The Narendra Modi government on Saturday tabled for ‘discussion and passage’ three labour codes in Parliament, including the Industrial Relations (IR) Code 2020, which contains a clutch of industry-friendly proposals.
The key proposals in the IR Code that will ease labour law rigidities are the following: a much larger segment of firms – as the Bill becomes law, those with workers up to 300 as against 100 now – will be able to resort to closure and retrenchment without prior government permission (the state governments are to be authorised to allow this via notification), endorsement by law of the already-in-force full-benefit fixed-term employment scheme that gels with the business pattern of industries that witness seasonal spurt in activities; requirement of mandatory 14-day notice for strikes and lock-outs will now apply to all units, not just public utility firms; proliferation of trade unions to be curbed, as only those unions with support of at least 50% of the workers on the muster roll of the unit concerned will have the right to labour terms with the management.
Apart from the IR Code, labour minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar also introduced the Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code On Social Security, 2020.
Source: Financial Express
