Labour Reforms in India

Labour reforms are essential reforms that were introduced to facilitate the lives of the labour class and maintain their interests. The labour reforms solely focus on the economic and productive growth of the working class. These reforms are specifically introduced to boost up the employment opportunities of the labour class productively, keeping in mind their interests and rights. Often, the hard-working labour class is deprived of their rights and privileges due to their lower social status. To ensure that no worker gets deprived of their rights and privileges, labour reforms were introduced in India. Labour reform is a major subject in the Indian concurrent list, and it is undergoing several changes.

Why do we need labour reforms? 

While understanding the nature of the labour reforms, we first need to know why we require the labour reforms. India is a country having a population of approximately 138 crores. Among them, about 90% of the population belongs to the working class. The labour reforms are mandatory to sustain safety, social security, minimum wages, and employment opportunities for the labour class. 

What are the different types of labour codes proposed in India?

The Ministry of Labour and employment have considered the common problems faced by the labour community. Currently, 29 labour laws in India will be replaced by the four labour codes. These 4 labour codes are: social security code, wages, health, working conditions code, and industrial relations code. 

Features of the 4 prominent codes:

• Betterment and empowerment of the labour community
• Equivalent, timely payments
• Introduction of floor wages
• Health and wellness facility
• Freedom of contractual agreement
• Abolition of gender discrimination

Let us a get a brief detailed description of the following codes: 

The social security code – The social security code ensures to maintain the social security of the working class. This code includes 9 prominent laws concerning the social welfare of the labour community. Under this code, the government of India has planned to introduce various social security schemes such as EPF, EPS and ESI. These schemes are solely dedicated to the empowerment of the labour community in all the working sectors. 

Also, the social security code has set the provision to provide a security fund for the workers. This provision would be applied to workers working in unorganised sectors. The workers may also get the benefit of working for only 4 days a week instead of 6 under this scheme. 

The code of wages – Under the code of wages, which was notified in 2019, there are provisions of 4 laws. The 4 laws are the Payment of Wages Act, the Equal Remuneration Act, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and the Minimum Wages Act. 

Under this code, the labour community is liable to receive timely and uniform payments along with a minimum floor wage. The floor wage is the minimum amount that the worker should get based on their Condition of living and standard of lifestyle. The floor wage of each worker has to be determined by the Central Government after considering their standard of living. The State Government of every state must maintain the floor wage, and it must be ensured that no worker gets paid below the floor wage amount decided by the Central Government. This code also prohibits gender discrimination and encourages equal pay for the same work. 

The health and working conditions code (OSH) – This code has been introduced to look after the health and wellness of the labour class. Often the safety and well-being of the labourers are looked upon and ignored. This resulted in the death of thousands of workers all around the country. This code comprises 13 existing labour laws. This code applies to two types of factories. The factories have an electric supply and a minimum of 20 workers working with the help of electricity. And the factories have at least 40 workers working without electricity. This code compels the supervisor to maintain and look after the safety of the working premises. Often, there are major electricity faults, mechanical drawbacks, chemical leaks, etc., which take their direct toll on the lives of the workers. To avoid this, the health and working conditions code makes the employer supervise the working premises thoroughly. Along with this, all the workers would avail of the facility of free annual health check-ups. 

The industrial relations code – This code includes 3 existing labour laws and applies to individuals earning less than 18,000 per month. Under the provision of this code, employers would be able to hire workers both permanently and contractually. Moreover, this code ensures that the contractual or temporary workers would be able to receive the same payments, opportunities, privileges, and facilities provided to the permanent workers. 

Conclusion

These are the four codes proposed to the central government for the amendment of the existing labour laws, which have remained unchanged since Independence 15th August 1947. Though the code suggests working entirely in the interests of the labour community, there have been certain criticisms too. Though these codes have not been enforced yet, they are taken into consideration and are soon expected to be successfully implemented all over India. 

The Central power has drafted the modifications made to these four codes, but no complete response has come from the State Governments, which is the main cause for the delay. Only about 17 Indian states have forwarded their draft. There has been no update from the other Indian states regarding the labour reform.

However, with the assistance of the parliament’s approval, the central government could approve 3 of the 4 proposed codes. The codes that the Central Government has approved until now are the Industrial Relations, Occupational Health Safety Working Conditions (OSH), and the code of Social Security. Nothing is known about the approval of the Code of Wages until now.