13 Central Labour Acts will be subsumes - The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Bill, 2019

The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Bill, 2019 Introduced in Lok Sabha Today (23.07.2019)

The Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment introduced The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha today (23.07.2019) to amend the laws regulating the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions of the persons employed in an establishment.

With the ultimate Aim of extending the safety and healthy working conditions to all workforce of the country, the Code enhances the ambit of provisions of safety, health, welfare and working conditions from existing about 9 major sectors to all establishments having 10 or more employees.

Applicability

The proposed Code enhances the coverage of workers manifold as it would be applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more workers, where any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation is carried on, including, IT establishments or establishments of service sector.

Further the varying threshold of applicability has been made uniform at 10 workers for all establishments except mines and dock where the Code would be applicable even with 1 worker.

This Code subsumes relevant provisions of 13 Central Labour Acts viz:

1.      The Factories Act, 1948;

2.      The Mines Act, 1952;

3.      The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986 ;

4.      The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996 -,

5.      The Plantations Labour Act, 1951;

6.      The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970;

7.      The Inter-State Migrant workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979;

8.      The Working Journalist and other News Paper Employees (Conditions of Service and Misc. Provision) Act, 1955;

9.      The Working Journalist (Fixation of rates of wages) Act, 1958;

10.  The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961;

11.  Sales Promotion Employees (Condition of Service) Act, 1976;

12.  The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment)Act, 1966 and

13.  The Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers Act, 1981.

Definition modified:

In order to ensure wider coverage, the definitions of Working Journalists and Cine worker have also been modified to include workers employed in electronic media and all forms of audio visual production.

Similarly, the definition of inter-state migrant worker has also been proposed to be modified to include those migrant workers who are being employed directly by the employer from other States without contractor or agent.

Salient features of the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions are as under:

1. Extending the ambit of Occupational safety, Health and Working conditions to all sectors.

2. Simple legislation with flexibility in changing the provisions in tune with emerging technologies and makes the legislation dynamic.

3. The Bill proposes one registration for an establishment instead of multiple registrations.

4. Employer to provide free of cost annual health checks-up for employees above prescribed age for prescribed tests and for prescribed establishments.

5. First time statutory provision to issue appointment letter to every employee of the establishment with the minimum information prescribed by the appropriate government.

6. The multiple committees under five labour Acts have been substituted by one National Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board.

7. Enabling provision for constituting a bi-partite Safety Committee in any class of establishment by appropriate government.

8. A part of the penalty for contravention of provisions relating to duties of employer leading to death or serious bodily injury to any person may be given to the victim or the legal heirs of the victim by the Court.

9. The proposed Code has envisaged uniform threshold for welfare provisions for all establishment as far as practicably feasible.

10. Women permitted to work beyond 7 PM and before 6 AM subject to the safety, holidays, working hours or any other condition as prescribed by appropriate government in respect of prescribed establishments.

11. The provision of one license and one return in place of multiple licenses and returns in existing 13 labour laws subsumed in this Code to save time, resources and efforts of establishments.

Press Release

http://www.pib.nic.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1551802