Key Points:
- Union Government has decided to implement Labour Codes by April 2021.
- The centre has asked states to hasten the process of rulemaking under the codes.
- Rules are executive work that add details to an Act and iron out issues that were not clear in the Act
- Industries to file single return under new regime.
- Recently chosen Union Labour and Employment Secretary, Apurva Chandra has written to the chief secretaries of States and UT’s to accelerate the rule making process.
The Union Government has given a certain roadmap to the states in order to implement the four labour codes by April 2021. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government plans to bring into effect new labour laws across the country from April 1.
Recently chosen Union Labour and Employment Secretary, Apurva Chandra, on Wednesday said that,
“We mean to implement the new labour codes from April 1. The process for shaping the rules to be framed under the codes has begun and we are confident of finalising them in the last quarter of this fiscal year.”
Single return has to be filed by the industries to the authorities under the new labour law reign. Further, the number of minimum wages that industries have to conform with is set to reduce to 12, from 540 under central labour laws and to 180-200 under state laws, from 9,000 at present.
“We will upload all the guidelines of the codes and hunt for stake holder’s engagement for 45 days. Based on the response, final rules will be perfected and all the four acts will be implemented,”
the labour secretary said.
The rule making process for the Industrial Relation Code is half done and the Wage Code work is progressing well. The other two codes are Social Security Code and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) code.
The Wage Code was passed a year back whereas, the other three codes were approved earlier this year by the parliament and has already got the presidential acceptance. The rules under these codes will clarify the doubts related to the codes.
Key Changes to the Labour Laws:
- Rationalising provisions of the law
- Unifying workplace related definitions
- Easier cost-cutting norms
- Flexibility in hiring contract workers
- Equal social security benefits for fixed-term and permanent staff
- Social security cover for temporary and migrant workers
- Relaxation to smaller factories from labour laws
The Secretary said that he has written to chief secretaries about the rule making and if they finish their work and consultation part then the codes can be implemented at the central and the state level together. Giving the example of the Industrial Relation that will have 57 rules readied by the Centre and the equal number will be decided by the states.
