Cabinet approves bill to merge central labour laws, women permitted to work night shiftsJuly 10 (AZINS) On Wednesday, the cabinet approved the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Bill, 2019.
Several Central labour laws were brought under the ambit of one code which would be applicate to all establishments with 10 or more employees. Rules were framed for women working in night shifts.
The new code was drafted after amalgamation of the following Central Labour Acts which are:
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The Factories Act, 1948;
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The Mines Act, 1952; The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986;
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The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996;
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The Plantations Labour Act, 1951;
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The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970;
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The Inter-State Migrant workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979;
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The Working Journalist and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service and Misc. Provision) Act, 1955;
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The Working Journalist (Fixation of rates of wages) Act, 1958;
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The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961;
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Sales Promotion Employees (Condition of Service) Act, 1976;
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The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966; and
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The Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers Act, 1981.
After the enactment of the Code, all these Acts being subsumed in the Code will be repealed.
Under the act women would be permitted to work beyond 7 PM and before 6 AM subject to proper safety norms.
The act also suggest that employers would provide free of cost annual health check-ups for employees above a prescribe for certain tests
It added that it would be compulsory to issue appointment letter to every employee of establishments.
The bill states that if a woman works after 7 PM, security has to be provided by the company. The consent of the employee is also required for overtime. Maximum overtime in a month will be 125 hours.
Meanwhile, definition of family was also extended to include dependent grandparents.
Working hour for women in the office will remain at 6 a.m. from 7 a.m. in the evening. For children, amenities like creches and canteens will be provided.
The decision was taken at the union cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Environment and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said.The proposed code enhances the coverage of workers manifold as it would be applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more workers, where any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation is carried on, including IT establishments or establishments of service sector, the release said.