Labour regulations need both clarity and uniformity
4 years ago

Labour regulations need both clarity and uniformity

Live Mint  

Workers are often rightly identified as the lifeblood of any organization or industry. As these neo-industries take shape and help expand India’s economy, labour regulations must cater to their workers’ needs and be cognizant of emerging businesses and organizational models. Further, the law on standing orders adopted a very wide definition of ‘industrial establishments’ that is now being applied to service sectors, including Information Technology and IT-enabled service enterprises, where workers have different work arrangements. Moreover, many non-industrial Indian companies are emulating global best practices for employee welfare by putting in place ‘town hall’ forums, human-resource redressal mechanisms and highly approachable corporate structures that reduce the need for standing orders. As we await the notification of rules for other labour codes by the government, one hopes that the country leverages this opportunity to create regulations that would not only support the current trajectory of India’s economy powered by its high-potential neo-industries, but also cater to the requirements of tomorrow’s workforce.

India Labour Regulations Work Workers Hours Overtime Standing Orders Labour Regulations  uniformity  labour  standing  overtime  workers  hours  week  work  need  rules  clarity  india  regulations

History of this topic

Red-tape relief: Six things India’s regulatory reform committee must do
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Red-tape relief: Six things India’s regulatory reform committee must do

Live Mint  

In 2011, a British bakery was fined for selling metric bread rolls instead of the traditional imperial ones—because, apparently, the greatest threat to public order was a rogue baguette. To untangle this mess, the panel should follow these principles: Cut redundant rules instead of layering new ones, bury outdated ‘zombie laws,’ make inspections predictable, go digital to end the ‘stamp-and-sign’ …

Labour to strengthen workers’ rights, women employee safety in focus: Economic Survey
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Labour to strengthen workers’ rights, women employee safety in focus: Economic Survey

Live Mint  

The Economic Survey 2024-25 on Friday highlights the significance of the four labour codes enacted by Parliament in strengthening workers' rights. These codes, namely the Code on Wages, 2019, the Code on Social Security, 2020, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, will play a vital role in enhancing workers' rights. Among …

Centre likely to roll out labour codes by early next financial year
2 months ago

Centre likely to roll out labour codes by early next financial year

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi The Centre is likely to implement the long-pending labour codes by early next financial year even if one state fails to wrap up the process of framing draft rules, as nearly all states and Union territories are done with finalising these norms, a person aware of the development said. The four labour codes passed by Parliament during 2019-20 …

Govt to hold more talks with states on labour codes
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Govt to hold more talks with states on labour codes

Hindustan Times  

New Delhi Implementing the four labour codes passed by the Modi government in its previous term is a top priority but the process could take several months because many states lacked “a full understanding” of the gamut of reforms and their scope, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. Govt to hold more talks with states on labour …

Unreserved, Yet Inaccessible: How Labour Laws Exclude Millions
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Unreserved, Yet Inaccessible: How Labour Laws Exclude Millions

News 18  

I was associated with an academic institute that has multiple centres in different parts of India. But this closure underscores a broader point: West Bengal’s labour laws and overall environment have been deterrents to investing in West Bengal. After all, their combined membership hovers around 25 million, a stark contrast to India’s total labour force of approximately 480 million. While …

The need for the use of labour statistics
10 months, 3 weeks ago

The need for the use of labour statistics

The Hindu  

The reform of labour institutions is always in the air as objective and subjective factors keep changing. In the case of the industrial relations system and labour market, variables such as product market, technology, trade and investment, and labour institutions such as trade unions, collective bargaining and strikes keep changing. To counter the reform arguments mentioned above, trade unions should …

Hard truths about India’s labour reforms
2 years, 7 months ago

Hard truths about India’s labour reforms

The Hindu  

Independent India was born at the midnight hour on August 15, 1947, 75 years ago, when India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the country’s tricolour flag and announced to Parliament that India had made a “tryst with destiny”. Editorial | Death trap: On Labour reforms The dominant ‘theory-in-use’ to increase employment is to improve the ease of doing business, …

New labour codes from July 1, 2022: All you need to know
2 years, 8 months ago

New labour codes from July 1, 2022: All you need to know

India Today  

The new labour code will be executed across the country from July 1. This change might bring certain differences in the in-hand salary, weekly off and daily hours of work. FEATURES OF NEW LABOUR CODES 2022: The employees will be permitted to take three week offs. People who work for 12 hours a day in an organization will get three …

Labour laws could be good for business in the country
3 years, 1 month ago

Labour laws could be good for business in the country

Live Mint  

Recent discontent in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has been manifesting in a different kind of collective action: ‘job riots’. Consider, for instance, UP’s 2020 decision to suspend labour laws to reduce the burden on companies and attract investment; other states undertook similar actions—all to no avail. The government’s push for an Atmanirbhar Bharat, skill development and securing the future of …

Less take home salary, likely 4-day work week: India’s new labour laws may be implemented next fiscal year
3 years, 3 months ago

Less take home salary, likely 4-day work week: India’s new labour laws may be implemented next fiscal year

Live Mint  

The four labour codes on wages, social security, industrial relations and occupation safety, health and working conditions are likely to be implemented by the next financial year, news agency PTI reported citing a senior government official. The four codes, if implemented, will drastically alter the way industrial houses treat their employees and also impact the working hours, take home salary …

Labour on hit list for three decades
3 years, 6 months ago

Labour on hit list for three decades

The Hindu  

On June 30, President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated the Essential Defence Services Ordinance, 2021, which empowers the Central government to prohibit strikes in essential defence services. Permanent employment was seen as counterproductive to workers’ productivity and establishments increasingly began moving towards short-term employment contracts even in permanent forms of work and outsourcing of work, including in government. On the government …

Govt seeks to mend fences with unions to roll out labour codes
3 years, 7 months ago

Govt seeks to mend fences with unions to roll out labour codes

Live Mint  

The government is looking to resume formal negotiations with trade unions to ensure the smooth roll-out of four labour codes and other related policy steps. A senior labour ministry official said Union labour minister Bhupendra Yadav held a “courtesy” meeting with a dozen central trade unions recently. “Today, several burning issues such as that of migrant workers, labour law reforms, …

The shaky foundation of the labour law reforms
3 years, 7 months ago

The shaky foundation of the labour law reforms

The Hindu  

The National Democratic Alliance government enacted the Code on Wages in August 2019 and the other three Codes, viz., the Industrial Relations Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code and Code on Social Security in September 2020. In the meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India has exerted pressure on both the central and the State governments to implement …

The fallout of keying in the wrong labour codes
4 years, 2 months ago

The fallout of keying in the wrong labour codes

The Hindu  

On December 12, contract workers ransacked Wistron’s iPhone assembly factory in Karnataka, at Narsapura in Kolar district, about 80 kilometres from Bengaluru. However, according to a preliminary inquiry report by the State labour department into the incident, Wistron and its labour contractors violated many provisions of the laws that led to the violence. India’s labour laws are indeed a cumbersome …

Worker, employer bodies seek changes to draft labour rules
4 years, 2 months ago

Worker, employer bodies seek changes to draft labour rules

The Hindu  

The majority of the Central trade unions on Thursday boycotted the Labour and Employment Ministry’s consultation on the draft rules for the four labour codes enacted by the government in 2019 and 2020, terming the exercise a “farce”. Ten out of the 12 Central trade unions declined to attend the meeting called by Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar. The letter …

Govt aiming to implement all four labour codes in one go by December, says Santosh Gangwar
4 years, 5 months ago

Govt aiming to implement all four labour codes in one go by December, says Santosh Gangwar

Firstpost  

The labour ministry had circulated the draft rules on the Wage Code Bill last year but held back its finalisation and implementation New Delhi: The government is aiming to implement all the four labour codes in one go by December this year and complete the final stretch of labour sector reforms, Union minister Santosh Gangwar has said. The labour ministry …

Govt Looks to Implement 4 Amended Labour Codes by December, Says Santosh Gangwar
4 years, 5 months ago

Govt Looks to Implement 4 Amended Labour Codes by December, Says Santosh Gangwar

News 18  

New Delhi: The government is aiming to implement all the four labour codes in one go by December this year and complete the final stretch of labour sector reforms, Union minister Santosh Gangwar has said. Parliament in its just concluded session passed three labour code bills: the Industrial Relations Code, the Social Security Code, and the Occupational Safety, Health and …

Breaking down the new labour codes passed by Parliament | The Hindu In Focus podcast
4 years, 5 months ago

Breaking down the new labour codes passed by Parliament | The Hindu In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

Earlier this week, Parliament passed three new laws on social security, industrial relations and occupational safety that subsumed 25 Central labour laws. Along with the wage code that was passed in 2019 the NDA government has now merged 29 different labour laws into four codes and this is something that was badly needed because India’s labour laws are famously complicated …

Parliament Clears Three Codes To Reform Indian Labour Laws [Read Bills]
4 years, 6 months ago

Parliament Clears Three Codes To Reform Indian Labour Laws [Read Bills]

Live Law  

The Rajya Sabha today passed three Labour codes namely: Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 The Code on Social Security, 2020 These Bills were introduced by Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar. Inter-state migrant workers and unorganized workers Inter-state migrant workers include a person who: has been recruited by an employer or contractor for …

Rajya Sabha approves three codes subsuming 25 central labour laws
4 years, 6 months ago

Rajya Sabha approves three codes subsuming 25 central labour laws

Live Mint  

NEW DELHI: New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday approved three labour codes subsuming 25 central labour laws, effecting a major reform that has been on the table for at least 17 years. The three codes on -- social security, industrial relations and occupational safety – already cleared by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, will now offer industries flexibility in …

BJP-ruled States yet to share details on changes to labour laws
4 years, 9 months ago

BJP-ruled States yet to share details on changes to labour laws

The Hindu  

More than a month after the Parliamentary Committee on Labour wrote to eight State governments seeking explanation on the changes brought to the labour laws during the extended lockdown, three BJP-ruled States — Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh — have not responded, despite two reminders from the Committee. When asked if this amounted to undermining the Parliamentary Standing Committee, …

Indian states' decision to suspend labour law amid COVID-19 crisis is delirious policy-making not backed by empirical analysis
4 years, 10 months ago

Indian states' decision to suspend labour law amid COVID-19 crisis is delirious policy-making not backed by empirical analysis

Firstpost  

The utter disregard for the value of human life could not be starker than in using the COVID-19 crisis as the foreground for the whittling down of labour rights. The proposed moves are the most short-sighted manifestation of the hasty assumptions that continue to undergird the case for neoliberal reform of India’s labour law framework. Over the past weeks, several …

Dev 360: Can gutting labour laws spell advantage to India?
4 years, 10 months ago

Dev 360: Can gutting labour laws spell advantage to India?

Deccan Chronicle  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants India to be “self-reliant” and a lead player in the 21st century. But can weakening the existing labour laws, which will have a knock-on effect on core labour standards for everyone, help India leverage its demographic dividend? Titled “The impact of core labour standards on Foreign Direct Investment in East Asia”, the paper notes that …

Are India’s labour laws too restrictive?
4 years, 10 months ago

Are India’s labour laws too restrictive?

The Hindu  

Some State governments including Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have proposed ordinances to exempt manufacturing establishments from the purview of most labour laws. Possibly, if certain other conditions are also met., there is no reason to believe that labour laws by themselves will do anything to improve job creation. If none of that is in place, a simple tweaking of …

Why labour law rejig is no reform
4 years, 10 months ago

Why labour law rejig is no reform

Live Mint  

Labour law in India is rigid, and restricts mobility. The beginning of reform Six years ago, it was the Vasundhara Raje-led government in Rajasthan that started the labour law reform process, when the Indian Parliament couldn’t. So, it took everyone by surprise when the newly installed Madhya Pradesh government announced some startling labour law exemptions to new investors for the …

UP, MP ease labour laws: India needs to ride this wave focussing on employee health, safety and correct 'miserable' record in this matter
4 years, 10 months ago

UP, MP ease labour laws: India needs to ride this wave focussing on employee health, safety and correct 'miserable' record in this matter

Firstpost  

The Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat state governments have relaxed labour laws in a bid to attract investment and restart economic activity that was paralysed by the nationwide coronavirus-induced lockdown. Industry points to challenges, need for ease of labour laws “The new rules are tough, but are needed as these are extraordinary circumstances," said Mahesh Singhi, founder, home-grown merger …

Kerala will not dilute labour laws, says Labour Minister
4 years, 10 months ago

Kerala will not dilute labour laws, says Labour Minister

The Hindu  

Making clear that Kerala has not taken any steps to dilute labour laws, Labour Minister T.P. Some states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, had decided this week to suspend major labour laws for a few years to promote investment in light of the COVID-19 epidemic. CPI Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee …

Why India’s labour is rejecting a new deal
5 years, 2 months ago

Why India’s labour is rejecting a new deal

Live Mint  

Labour reform was a big promise that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in 2014. While the corporate sector will see wage hikes of nearly 10% this year, the agricultural labour market saw a drop in real wages for the first time in recent years. Social insurance schemes, minimum wage laws, trade unions, …

India at work: Labour reforms aim to boost wages and productivity
5 years, 4 months ago

India at work: Labour reforms aim to boost wages and productivity

Al Jazeera  

Critics of the new reforms say streamlining India’s complex labour laws may help companies more than workers. As a labourer in the informal sector, flipping between physically demanding jobs that offer no social security benefits such as pensions, 23-year-old Kumar is among the 500 million workers that India’s Ministry of Labour and Employment says will benefit from legal reforms. According …

Opinion | Govt needs to simplify, rationalize labour laws to make them effective
5 years, 5 months ago

Opinion | Govt needs to simplify, rationalize labour laws to make them effective

Live Mint  

India has 44 central, 387 state labour laws, 67 central and 1,333 state labour filings and 674 central and 26,484 labour compliances. Upto 45% wage confiscation due to mandatory social security deductions has led to a large section of the workforce choosing to be informal. To begin with, it subsumes Payment of Gratuity Act, Maternity Benefit Act, Employee Compensation Act, …

Amendments to labour laws under the Modi government: No love for labour
5 years, 7 months ago

Amendments to labour laws under the Modi government: No love for labour

The Hindu  

Prime M inister Narendra Modi, who has always held forth on his “humble origins”, once referred to himself, during his first term, as the son of a mazdoor. On July 23, Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar introduced in the Lok Sabha the Code on Wages Bill, 2019, and the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Bill, 2019, and …

Three Labour Codes under different stages of formulation: Government
5 years, 8 months ago

Three Labour Codes under different stages of formulation: Government

India TV News  

The government Monday said four Labour Codes have been drafted after exhaustive consultations with various stakeholders and three of them are at different stages of formulation. The Code on Industrial Relations, The Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions, and the Code on Social Security are at different stages of formulation, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh …

Centre, states need to pursue labour law reforms to spur investments, job creations: SBI report
5 years, 9 months ago

Centre, states need to pursue labour law reforms to spur investments, job creations: SBI report

Firstpost  

New Delhi: The Centre and state governments need to pursue labour law reforms as these are necessary for improving investment and generating employment, said SBI in its research report ‘Ecowrap’ on Thursday. Observing that initiatives taken towards labour law reforms till date are “miniscule”, the report said that in an economy like India, which has a large workforce, it is …

Centre, states need to pursue labour law reforms: SBI report
5 years, 9 months ago

Centre, states need to pursue labour law reforms: SBI report

India TV News  

The Centre and state governments need to pursue labour law reforms as these are necessary for improving investment and generating employment, said SBI in its research report 'Ecowrap' Thursday. Observing that initiatives taken towards labour law reforms till date are "miniscule", the report said that in an economy like India, which has a large workforce, it is important to improve …

Opinion | Time to simplify India’s archaic labour laws
5 years, 9 months ago

Opinion | Time to simplify India’s archaic labour laws

Live Mint  

Astrong mandate leading to a stable government at the centre has reignited the hopes of many. The new government must show its continued commitment to transparency, cutting red tape and nipping corruption by declaring a deadline for implementing India Stack—which is paperless, presence-less, and cashless. The new government must form National Apprenticeship Corp. by merging the Regional Directorate of Skill …

NITI Aayog unveils strategy document to make India $5-trillion economy by 2030; pitches for labour reforms, social security
6 years, 3 months ago

NITI Aayog unveils strategy document to make India $5-trillion economy by 2030; pitches for labour reforms, social security

Firstpost  

The NITI Aayog Wednesday unveiled a strategy document with an aim to accelerate growth to 8 percent and propel the country towards a $5-trillion economy by 2030. NITI Aayog has pitched for completing labour reforms, increasing participation of women workers, implementing minimum wage, improving employment data collection and broadening social security in its ‘Strategy for New India @75’ document. About …

Opinion | Labour reform is important to support economic growth
6 years, 3 months ago

Opinion | Labour reform is important to support economic growth

Live Mint  

For industrial growth, and ease of doing business in India, labour reforms is a must, and should be considered as a top priority for governments in the centre as well as in states. The code is expected to effect fair periodic inspections, mandatory registration of workplaces, and surprise checks in companies among other provisions to ensure better working condition and …

How labour regulations affect manufacturing in India
7 years ago

How labour regulations affect manufacturing in India

Live Mint  

The Narendra Modi government’s recent doubling of duties on imports of beauty aids, watches, toys, furniture, footwear, and, surprisingly, kites and candles shows India’s lack of competitiveness even in these entry-level labour-intensive industries. To anyone who is aware of the panoply of India’s restrictive labour regulations, it does not come as a surprise that India is unable to grasp its …

‘Bill to simplify labour laws coming’
8 years ago

‘Bill to simplify labour laws coming’

The Hindu  

The Central government, which is amalgamating labour laws into four major codes, will introduce a bill in the next Parliament session to introduce two of these codes, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya said here on Friday. After a meeting with members of textile industry associations at Southern India Mills’ Association, the Minister told medipersons that the …

Labour law reforms are a necessity
8 years, 10 months ago

Labour law reforms are a necessity

Live Mint  

While it is heartening to note that Indian policymakers seem to have realized the importance of manufacturing in providing jobs, it is also equally important to realize that the path leading to higher manufacturing employment has to necessarily cross a difficult bridge called labour reforms. Careful research done by several leading economists using nationwide plant-level data and also employing cutting-edge …

Govt. set to revise archaic labour laws: Labour Secretary
8 years, 10 months ago

Govt. set to revise archaic labour laws: Labour Secretary

Firstpost  

The revisions intend to unify wages of workers across the country among all sectors, while another seeks to merge all laws relating to industrial relations. New Delhi: In another move towards ease of doing business in India, the government is consolidating 44 labour laws into just four and the draft bills will be tabled in the monsoon session of parliament …

‘The challenge is to safeguard labour laws’
9 years, 9 months ago

‘The challenge is to safeguard labour laws’

The Hindu  

PADMANABHAN, president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, spoke to Frontline on how the Narendra Modi government’s decision to amend, amalgamate and codify labour laws is anti-worker and anti-trade union. Immediately after coming to power, the Modi government took up amendments to labour laws as a major agenda as it felt that labour laws were a hindrance to industrial …

Reforming labour laws, creating livelihoods
10 years, 4 months ago

Reforming labour laws, creating livelihoods

The Hindu  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has exhibited competence in formulating economic reform measures that are small but likely to have substantial positive impact on reviving growth, generating productive livelihoods, and addressing price rise. This is evident in the phrase used by the Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to explain the government’s labour reform proposals — creating “a fertile habitat for …

Want to attract more FDI into India? Make labour laws flexible, says report
10 years, 5 months ago

Want to attract more FDI into India? Make labour laws flexible, says report

Firstpost  

The report said that existing companies, including MNC subsidiaries, appear to have learnt to manage and expand even despite these constraints. Mumbai: As existing companies have learnt to manage and expand despite labour laws constraints, formal flexibility and improved compliance would help attract more FDI, especially in the manufacturing sector, says a report. Besides competitiveness, reliability is a key metric …

India needs to unleash labour reforms to create jobs
10 years, 8 months ago

India needs to unleash labour reforms to create jobs

The Hindu  

India needs to unleash second generation labour reforms and capitalise on demographic advantage for creating new firms and jobs, a government document said on Wednesday. Besides, the proportion of working-age population in India is likely to increase from 58 per cent in 2001 to more than 64 per cent by 2021, adding about 63.5 million new entrants between 2011 and …

Need to work for labour market reforms
12 years ago

Need to work for labour market reforms

The Hindu  

The Economic Survey has claimed that India is not creating enough productive jobs. The survey felt “it may be the stringent protection that is afforded by the existing regulations that is responsible for both the paucity of good jobs as well as inadequate protection that most workers have.” In India, reforms were typically implemented only after some sort of political …

Industry for labour reforms
12 years, 5 months ago

Industry for labour reforms

The Hindu  

Kanoria, president of FICCI. For industry, our concern is the need to improve labour productivity and consequently create more opportunities for employment. Labour laws have to address not merely protection of labour but also the issue of efficiency, growth, standard of living of workers, etc. Of late, there has been a larger unity of purpose among trade unions in terms …

Discover Related