Under the Constitution, LABOUR falls under the Concurrent List (or List-III (Seventh Schedule) is a list of 52 items (though the last subjects are numbered 47) given in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India) which means the Union government and states have joint jurisdiction.
Parliament has recently passed 4 labor Codes to simplify and modernize labor regulations.
Under the new plan, 29 central laws will be subsumed into four broad codes:
I. Code on Wages;
II. Industrial relations;
III. Occupational Safety, Health and Working conditions (OSH) and
IV. Social Security Code.
These Codes got introduced on the recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour (2002).
In subject to the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, let’s get into the “Code of Wages”
I. INTRODUCED:
The Code on Wages was passed by Parliament in 2019 while the three other codes got clearance from both the Houses in 2020.
II. REPLACEMENT:
The Code on Wages replaces 4 existing Laws:
(a) Minimum Wages Act, 1948
(b) Payment of Wages Act, 1936
(C) Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
(d) Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
III. AIM:
It aims to regulate wage and bonus payments in all employments (industry, business, trade, and manufacture).
IV. APPLICABILITY:
This Code will apply to all the employees. Wage relevant decisions will be made accordingly-
➡The Central Government: For the people employed in mines, railways, and oil fields. ➡the State Governments: For all other employments.
V. WAGES:
There will be one definition of ‘wages’:
The Wages in this Code include salary, allowance, or any other monetary component excluding the bonus and traveling allowance among others.
VI. PAYMENT OF WAGES:
The employer can fix the wage period as daily, weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. The payment will be made in coins, currency notes, through an electronic medium, cheque, or by a credit to the bank account.
VII. PROHIBITING GENDER DISCRIMINATION:
The Code prohibits discrimination based on gender in matters associated with wages and recruitment of employees for the same work or work of similar nature.
VIII. DEDUCTIONS:
The employer has the right to deduct wages on the following grounds: fines, absence from duty, accommodation provided by the employer, or the advance payment made to the employee.
It is to be noted that the deductions should not be more than 50% of the employee’s total wage.
IX. OFFENCE:
The Code specifies penalties of the offense committed by an employer in cases where any provision of the Code is contravened or employees’ are paid less than the minimum wages.
As per the Code, the maximum punishment for the said offenses is three-month imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 1 lakh.
WITH THIS ‘DO YOU KNOW?’ PART, WE COME TO AN END TO THIS SERIES ON THE PAYMENT ACT, 1936.
Farheen Dhanjal 