New LS Bill Allows Firms With 300 Workers To Hire And Fire Easily; 'Questions Basic Rights Of Employees'

The government has introduced a new bill in the Lok Sabha which allows companies with 300 workers to layoff people without government nod.

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New Delhi: The central government proposed a bill in Lok Sabha on Saturday which imposes conditions restricting the rights of workers to strike, alongside an increase in the threshold relating to layoffs and retrenchment in industrial establishments with 300 workers, from 100 workers or more at present — steps that are likely to provide more flexibility to employers for hiring and firing workers without government permission. The proposal, which was the bone of contention between the ministry and trade unions, is part of the Industrial Relation Code Bill 2020. Currently, only those industrial establishments with less than 100 employees are permitted to hire and fire their staff without permission from the government. The bill was introduced by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar amid opposition from Congress and few other parties. In its report submitted in April, the Standing Committee on Labour had also suggested hiking the threshold to 300 workers, noting that some state governments like Rajasthan had already increased the threshold and this, according to the Labour Ministry, had resulted in “an increase in employment and decrease in retrenchment”. “The Committee desire that the threshold be increased accordingly in the Code itself and the words ‘as may be notified by the Appropriate Government’ be removed because reform of labour laws through the executive route is undesirable and should be avoided to the extent possible,” it stated. The Industrial Relations Code states that the provision for standing order will be applicable to “every industrial establishment wherein three hundred or more than three hundred workers, are employed, or were employed on any day of the  preceding twelve months” With regard to the threshold, the government has proposed Section 77(1) in The Industrial Relation Code 2020. According to the Section, the provisions of "this Chapter (lay-off, retrenchment, and closure in the certain establishment) shall apply to an industrial establishment (not being an establishment of a seasonal character or in which work is performed only intermittently) in which not less than three hundred workers, or such higher number of workers as may be notified by the appropriate Government, were employed on an average per working day in the preceding twelve months". Employees can't go on strike without a 60-day notice The IR Code also proposes that no person employed in any 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, with the latter being a freshly introduced condition for strikes in the latest version of the Code. The Standing Committee on Labour had recommended against the expansion of the required notice period for strike beyond the public utility services, as is the case at present. At present, a person employed in a public utility service cannot go on strike unless he gives notice for a strike within six weeks before going on strike or within fourteen days of giving such notice, which the IR Code now proposes to apply for all industrial establishments. Opposition against the  bills Apart from this code, two others -- Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code On Social Security, 2020 -- were also introduced by the minister in Lok Sabha. Among others, Congress leaders -- Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor -- opposed the introduction of the three bills. Tewari noted these three bills are fundamentally changed versions of their earlier forms and urged the minister to withdraw them and hold wider consultations before introducing them. These bills are also a blow to the rights of workers, he added. With respect to the industrial relations code, Tharoor said it severely restricts the right of workers to strike and also allows state or central governments to amend the threshold for applicability relating to layoffs and retrenchment. In Lok Sabha, Gangwar said that over 29 labour laws have been merged into four codes and that one of them has already been passed.