As we enter the third year with China’s greatest threat to modern mankind (Coronavirus) still wreaking havoc in its new, myriad forms — the world has gone through a multitude of changes. The Indian government is now mulling to bring a radical change in the working days of the office-goers. According to PTI, by the next fiscal year, the government will implement four new labour codes on wages, social security, industrial relations, and occupational safety.
Quoting senior government officials, the news wire agency stated that under the new code, a number of aspects related to employment and work culture, in general, might change — including the take-home salary of employees, working hours, and the number of weekdays.
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“The four labour codes are likely to be implemented in the next financial year of 2022-23 as a large number of states have finalised draft rules on these. The Centre has completed the process of finalising the draft rules on these codes in February 2021. But since labour is a concurrent subject, the Centre wants the states to implement these as well in one go,” the official said.
The catch? Work hours will increase, in-hand pay may decrease:
If the changes see the light of the day, the workweeks may be reduced from the current 5 or 6 days to 4 days. However, before one goes around and starts marking their calendars for the getaways, one should understand that there might be a catch.
The catch being that the work hours in the truncated work week could be increased from the current 8 hours to 12 hours. The labour ministry has indicated that the 48-hour weekly work requirement will remain stoically in place.
Moreover, once these codes are implemented, there will be a reduction in the in-hand salary of employees while firms will have to bear a higher provident fund liability.
Ball in states’ court:
The center has formularized the rules under the four labour codes. The ball is now in the state’s court and they are required to frame regulations on their part as labour is a concurrent subject.
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However, the states have shown a lethargic approach towards the new reforms. Bhupender Yadav, the Union labour Minister, informed the upper house last week that the ‘Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code’ is the only code on which 13 states have pre-published the draft rules.
Many companies across the globe are experimenting with hybrid systems where employees are coming to offices on one or two days of the week, while working from home on other days. With the coronavirus continuously mutating and becoming increasingly transmissible, it may not be a bad idea to bring the new codes. However, with a country as large as India where most sectors are informal, it will be intriguing to watch how government addresses the challenges.