According to draft Code on Social Security, 2019, gig and platform workers will be entitled to life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, among others.
Favouring labour reforms but without 'hire-and-fire' system, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Friday said rigidities in labour laws were affecting the domestic job market.
India's labour laws have become less complicated with bold economic reforms and the over one billion population has become a potential human resource 'asset' in the nation's leap forward, a labour lawyer has said.
Except for laws pertaining to the payment of minimum wages, following safety norms and adequate compensation for workers in case of industrial accidents, no other provisions of the labour law would apply to all new companies that wish to operate in the state for at least 1,200 days, and for those that have already been operational for that period.
The Prime Minister also said the government was making serious efforts to moderate the inflation rate.
Labour law changes for three years may not be enough as it takes a couple of years for factories to build and operations at a proper scale start only in the third or fourth year.
Ten central trade unions on Friday gave a call for a nationwide strike on May 22 to protest against the suspension of labour laws by some states during the lockdown period, and also decided to take the matter to International Labour Organization (ILO). "The joint platform of Central Trade Unions (CTUs) in their meeting held on May 14 , 2020 took note of the critical situation for the working people in the country during the lockdown period and decided to enhance united actions to meet the challenge," a joint statement by 10 CTUs said.
The move will help industries in pushing authorities for exemption under various labour laws at a micro-level, along with demanding changes to bring greater flexibility in their operations related to retrenchment, safety standards, and collective bargaining.
With jobs vanishing by the thousands as a fall-out of the economic downturn, the Economic Survey on Wednesday asked the government to review labour laws for pushing growth in employee-intensive sectors.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The answer to the problems of high inflation and slowing growth, and low farm incomes, would lie in addressing the basic reforms that India is still to attempt -- like labour laws, says T N Ninan.
'The size of the investments is important, but equally crucial is the number of jobs that these proposals create.'
Services cannot create enough jobs that will match the skill sets of the bulk of the work force, says Nirvikar Singh.
The average Indian works 46.7 hours per week, surpassing even China's 46.1 hours. In some sectors, the numbers are even more staggering.
The Supreme Court of India directed the government to establish a legal framework to protect domestic workers and address their exploitation.
The government on Wednesday said it would put in place a new labour law within the next six months, incorporating reforms in the sector, as part of measures to bring it in tune with the liberalised environment.
Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distributors' association has written to the finance ministry, highlighting concern over fund utilisation and fund accumulation by quick commerce companies and deep discounting of goods on their platforms. According to a recent letter seen by Business Standard, All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF) noted that its analysis indicated that approximately 80 per cent of these funds were directed toward customer acquisition strategies instead of creating cutting-edge innovations or sustainable growth models for the retail sector.
These include Apprenticeship Act 1961 and Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act 1988
The government of Gujarat has been projecting its industrial growth as a model for other states but it does not appear so industry-friendly in the number of labour laws one needs to comply with, shows a survey.
The United Progressive Alliance government has made it clear to states that it will not permit them any relaxation in labour laws in special economic zones, petrochemical hubs and industrial parks such as easing norms for hiring and firing and employment of women and restricting union activity, among others. Over the last two weeks, at least three state governments have seen their proposals for relaxing labour laws in duty-free areas being rejected by the Centre.
The World Bank has praised India for its rapid economic growth but was critical of the country's labour laws, caste system, gender inequality and imperfections in capital market that were widening inequality.
The changes in the labour law also provide for stricter punishment for employers for violation.
The Union government is considering a proposal to empower the states to frame separate labour laws in certain specific locations to attract investments, Union Commerce and Industries Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday.
For the first time in the history of the country's trade union movement, all the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) are slated to hold a joint strike countrywide - next year. The demands behind the proposed agitation, on February 28, are better labour laws and their more effective implementation.
Prez assent to Gujarat labour law with contentious provisions.
On the eve of the Modi government's two years in office, the RSS-linked Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha leadership met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. After the meeting, the BMS claimed the FM told its delegation 'the government has realised that labour reforms are not essential for industrial growth in the country.'
It's time we dispensed with the paper trail and shifted all labour law paper, workflows and permissions online.
Apple and its vendors are aiming to assemble 32 per cent of iPhone's global production volume and 26 per cent of its value in India by 2026-27 -a year after the final year of the five-year production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for mobile devices. This could translate into a production value of over $34 billion, assuming global iPhone sales remain consistent with 2023-24 (FY24) levels. The estimates are based on discussions between Apple Inc and its vendors, along with central and state governments, regarding the assembly of products in India, according to sources.
The court emphasised that all parties must comply with Section 16 of the POSH Act, ensuring confidentiality of the identities involved.
The Planning Commission on Monday asked states to undertake labour law reforms to generate employment, but cautioned that even 8 per cent annual economic growth would be insufficient to absorb the jobless populace.\n\n\n\n
The Kerala government has not excluded the industrial units situated in special economic zones from labour laws, State labour minister P K Gurudasan told the Assembly on Thursday. He was replying to a calling attention motion on the difficulties experienced by the employees of new generation banks, IT sector and private insurance and financial institutions functioning in the state due to non-compliance of labour laws by the respective units.
The number of monthly fresh formal hirings saw a slowdown in August, signalling a downturn in the formal labour market. In August, the number of new monthly subscribers under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) decreased by nearly 11 per cent to 930,000. This is a four-month low from 1.05 million in July, according to the latest monthly payroll data released by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Sunday.
Good companies would want to treat labour as partners; bad companies would want to exploit labour as much as possible, Effective labour laws should weed out the latter without hampering the former, says Shubhashis Gangopadhyay.
The Supreme Court on Monday took strong note of former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being made a party to a PIL and seeking of an in-house inquiry against him for dismissing a plea earlier related to a service dispute.
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