The Government of India as part of labour reform initiative has drafted four labour codes on functional basis, viz., on wages, on industrial relation, on occupational safety, health and working condition and on social security and welfare. It is in line with recommendation of the second National Commission on labour and aims to simplify, rationalize, amalgamate and consolidate around 44 existing Central laws relating to labour and replacing them with labour codes.
The labour Code on Social Security Bill, 2017 has been placed in public domain by the Union Ministry of labour and Employment for discussion since March 2017. The code on social security has included to amalgamate 15 Central labour laws relating to social security which includes Employees Provident Fund Act, Employees State Insurance Act, Maternity Benefit Act, Payment of Gratuity Act, Employees Compensation Act, Unorganized Workers Social Security Act and various Welfare Cess and Funds Acts for mines, Beedi, cine workers and building and construction workers.
It is a fact that our labour legislations are not inclusive of all kinds of workers in the absence of provisions of universal workers’ rights. Mostly they protect organized sector and vulnerable section of workers such as women. Internationally and within the country, there has been demand for universal social security for all workers, including the workers of unorganised sector and more protection to women and other marginalised section of workers.
Already the Government has brought amendment in the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017 to increase the paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. There were 59.54 lakh women workers, employed in the organised public and private sector out of 149.8 million female workers in India as per 2011 census. Women workers are protected under provisions of various labour laws which prohibit night work after 7pm and do not allow working in mines below the ground. There are also provisions of separate washing facilities, latrine and urinals for female workers along with crèches for children. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (prevention, prohibition and redrassal) Act 2103 has mandatory provision of complaint committee on sexual harassment at workplace and mechanism of redressal of complaints. The Equal Remuneration Act 1976 has been monitored by both the Central and State Governments to ensure employment and equal wage for both men and women workers. There are national and regional vocational training institutes for women all over the country. Along with maternity benefit, the Central Government also has made amendments to increase in payment of bonus and formalize payment of wage, compensation and also restriction on work of children below 14 years of age.
But such protective labour legislations are not being administered for unorganised sector employees who constitute about 94 per cent of the total workers. The trade unions are limited only to about 10 per cent of the total workers and a vast majority of workers are left out under the purview of labour legislation, which includes social security.
However, the new labour Code Bill proposed by the Central Government applies to workers in formal as well as informal sectors and paves the way for formulation of universal new social security schemes, which include pension, provident fund, maternity benefit, medical, sickness, disablement, invalidity and unemployment benefits. In the labour code, the unorganised sector includes establishments which employ workers and the number of workers is less than the threshold, self-employed units, households that employ domestic workers for carrying out activities of the household. Unorganised workers means home based workers, self-employed workers, owners cum workers, wage workers in the unorganised sector and any person who performs a work for an entity or provides service whether regularly or part time and work place means any location where a worker works that includes residential place.
The code has proposed social security organisations at the national and State level as the National Social Security Council, the Central Board of Social Security and the State Board of Social Security. The national council shall be headed by the Prime Minister as its Chairperson. The national council will review and monitor the implementation of the code and maintain coordination between the Central and State Governments. The Central Government will constitute an executive committee to assist the national council in performance of its function. There shall be a Regulator General of Social Security of India to be appointed by the Central Government who will be a member secretary of the national council as executive head of the social security organisation.
The Central board will be headed by the Union Minister of labour and Employment as its Chairperson. The board will administer schemes and centrally manage registration of workers and entities and maintain data base. There shall be a Director General of the Central Board as its Member Secretary to do the executive work. The State Board will be headed by the Chief Minister as its Chairperson and State Minister of labour as its Vice–Chairperson. The State Government will constitute a standing committee to assist the State Board. It will be the duty of the Board to implement and administer the schemes of social security in the respective State. The Board will manage the registration of workers to enforce the code and ensure compliance.
Added to this, there will be an advisory committee at the Central and State level to advice, promote and facilitate the process.
The State Board in coordination with the Central Board shall provide a unique Aadhar linked registration service for registration of workers and make available a social security account number –Vishwakarma Karmik Surakshya Khata (VIKAS). The social security account is portable if the worker migrates to other State. The local body of the area shall be the registering authority for the workers in the locality. The worker engaged in part time work in two or more units has to choose the employer of his choice for registration. The State Board will set up facilitation centers through local bodies or any intermediate agencies to disseminate information on available social security schemes for workers and facilitate filling, processing and forwarding of applications forms for registration of workers. The facilitation centers will disburse benefits under the schemes for the workers and also collect contributions and deposit to the State Social Security Fund while facilitating employers and workers to file returns.
There shall be Social Security Fund in each State as state social security fund and state gratuity fund to be administered by the State Board out of contribution paid by the employers and workers. The Central or the State Government will set up welfare funds which will be administered by the State Government. There will also be social security reserve fund under State control to ensure compensation awarded to the workers. The funds will be collected through levy of cess on buildings and other construction, manufacture of Beedis, audio visual production and ores and minerals. There will be collection of the duties of Excise and its remittance.
The Central Government will prescribe schemes for social security and the State Government will make supplementary schemes which include pension schemes to provide superannuation pension, retirement pension or permanent disablement pension. It also includes sickness benefit schemes providing for periodical cash payment to workers in cash in case of his/her sickness, maternity benefit schemes, disablement benefit schemes, invalidity benefit schemes who meets with accident during work, dependent benefit schemes who dies during the service, medical benefit schemes to the worker and family members and group insurance covering natural and accidental death, unemployment benefit schemes for providing unemployment allowances in case of loss of job or earning, provident fund scheme and international workers’ pension schemes for international workers.
The worker is entitled to receive only one benefit for the same period. The violation of code attracts penal provisions.
Meanwhile, the proposed labour code has been criticized by trade unions on the ground of undermining workers’ rights and seen as a process of privatization of existing social security provision by involvement of private players as intermediaries in administering social security schemes while limiting the role of trade unions.
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