Barring five states and UTs, all others have pre-published the rules, setting the stage for the much-awaited rollout of the four codes.
All 36 states and Union territories (UTs) are expected to complete “harmonisation and pre-publication” of draft rules under the four labour codes by March 31, 2025, a release by the Labour Ministry said on Saturday.
So far, barring five states and UTs, all others have pre-published the rules, setting the stage for the much-awaited rollout of the four codes — Code on Wages, Code on Social Security, Code on Industrial Relations, and Code on Occupational Health & Safety — by next year. The Labour Ministry has been consistently working for harmonisation of rules under the four codes across the states, said the release.
This year, six regional meetings were held between August and October to facilitate the states and Union territories for framing the rules.
Labour laws fall under the concurrent list of the Constitution. Hence, both the Centre and states are empowered to make rules. But in the event of a conflict between state and central laws, central legislation generally takes precedence, unless the state’s law has obtained presidential assent.
The four labour codes are a judicious combination of reforms aimed at easing labour market rigidities, and reinforcing workers’ rights and welfare. As many as 44 labour related Acts were consolidated into the four codes in 2019-2020 with the objective of reinforcing trade and investment, facilitating ease of doing business and easing compliance. Several minor offences were decriminalised via the codes, while skill development and dispute resolution have been accorded due priority. Meanwhile, the ministry also is working towards development of a framework for social security coverage to gig and platform workers, said the release.
Extensive stakeholder consultations were conducted with aggregators, knowledge partners, platform worker organisations, and state/UTs this year to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the Social Security Code, 2020, and to develop collaborative approaches for a social security framework tailored to gig and platform workers, it said.
Also, a collaborative study is being undertaken with the International Labour Organization to comprehensively assess various factors related to platform workers. “These include the number of platform workers, prevalent business models, potential schemes, financial implications (such as aggregator turnover and contributions), and a roadmap for implementing a social security scheme for platform workers,” the release said.
Page Source : Indian Express
