AUTHORED BY - Sakshi Singh, 2nd year student of Thakur Ramnarayn College of Law, Mumbai currently she is pursuing BLS LLB.
INDEX
- INTRODUCTION
- ANCIENT INDIA’S GUIDE TO LABOUR LAWS: ARTHASHASTRA
- BRITISH RAJ AND THE EVOLUTION OF LABOUR LAWS IN INDIA
- LABOUR LAWS SINCE INDEPENDENCE
- LATEST REFORMS
- CODE OF WAGES, 2019
- CHANGE OF SCENARIO: THE COVID IMPACT
- THE CURIOUS CASE OF UTTAR PRADESH
- MADHYA PRADESH: DEAL OR NO DEAL
- WAY FORWARD
INTRODUCTION
India is the
second most populous nation, aiming to overtake China by 2024. With the rising
population and urbanization, industrialization and transformation developments,
India has concentrated on the manufacturing and service sectors. Therefore,
since independence, the importance of labour laws has growing. Yet Covid-19 's
current turmoil has brought to the surface the big lacunae posed by our
country's labor laws. This also discussed the country's precarious working
standards and how a good regulatory and administrative structure supported by a
pro-active judiciary will boost the labor force's living conditions.
ANCIENT INDIA’S GUIDE TO LABOUR
LAWS: ARTHASHASTRA
Before British arrival in India, India had an industry that was mostly self-sufficient. Thus, while not regulated by any universal pan-India rule, the labour force was controlled in most instances by the natural powers of human rights and labour integrity, with the monarchs becoming the supreme authority. Centuries before the writing of current labour legislation, Kautilya wrote about the idea of the minimum wage in his political-economic treatise Arthashastra. He says below that you can't go under a particular point for employees, which is flexible though, most of the time it's a mention of more than 60 Panas. He believed in social inspiration as well as being a promoter of labor performance. He developed the concept of labor contracts, too. For eg, a quote that says "the laborer's arrangement with one who employs him must be public. The laborer will be paying wages as decided. If no previous arrangement occurs, the laborer will compensate according to the quality of the work, time spent on his customary rates”.
BRITISH RAJ AND THE EVOLUTION OF
LABOUR LAWS IN INDIA
In India,
labour rules were formulated and enforced in their current iterations under the
British Raj. British took the new factories and the power of industrialization
to the rest of the world with them.
Originally implemented throughout the region, the labor laws were meant to safeguard British workers' interests. Labour and work regulations in India are also classified as Labor rule. The first act to be introduced in the country was the 1883 Factories Act. It sought for the first time to control the working standards of the employees by calling for eight hours of work, the elimination of child labor, the inclusion of women in night jobs, and the implementation of overtime pay above eight hours for the job. While the earliest statute to regulate employer-employee relations came in the form of the 1929 Trade Disputes Act, which restricted strike and lock-out rights. Therefore, in the early phases, labour regulations were more geared towards supporting workers' needs.
LABOUR LAWS SINCE
INDEPENDENCE
Since independence, labor reforms
have been guided by the Indian Constitution, which includes labor rights in
Chapter III (Articles 14, 16, 19, 21, 23 and 24) and Chapter IV (Articles 39,
41, 42, 43, 43A and 44). Taking into consideration the regional importance and
effect of local influences, labor was rendered a concurrent subject and both
the union and the states were deemed eligible to legislate and manage labor
matters.
Several of the Central Government's labor regulations comprise the Employees' Social Insurance Act, 1948, Mining Act, 1952, Fair Remuneration Act, 1976, and the Child Labor Act, 1986.
LATEST REFORMS
Labour rules have been subject to
increased review in recent years after the central government enacted and
codified labor laws in 2019 and more recently owing to the revocation of
legislation by several states during the Covid-19 crisis.
CODE OF WAGES, 2019
The 2019 Wage Code is meant to amend
the four labour codes, including the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, Minimum Wages Act,
1948, Payment of Benefits Act, 1965 and Fair Remuneration Act, 1976,
respectively. According to the manual, wage-related decisions should be taken
by the central government for jobs such as railways, mining, and oil fiend
among others, while the state governments may make decisions for all other
workers. The code calls for a "floor pay" to be set by the Central
Government, taking into account the employees' geographical region and living
conditions. The minimum salaries will be in excess of the average salary. The
law often forbids workers from charging rates below the minimum salary. The
Code also prohibits racial inequality in wage-related issues and workplace
compensation for jobs of a particular type. The Code, therefore, presented
employees with the much-needed defense from unequal wages and discrimination.
In 2019 the Occupational Safety Code, Health and Working Conditions Code, Social Security Code and Industrial Relations Code were also introduced. Even accepting equal protection for the Transgender People in relation to jobs, 2019 allowed a significant change towards creating a suitable atmosphere for the country's labor.
CHANGE OF SCENARIO: THE
COVID IMPACT
Much before the benefits of the new
Pay Code could be borne, India and the world as a whole became hit by the
coronavirus pandemic, taking more than ever to the forefront the insecurity of
our world's employees. Forced reverse labor migration, accompanied by the
suspension by some states of labor rules exposes the grim labor situation in
our region.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF
UTTAR PRADESH
6th May saw the passage of Uttar
Pradesh Temporary Exemption from Labour Laws Ordinance by the State cabinet. It
also removed more than 30 working-law provisions inside the state to draw in
further anticipation. Under the law, the laws relating to the settlement of
mechanical debate, the welfare and working conditions of specialists and trade
unions, contract specialists and temporary workers shall remain suspended
within the state for three long periods of time; Whereas the laws which count the 1976 Reinforced Work
Act, the 1923 Worker Emolument Act, and the 1996 Building and Other Development
Workers Act. Laws concerning women and children, such as the Maternity Act,
Break-even with the Compensation Act, the Child Work Act, and Area 5 of the
Compensation Act. Compensation can not be
withheld for a person earning less than Rs 15,000 a month, and is further
kept. The government of Uttar Pradesh has also declared the creation of a
Movement Commission to protect the network of vagabond specialists who are
looking to take off the community. Around 16 lakh vagrant specialists have
returned to the state as of now.
MADHYA PRADESH: DEAL OR
NO DEAL
In an attempt to woo the investors
with Madhya Pradesh projects, the state government has come up with the
unwinding of laws on hiring, working hours of employees, and mechanical base
job evaluation.
WAY FORWARD
Academics around the world appreciated India's response to the emergency crown infection, counting researchers at the World Wellbeing Association, but the circumstances are unfurling. It seems that states are seeking to pick up the financial incentives which will come from the central government's Atmanirbhar Package. But the revisions taken by the state governments within the labor laws have expanded the powerlessness to labor abuse. Rather than alleviating in periods of difficulty, these relaxations inside the rules would prove counter-productive and will do more damage by widening infringements on human rights. India could be a welfare-driven nation and work to shape a large part of the population on which the nation's financial future depends should be treated with respect, uniformity and fairness justice. Instead of weakening labor laws, states should use special treatment to incentivize businesses that pay attention to their work's desires. There the central government and the Incomparable Court should step in to insure that the nation's population is given equal freedoms. NITI Aayog should prepare a database for inter-state comparison of working-for-work conditions and encourage states to ensure job privileges, thus encouraging residential and foreign financial experts and business citizens.
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