Earlier this week, Parliament passed three new laws on social security, industrial relations and occupational safety that subsumed 25 Central labour laws. Along with the wage code that was passed in 2019 the NDA government has now merged 29 different labour laws into four codes and this is something that was badly needed because India’s labour laws are famously complicated and jumbled, and the demand for bringing in more clarity has been longstanding.
But what changes do these codes bring to the existing laws and what are the ramifications? Among the key changes are the greater flexibility afforded to employers in hiring and firing workers, the provisions for expanding the social security net to informal workers, albeit not completely, the recognition of new categories of workers such as gig workers, and something of a reduction in the influence of trade unions. So many of these are far-reaching changes and we’ll discuss the most relevant ones.
Guest: Roshni Sinha, Senior Analyst, PRS Legislative Research
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