If you are a citizen of India, one of the things that took the news by storm in the latter half of the year 2023 was the introduction of the new labour law. If you are someone who wants to know more about it, you have reached the right place.
According to the Government of India, they aim to empower the labourers and free them from the web of legislation. However, that is not the only thing that the new employment and labour laws aim to achieve.
Keep reading this article till the end to learn more about the same…
New Labour Law And Regulation
As I have already mentioned, the new labour law has already been brought into effect. The new laws that the central government has introduced aim to ensure that the employees and labourers will have all the freedom and benefits that are necessary for maintaining their financial and mental well-being.
If you are someone who knows that these laws have come into effect but does not know exactly what these are and how things are going to change, I have you covered! Keep scrolling till the end to learn everything that you want to about the new labour law…
New Labour Law Transformation: What’s In Store For The People Of India?
While it is true that India has surpassed the United Kingdom to become the fifth largest economy in the world, the country still lags behind many other countries when it comes to the per capita GDP.
Considering the fact that labour is one of the largest sectors of employment in the country, it is highly necessary that workers in this sector are taken care of. The four new codes that have been established and introduced in the new labour law aim to achieve an economic boom for the country.
At the same time, it impacts the workers and employers positively. Here are certain advantages of the new employment and labour laws and regulations of the country:
1. Reduced Working Hours
One of the best things that have happened with the help of the new labour laws is that there has been a reduction in working hours. The maximum working hour in the new labour law has been reduced from nine hours to eight hours.
However, there is one downfall, and it is the fact that there has been an increase in the total hours overall (inclusive of breaks and resting periods). There has been an increase and the new maximum working hours (daily) has been made to twelve hours.
2. Variety In Gratuity Limit
According to the new labour law, the minimum of five years for getting the gratuity limit has been lifted for certain categories. According to the Financial Express, “While regular and permanent employees will have to work for at least 5 years to become eligible for gratuity, fixed-term workers will have no such limit. Instead, their gratuity payment will be payable on a pro-rata basis.”
3. Broader Applicability
One of the best things about the new Codes of labour law in India is that there is a much broader applicability. This has been done to ensure that there are more workers and establishments that can benefit. In other words, there are no industry-specific criteria for application.
4. Flexible Leaves
There is much higher flexibility when it comes to leaves. The new Codes have made it mandatory that workers are enlisted to take at least one leave every week. This removes the “complex provisions on compensatory holidays and provides greater flexibility in granting leaves.”
5. Better Grievance Redressal
There must be a Grievance Redressal Committee in any organisation that has more than twenty employees. According to the Financial Express, “The new Codes have consolidated 29 legacy labour laws and brought down the number of provisions by 61 per cent (from 1,232 to 480).”
It adds that “Based on the recommendations of the 2nd National Commission on Labour (2002), these Codes have amalgamated, simplified and rationalized India’s complex labour law regime.” This means that workers will benefit in terms of wages, social security, as well working hours.
Right To Minimum Wages: What Is In Here?
In order to take a detailed look into the waging system of the workers and employees, here are some of the things that you need to know when it comes to the Labour Code of the new labour laws. According to the Government of India, there will be:
- Review of minimum wages in every 5 years.
- Equal remuneration to male and female workers.
- The determination of minimum wages has been made easy. It will be based on criteria such as skill level and geographical area.
- The guarantee of minimum wages is available to 50 crore workers of organized and unorganized sectors.
- To remove regional disparity in minimum wages the provision of floor wage has been introduced.
Expansion Of Social Security Code
There are a number of things that the Government of India has introduced in order to ensure social security for everyone. According to the government, with the help of these Codes, “a comprehensive legal framework for Social Security has to be created so that workers can receive social security completely.”
Here are some of the things that are mentioned in the expansion of the Social Security Code:
- The benefit of pension scheme (EPFO) to all workers of organized, unorganized and self-employed sectors.
- Creation of social security fund for providing comprehensive social security to the unorganized sector.
- The requirement of minimum service has been removed for payment of gratuity in case of fixed term employees.
- Employees engaged on a fixed terms to get some social security benefits as permanent employees.
- Employers employing more than 20 workers to mandatorily report vacancies online.
How Will The Wage Be Managed For Federal Contractors?
According to the Policy, the wage of the Federal Contractors will be adjusted on an annual basis and it has been implemented from 1st January 2023. The wage will be adjusted annually while the new wage will take atleast 90 days for effect.
The indexed wage is equal to 85% to the minimum wage that is being received by the federal contractors as policied from 1 January 2023.
There is also concern that the minimum pay for tipped employees must be similar to the federal contractors’ equal pay to a level of 100%.
COVID-19 Workplace Alerts!
Apart from the labor law, it was important to integrate the COVID-19 Workplace Alerts! It has been informed that in the 2023 amendment, the law informs of the way employees should control any external exposure especially if they show signs of COVID.
It is also important for all to go through all medical checkups every 15 days and report the correct dates. Employees in a federal organization are asked to get medically evaluated especially with regards to the prominence of their mental and physical health.
According to the policy, the employer must disclose the pay scale related to internal and external posting if they have more than 15 employees. If they outsource employees, they need to disclose all payscale to the third party recruiter.
Wrapping It Up!
In case you were in search of some information regarding the new labour law in India, I hope that you found all the information that you were looking for. If there are any other queries that are there regarding the same, kindly feel free to write them down in the comment box below.
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