Context: Last week, three Bills comprising three-fourths of a comprehensive labour code were re-introduced in Parliament.
Major changes by the new codes
Management and hire of contract workers:
Allows direct fixed-term employment in ‘core’ activities: under the Code on Industrial Relations Bill 2020, despite the prior judicial rulings against such employment.
Code on Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Bill, 2020 allowed certain exemptions to the prevention of the hiring of contract workers in “core” tasks.
Single license: contract employers will be able to apply for a single, five-year licence rather than relying on a different licence for each work order.
Concerns
In implementation: For E.g. the proposal for an independent authority to determine core activity may lead to delays and corruption.
In Applicability:
How widely new contract labour regulations will be applicable is not clear
Threshold has been raised from 20-worker organisations to those with 50. But it is not yet clear about whether there will be no regulation for those with less than 50.
No provision of compensation for retrenchment.
Discrepancies in Union versus State laws: Discrepancies between the labour codes at the Union level and those now being passed by states.
Conclusion
Bring in uniformity:
It is essential to bring state governments on board to ensure that they modify their statutes to be uniform with the Union’s laws. This will ensure uniformity.
For enhancing the ease of doing business this uniformity in laws is essential
Self-certification to solve delays and corruption: Self-certification of “core” activities by companies, alongside fines for mis-specification. This will reduce delays and corruption