LESS LAW, MORE WORK

Neeraj Dubey, a labour law expert, recalls how one of his clients was once issued a notice for not putting spittoons at designated places in his factory. In another case, a factory inspector issued a notice to a businessman for not having enough plants around his factory. “These are the kind of issues over which employers are harassed,” says Dubey, a partner with law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys, while arguing for overhauling the Factories Act, 1948.

The law is one of the over 200 enacted by the Centre and states that deal with safety, health, efficiency and well-being of people in a factory or production unit. Complying with complex provisions of each of these is nearly impossible. That is why, for decades, businesses have been demanding repeal of most of these and simplification of others. This demand has become amplified in the wake of the hit industry has taken due to coronavirus that is forcing it to scale down operations. The Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 is turning out to be a big hurdle