The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the Labour Code on Industrial Relations 2019, allowing companies to hire workers on fixed-term contract of any duration. The code has retained the threshold on the worker count at 100 for prior government approval before retrenchment, but it has a provision for changing ‘such number of employees’ through notification. Fixed-term employment means a worker can be hired for any duration, three months or six months or a year depending on season and orders.
The bill is expected to be tabled in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament. “While this means workers can be hired seasonally for six months or a year it also means that all workers will be treated at par with regular workers for benefits,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after the cabinet meeting.
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Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has spent lot of time in consultation with all stakeholders including trade unions, Sitharaman said. The code also provides setting up of a two-member tribunal (in place of one member) wherein important cases will be adjudicated jointly and the rest by a single member, resulting speedier disposal of cases.
Source: Economic Times
