Context: Ministry of Labour and Employment introduced Bills on three Labour Codes in the Lok Sabha.
Analysis
- These Bills are:
- Industrial Relations Code, 2020,
- Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Bill, 2020
- Social Security Code, 2020.
- The Code on Wages has already been approved by Parliament in August 2019 and has already become the law of the land.
- It was one of the recommendations of the second National Commission on Labour that the existing Labour Laws to be merged into fewer Labour Codes.
- As a result, 29 Central Labour Laws are proposed to be reduced to just 4 Labour Codes.
- A statutory right has been created for minimum wages and timely payment of wages to all workers whether in organized or unorganised sector.
Some Important Features:
- Method of fixation of minimum wage rates simplified.
- Factors to be taken into account are skills and geographical location as against the present system of wage being fixed employment-wise.
- The number of minimum wage rate would be around 200 in the entire country as against 10000, at present.
- Revision of minimum wages every 5 years.
- A statutory concept of ‘Floor Wage’ introduced.
