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India’s Labour Law Landscape & Reforms
A Handbook of Labour Laws
The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the absolute disenfranchisement of the inter-state migrants, who have historically faced several challenges including lack of access to social protection schemes, disruption in schooling of children, inadequate housing, low-paid hazardous work, and discrimination based on class/gender, etc. Workers, who form a pillar of the Indian economy, are also one of the most vulnerable populations in the country owing to lack of adequate legal protection mechanisms. The need to overhaul the labour laws in India has been a central theme in the legal discourse ever since India’s Independence, albeit, minimal changes took place over the years.
Drawing from the National Labour Commission’s recommendations in 2002 to codify major labour legislations so as ensure uniformity and consistency in the law, the Indian government introduced four Labour Codes – namely, the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020–with the hope that the Codes would focus on their core objective, i.e., to protect worker rights. While the codification of 29 labour legislations into the four Codes is a welcome move, they have come under scrutiny for being employer-friendly and for diluting worker rights. Though not yet implemented, there is fear looming large of the repercussions of these new laws and how they will impact the protections afforded to those most vulnerable.
In this background, the Migration and Asylum Project has compiled this report that traces the history of labour laws as well as the impact of the new Codes for when they come into effect. Each Code has been dealt with in a separate chapter with a detailed section-wise comparison of some of the major provisions under the new Code with the current laws under which these provisions exist. Each chapter concludes with a detailed analysis of some of the key features and criticisms of the new Codes.
Objectives
The report aims to serve as a handbook/guide for practitioners, researchers, activists, academicians, and lawyers in the field of labour rights. Its objective is to provide a comprehensive overview of India’s labour law landscape and the reforms it has undergone in the recent years, to contribute to the discourse on migration and labour rights and create informed citizenry. In this respect, it seeks to:
Trace the socio-political and jurisprudential development of labour laws in India in the pre-independence and post-independence era, with the aim to understand the constitutional and other legal safeguards granted to the workers in the country;
Reflect on the existing provisions concerning industrial relations, wages, social security, and occupational safety, health, and working conditions of workers vis-à-vis the changes brought in these areas under the new Labour Codes;
Highlight some of the landmark and most important judicial decisions on labour rights, and how the principles enshrined therein have been crystallized under the new Codes; and
Analyse the crucial changes brought about by the new Codes and the potential impact they will have once the Codes are implemented.
Structure of the Report
The structure of the report has been delineated below:
Chapter 1, ‘India’s Labour Law Landscape’: This chapter highlights the need for effective labour laws, the socio-political history of labour legislations in India, the constitutional and other legal provisions concerning welfare of labourers, and the major reforms these laws have undergone.
Chapter 2, ‘The Law on Industrial Relations’: This chapter analyses the key features and criticisms of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 in light of the existing provisions in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Trade Unions Act, 1926, and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
Chapter 3, ‘The Law on Wages’: This chapter presents an overview of the wage laws in India, such as those relating to payment of wages, minimum wages, payment of bonus, and equal remuneration, and provides a detailed critique of how these concepts will be affected with the implementation of the Code on Wages, 2019.
Chapter 4, ‘The Law on Social Security’: This chapter discusses several social security measures – such as employees’ state insurance, gratuity, maternity benefit, employees’ compensation, and welfare schemes for unorganized and migrant workers – that are provided for under the existing social security legislations, and how their coverage and effects will be altered by the Code on Social Security, 2020.
Chapter 5, ‘The Law on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions’: The last chapter draws on the importance of several legislations governing and regulating occupational safety, health, and working conditions in various industries and establishments in India, and how the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 will affect the current dynamics of these legislations.