The Union government is planning to take measures to ensure companies do not convert their full-time workers into contract employees by misusing the proposed fixed-term contract framework.
“We will put in place safeguards for workers in the fixed-term contract system and are working on various options. One of them is to ensure that permanent employees in an establishment are protected in such a way that they are not converted into fixed-term workers after we bring in the new law,” a labour and employment ministry official said on condition of anonymity.Officials said safeguard-related provisions would be included in the executive order on fixed-term employment, likely to be issued next month.
The move is an outcome of a consultation meeting held on February 15 by the ministry with representatives of state governments, trade unions and industry.All the 12 state governments represented in the meeting were in favour of fixed-term contracts. Three trade unions, the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the National Front of Indian Trade Unions, and the Trade Union Coordination Centre, also supported the move, apart from employers’ associations, according to sources.Other trade unions, however, walked out of the meeting as a mark of protest over not holding consultations before announcing the move in the Union Budget.
