Parliament on Friday approved a Bill to enable introduction of minimum wage for every worker besides addressing issues like delay in payment to employees, with Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar asserting it will benefit about 50 crore workers in the country.
The Code on Wages Bill, 2019 — which seeks to amend and consolidate the laws relating to wages, bonus and matters connected therewith — was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 85 members in favour and 8 against. It was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 30.
The Bill will subsume four labour laws — Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Wages Act, Payment of Bonus Act and Equal Remuneration Act. After its enactment, all these four Acts would be repealed. Moving the bill for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha, Gangwar said, “Every labourer should have a respectful life. It is an historic bill. About 50 crore labourers will benefit.”
While drafting the Bill, the Minister said the Government has accepted 17 out of the 24 recommendations made by the Standing Committee which had scrutinised the similar Bill introduced in the previous Lok Sabha. Replying to the discussion on the Bill, he said all such workers in the country will come under the ambit of minimum wages.