The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the Labour Code on Industrial Relations 2019, allowing companies to hire workers on fixed-term contract of any duration. The code has retained the threshold on the worker count at 100 for prior govt approval before retrenchment, but it has a provision for changing 'such number of employees' through notification. Fixed-term employment means a worker can be hired for any duration, 3 months or 6 months or a year depending on season & orders.

The bill is expected to be tabled in the ongoing winter session of the Parliament. “While this means workers can be hired seasonally for 6 months or a year it also means that all workers will be treated at par with regular workers for benefits,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after the cabinet meeting. Labour minister Santosh Gangwar has spent lot of time in consultation with all stakeholders including trade unions, Sitharaman said. The code also provides setting up of a 2-member tribunal (in place of one member) wherein important cases will be adjudicated jointly & the rest by a single member, resulting speedier disposal of cases.

Besides, it has vested powers with the govt officers for adjudication of disputes involving penalty as fines, thereby lessening the burden on tribunal. The industrial relations code is the 3rd out of 4 labour codes that have got approval from the cabinet. The code will combine Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Trade Unions Act, 1926, & the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946. The Labour Code on Wages has already been approved by Parliament in August while the Labour Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions has been referred to the standing committee of labour.

The govt has already allowed fixed-term employment across all sectors last year. It has now been codified, which means that once approved by Parliament it will become a legislation to be abided by all. The labour ministry has decided to amalgamate 44 labour laws into 4 codes - on wages, industrial relations, social security, & safety, health & working conditions.

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