, the Minimum Wages Act of 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act of 1965, and the Act of 1936 on Paying Wages.
The Code forbids discrimination based on gender in the employment and compensation of personnel for the same or related positions. Related Work Tasks in this category need a similar amount of knowledge, effort, experience, and responsibility. All workers must abide by this Code. The Central Government will decide on compensation for people working in mines, railways, and oil fields; the State Governments will decide on compensation for everyone else. The federal or state governments will choose the operation hours. For additional hours worked, an employee is entitled to overtime compensation, which must be at least twice the regular rate.
Wages are defined in this Code as the whole of a person’s pay, allowance, or other financial components, excluding bonuses and other advantages like travel costs. According to the Code, the Central Government would decide the minimum pay based on the workers’ living circumstances. It should be noted that depending on where you reside, floor wages will differ. The minimum pay determined by the federal or state governments should be higher than the floor wage.
The government will consider the task’s complexity and the workers degree of expertise when determining the minimum pay. The government will review and amend these every five years.Employers are not allowed to pay their employees less than the minimum wage[7].
Payment will be made in coins, currency notes, electronic funds transfers, checks, or bank account credit. Employees whose monthly payment does not exceed a defined level are entitled to a yearly bonus equivalent to at least 8.35 percent of their monthly salaries or Rs. 100, whichever is larger. It is vital to note that deductions should not amount to more than 50% of the employee’s total remuneration.
Advisory Boards will be created by the Central and State Governments to advise them on several topics, including the introduction of minimum salaries and extension of the opportunities for women in the workforce. The Central Advisory Board will be made up of five representatives from state governments and independent people, as well as an equal number of employees and employers. On the State Advisory Board, there will be independent persons, employers, and employees. The Code specifies sanctions for businesses that violate any of the Code’s provisions or underpay employees, with women comprising one-third of the total membership on both Advisory Boards. The maximum punishment for the aforementioned offences, according to the Code, is three months in jail and a fine of Rs. 1 lakh.
FINDINGS
The new labour legislation has benefits and drawbacks, and only time will tell if it was a success or not. As a growing nation, India has seen the need for such labour legislation reform. The International employment Organisation published the following recommendations for employment laws based on the four pillars of action after the outbreak.[8]
Pillar 1 promotes the stimulation of the economy and the creation of jobs by conducting an active fiscal policy, an accommodating monetary policy, and providing loans and financial support to certain sectors, such as the health sector. Pillar 2 advocates for boosting companies, employment, and incomes, ensuring social protection for all, putting policies in place to maintain workers, and providing businesses with tax breaks and other benefits.
In accordance with Pillar 3, safeguarding workers at work means modifying work arrangements (such as remote work), avoiding discrimination and exclusion of workers, guaranteeing health security, and expanding access to paid leave. Pillar 4 suggests using social dialogue between the government, employees, employers, and workers’ organisations, strengthening the capacity of governments, and strengthening social dialogue collective bargaining and labour relations institutions and processes that will help to execute it in order to address the issue of informal settlements and improve the ability and resilience of businesses.
The country’s new budget and the new Indian vision are both fair and in line with the labour code changes that have been made to the law. It promotes entrepreneurship and provides chances for the short-term as well as the long-term. However, the long-term approach must find a balance to lessen the risks to both populations during the ongoing pandemic situation. The long-term goals of the economic recovery are therefore vital, necessitating the application of the legally required guiding principles.
ANALYSIS OF NEW CODES CRITICALLY
New labour rules have been implemented by the Indian government to facilitate corporate transactions. These rules were one of the primary recommendations of the 2002 report of the Second National Commission on Labour and are largely regarded as the most significant move in labour law reform in three decades.
The Industrial Relations Act of 2020 (IRC), which forbids strikes, is anticipated to make it more challenging for trade unions to organise workers and engage in collective bargaining.
People who work in the formal and informal sectors are more likely to be employed on a contract basis or for a limited length of time, according to the Industrial Disputes Act and the new Code. This is so that the new regulatory system may encourage temporary employment. The responsibility for ensuring that social security programmes are provided to unorganised employees has fallen on the state government.
A portion of this jurisdiction has been arbitrarily and partly transferred to the Central government with the creation of the Social Security Code, 2020 (SSC). In the SSC 2020, platform economies like Uber and gig work are given specific attention. It is troublesome that other codes do not have this provision. It can lead to a conflict between employers and employees in the platform economy. You are not entitled to paid time off or health insurance if you work on a platform. The codes do not handle these and other concerns for you. Concerns exist over the infrastructure and resources available to the government for section 113’s electronic registration of platform employees, gig workers, and unorganised workers.
Employing women who have just given birth, experienced a miscarriage, or undergone a medical abortion within the last six weeks is likewise prohibited. Similar to this, a worker must have worked for at least 80 days before to getting pregnant in order to be eligible for maternity benefits. Many expecting mothers will thus be unable to obtain jobs or be eligible for social benefits. It would aggravate their problems and provide them cover for behaviour like this, which, if found out, may lead to legal action being made against their organisation. The Code does not apply to everyone since it also excludes the agricultural and micro-scale sectors. Along with that, places that had previously been labelled as dangerous and in need of special legal protection have been removed.
CONCLUSION
India’s population is growing and the bulk of its employees are employed in the unorganised sector, hence the labour reform of 2020 has to be put into place. It is extremely important for migrant workers to maintain their health and safety. The labour laws need to change to include protections for migrant workers, namely detailed rules for women’s safety and security, a new work culture, and a reduction in working hours. To encourage women to enter the workforce, several adjustments are required. Protection of rural women at work, oversight of prompt payment, and equal remuneration for labour done equally by men and women.[9]
When we looked at the four approved labour regulations, we found that the new labour code gives employers flexibility in hiring and firing personnel. This will make worker strikes more difficult and broaden the social safety net for both the official and unofficial sectors. Additionally, factories with less than 300 employees may be instantly closed by firms under the new labour laws. This is because the new labour law increased the threshold from 100 to 300. Before, businesses had to offer 30 to 90 days’ advance notice before dismissing staff or shutting a location.
Additionally, before going on strike, labour unions must give 60 days’ notice. Unannounced strikes are not permitted under the new labour laws. All workplaces are open to hiring women, and the daily work limit is 8 hours. Universal social security is now a guarantee for all workers, organised or not. The government may occasionally propose aid programmes for the betterment of labour if it thinks it necessary.
The largest challenge for this labour code going forward will be how successfully it will achieve its main objective of harmonising India’s labour laws and producing a standard labour code for the whole country.
REFERENCES
(1) Vineet Chaturvedi, ‘Critical Analysis of New Labour Codes’ (2022) 5(5) IJLM
(2) Overview of Labour Law Reforms’ (PRS) accessed 28 January 2023
(3) Aishwarya Bhuta, ‘Imbalancing Act: India’s Industrial Relations Code’ (2020) 65(3) The Indian journal of labour economics : the quarterly journal of the Indian Society of Labour Economics accessed 28 January 2023
(4) J. S. Sodhi, ‘Labour Law Reform in India’ (2014) 50(1) Indian Journal of Industrial Relations accessed 29 January 2023
(5) Arpita Ghosh, ‘The New Labour Codes: A Critical Analysis’ (2021) 63(1) Journal of Labour and Employment Law
(6) Code on Wages 2019
(7) New Wage Code’ (Press Information Bureau, 25 July 2022) accessed 29 January 2023
(8) Veena Dubal, ‘The Future of Labor and Employment Law: Protecting Workers in the Age of Automation’ (2020) 108(5) The California Law Review
(9)D. S. Saini, ‘Labour Legislation and Social Justice: Rhetoric and Reality’ (1999) 34(39) Economic and Political Weekly
