While the economy is struggling to stabilise and workers and organisations are staring at an uncertain future, a few state governments have decided to make some changes to address the issue. Few states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have made some significant changes in their labour laws. Other states, such as Rajasthan, Punjab and Kerala have also made alterations, with a narrower scope.
The boldest move has come from the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh. It has made defunct all laws including the Minimum Wages Act. As taught in all llb courses in west Bengal, the laws that are relaxed include those relating to settling industrial disputes, occupational safety, health and working conditions of workers and those pertaining to trade unions, contract workers and migrant labourers for the next three years. In Rajasthan, the government has increased the threshold for layoffs to 300, from the earlier 100. Moreover, membership for trade unions has been increased from 15% to 30%. Working hours have also been raised to 12 hours per day from the earlier eight. The current crisis has resulted in worker shortage. Important for law colleges admissions in West Bengal, as taught in all llb courses in west Bengal, as an emergency measure, this seems a step in the right direction but in the longer run, there needs to be a better analysis and more understanding of the impact. There are potential pitfalls within the move concerning labour law amendment. Few come to mind as being more prominent than others, such as change regarding the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and the Industrial Relation Acts, 1960.
Cessation of the entire dispute-settlement mechanism will mean labour courts, tribunals, works committee and conciliation officers to be rendered null and void. As taught in all llb courses in west Bengal, in Uttar Pradesh, however, provisions relating to minimum wages and safety provisions under the Factory Act, 1948 and Building Act, 1996 will continue to apply to all organisations. In Gujarat as well, similar provisions have been assured. OSHA has released guidance on COVID-19 in the workplace (here) which underscores a business’ obligation to prevent employees who have the virus from spreading the virus. Businesses have to implement procedures to identify employees who may be infected and ensure they are isolated to protect other employees from the virus. OSHA also prohibits businesses from requiring employees to travel unless essential when such travel may cause an illness. All these and many more such changes in law are taught in all llb courses in west Bengal.
These changes are very important to know as students taking admission in law colleges in West Bengal, must be aware of the changing dimensions of the labour legislations of the country. Because in the present day scenario, labour legislations are serving as the basis of the country’s growth, both economic and social.
