C) Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020
It subsumes thirteen labour legislation namely, the Factories Act, 1948, the Plantations Labour Act, 1951, the Mines Act, 1952, the Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955, the Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958, the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961, the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, the Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976, the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, the Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981, the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986 and the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.
Various new provisions have been incorporated to bring about standardization in the statutory norms for occupational safety, health and working conditions for workers. The applicability threshold under the Factories Act, 1948 has been increased for the benefit of smaller enterprises. New provisions on common license have also been introduced to reduce compliance Burden. The important changes introduced under the Code are summarized in the comparative chart below:
S.NO | ACT | EXISTING PROVISIONS | CODE | PROPOSED CHANGES |
1 | Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 | Applicability - Differs, state specific. | Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020 | Applicability - To 50 or more across all the states. |
2 | Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 | Obtaining License - State Specific | Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020 | Common License across all the states. |
3 | Factories Act, 1948 | Applicability – (i) With the aid of power - 10 (ii) Without the aid of power - 20 | Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020 | Applicability (i) With the aid of power - 20 (ii) Without the aid of power - 40 |
4 | Factories Act, 1948 | Threshold in Number of Workers for Appointment of: (i) Safety Officers - 1000 (ii) Welfare Officers - 500 (iii) Canteen - 250 | Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020 | Threshold in Number of Workers for Appointment of: (i) Safety Officers - 500 (ii) Welfare Officers – 250 (iii) Canteen - 100 |
D) Code on Industrial Relations, 2020
It subsumes three key legislations: the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Trade Unions Act, 1926 and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
The applicability threshold in terms of workers has been increased under the Code. At the same time, the provision on the grievance redressal committee has undergone changes. Given below is a comparative chart of the changes that have been introduced:
S.NO | ACT | EXISTING PROVISIONS | CODE | PROPOSED CHANGES |
1 | Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946
| Applicability - Provisions of Standing Orders shall apply to industrial establishment in which 100 or more workers are employed. | Code on Industrial Relations, 2020 | Applicability - Provisions of Standing Orders shall apply to industrial establishment in which 300 or more workers are employed.
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2 | Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
| Grievance Redressal Committee Threshold - 6 members | Code on Industrial Relations, 2020 | Grievance Redressal Committee Threshold - 10 members
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CONCLUSION