The most serious socio-economic problem of India is the difficulty that most citizens face in earning a decent livelihood. Investors say these laws protect the labor force too much. The reforms were initiated by the United Progressive Alliance government. His main thrust was to improve governance by simplifying processes and digitization. These reforms were appreciated by the employers as well as the workers.
The new set of rules consolidates 44 labor laws under 4 categories of the code:
(1) Pay Code
(2) Social Security Code
(3) Occupational Safety, Health and Working Condition Codes
(4) Code of Industrial Relations.
Various labor laws and policies
(1) The Wages Code, 2019 – It applies to all employees in the organized and unorganized sector. It aims to regulate wage and bonus payments in all employments and aims to provide equal remuneration to employees doing work of similar nature in every industry, trade, occupation or construction.
(2) The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020—It seeks to regulate the health and safety conditions of workers in establishments with 10 or more workers and in all mines and docks.
(3)Social Security Code, 2020-It consolidates nine laws relating to social security and maternity benefits.
(4) Code of Industrial Relations, 2020: It seeks to consolidate three labor laws-
(1) Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
(2) The Trade Union Act, 1926
(3) The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
The objective of this code is to improve the business environment in the country by reducing the labor compliance burden of large scale industries.
Advantages of Labor Codes:
(1) Reduce litigation: He hoped to reduce litigation as it streamlines the definition of wages. This will substantially reduce the number of minimum wages in the country from the existing 2000 plus rates of minimum wages.
(2) Minimum Wages: They ensure that every worker gets the minimum wage, along with which the purchasing power of the worker will increase which will accelerate the growth in the economy.
(3) Consolidation and simplification of complex laws: Three codes (IR, SS and OSHW) simplify labor laws by incorporating 25 central labor laws that have been laid on the table for at least 17 years. This will provide a major boost to industry and employment and will reduce the plurality of definition and plurality of authority for businesses.
