4 Codes of Labour law in Four Category for Ease of Business

4 Codes and Ease of Business The labour laws in India are very complicated. Example, the definition of basic wages and definition of workmen differ from act to act. The Narendra Modi administration began considering a plan in 2015 to consolidate India's few labour laws into four codes in order to rationalize labour laws and improve ease of doing business. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated in her 2019 Union Budget speech, "This will ensure that the process of registration and filing of returns will get standardised and streamlined. With various labour related definitions getting standardised, it is expected that there shall be less dispute." The Code on Wages is the first of these codes. The other three are the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, the Code on Industrial Relations, and the Code on Social Security. Most of the work of the Central government is complete, work of the state government is pending. That is why most of the companies are still following the old acts. To summarize now 4 categories are there: Code on Wages Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code on Industrial Relations, and Code on Social Security. Acts are quite similar but now clubbed in these 4 categories and common definitions are there to remove ambiguity. This was done by the recommendation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which is an International organisation and India is its key member. Hence overall agenda was EASE OF DOING BUSINESS Note: Still few acts are not covered in these 4 Codes but are existing. Labour Codes Acts being subsumed Code on Wages, 2019 Payment of Wages Act, 1936; Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2019 Factories Act, 1948; Mines Act, 1952; Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986; Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996; Plantations Labour Act, 1951; Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970; Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979; Working Journalist and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service and Miscellaneous Provision) Act, 1955; Working Journalist (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958; Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961; Sales Promotion Employees (Condition of Service) Act, 1976; Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966; and Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981 Industrial Relations Code, 2019 Trade Unions Act, 1926; Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, and Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 Code on Social Security, 2019 Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948; Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923; Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959; Maternity Benefit Act, 1961; Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972; Cine-workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981; Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996; and Unorganised Workers Social Security Act, 2008 Note: It will take sometime for their implementation. Resources for this lecture