Parliament passed the three key labour reform bills —- Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, Industrial Relations Code and Social Security Code

The Industrial Relations Code (I.R) will provide greater flexibility to employers to hire and fire. It mandates companies with 300 or more workers to prepare and submit to the government standing orders regarding the conditions of service, including shift timings and termination of employment. As of now, this applies to establishment with over 100 employees.

The IR Code proposes that no person employed in an industrial establishment shall go on strike without a 60-day notice and during the pendency of proceedings before a Tribunal or a National Industrial Tribunal and sixty days after the conclusion of such proceedings.

The IR Code Bill has also proposed a worker re-skilling fund, though the contributions for the fund are only detailed from the employer of an industrial establishment amounting to fifteen days wages last drawn by the worker immediately before the retrenchment along with the contribution from such other sources.

The code will give fillip to industries by ushering in substantive reform in the licensing mechanism. Currently, industries have to apply for their licence under different laws. The code provides for a single licensing mechanism.

It also simplifies archaic laws dealing with industrial disputes and revamp the adjudication process, which will pave the way for early resolution of disputes. Besides, every industrial establishment employing 20 or more workers will have one or more Grievance Redressal Committees for resolution of disputes arising out of employees’ grievances.

The Social Security Code universalises social security coverage to those working in the unorganised sector, such as migrant workers, gig workers and platform workers. For the first time, provisions of social security will also be extended to agricultural workers also. 

For the first time, the code will bring freelancers, also known as ‘gig workers’, and platform workers who access other organisations using online platforms, such as delivery personnel working with food aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy, and cab drivers working with aggregators such as Ola and Uber, under the social security net. 

It also provides for setting up a Gig and Platform Workers’ Social Security Fund for meeting the social security and welfare needs of gig and platform workers. Gig companies will have to put aside 1-2 per cent of their annual turnover for social security funds of their workers.

The code also reduces the time limit for receiving gratuity payment from the continuous service of five years to one year for all kinds of employees, including fixed-term employees, contract labour, daily and monthly wage workers. 

For working journalists, the government has reduced the time limit for receiving gratuity payments from five years to three years.

It proposes a National Social Security Board which shall recommend to the central government for formulating suitable schemes for different sections of unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers.

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code(OSH) has spells out duties of employers and employees, and envisages safety standards for different sectors, focusing on the health and working condition of workers, hours of work, leaves, etc; the right of contractual workers.

The code provides employers the flexibility to employ workers on a fixed-term basis, on the basis of requirement and without restriction in any sector. More importantly, it also provides for statutory benefits like social security and wages to fixed-term employees at par with their permanent counterparts.

It also mandates that no worker will be allowed to work in any establishment for more than 8 hours a day or more than 6 days in a week. In case of an overtime, an employee should be paid twice the rate of his/her wage. It will be applicable to even small establishments, which have upto 10 workers.

The government expanded the definition of ‘inter-state migrant worker’ to ensure that no one gets left out of the social security net in the future; income criteria will be included to define a migrant worker.

The new labour codes will now include all workers whose monthly family income is less than Rs 18,000, and who migrate to another state and get directly employed or self-employed.

The code also brings in gender equality and empowers the women workforce. Women will be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work and, with consent can work before 6 am and beyond 7 pm subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours.

For the first time, the labour code also recognises the rights of transgenders. It makes it mandatory for industrial establishments to provide washrooms, bathing places and locker rooms for male, female and transgender employees.

The Code, however, has dropped the earlier provision for temporary accommodation for workers near the worksites. It has though proposed a journey allowance — a lump sum amount of fare to be paid by the employer for to and fro journey of the worker to his/her native place from the place of his/her employment