29, Which all laws are covered under the heading of labour laws

The newsletter on Human Resource expert opinion, for the Indian context

When we talk about labor laws, one of the important things that gets asked is, which are the laws that we need to follow as an organisation to be compliant.

Finding out the list of laws is not something which is easy. So, today we are going to talk about the laws that you should be aware of, which normally get clubbed under the heading of labor laws.

There would be a lot of laws which would govern employment, which would govern the terms of employment but which would be outside the gamut of labor laws, and you should consult an expert who can advise you on how to be compliant to all of those.

But today we are just going to talk about the laws, which you should be aware, that need to be followed to be an organisation which is compliant to labor laws.

The list is long, so let us discuss those. If you are a standard organisation, then some of these laws will not apply to you. Like, if you're an organisation which is specifically into building and construction, then you have a law for that.

So we are not going to talk about those. We will talk about laws which are standard and applicable to most of the organisations which are involved in business as well as manufacturing.

One of the first laws we will talk about is called as the

Contract, Labour, Regulation and Abolition Act

The other one is called as the Interstate Migrant Workmen

Then we have the Equal Renumeration Act

We have the Minimum Wages Act

We have the Payment of Bonus Act,

and we have the Payment of Wages Act.

All these will get clubbed under, either the Code of Wages, or under the Code of Occupational Safety and Health. These are the new laws which are coming.

When we talk about the Code of OSH, as we call it, the Code of Occupational Safety and Health, we have a lot of other laws which get into this specifically. If you're a manufacturing organisation, then you also need to be aware of what we call as the

Factories Act

As of today, all these are separate acts. In future, when the code comes in, all of them will merge into a singular act.

The Code of OSH or other laws also, the dock workers,

the Beedi and cigar workers,

the building and other construction workers,

the Cine workers,

the mines,

the motor transport Act

Specifically, if you have a cab company that you are running, the motor transport workers comes,

the plantation act

And if you're a sales organisation or a pharma organisation, then the

Sales Promotion Employees Act

also gets applied and then we also have the

Working Journalist Act

So, these two predominantly would cover a certain group of laws. If we were to now talk about the others, which we need to be really careful about are the

Industrial Disputes Act,

the Industrial Employment Standing Order Act,

the Trade Unions Act.

These three will get clubbed into an act which will be called the Industrial Relations Code or the Code of Industrial Relations. As of today, these are three separate acts which are there. The other thing that one needs to be aware is called as the

Building and Other Construction Worker's Welfare cess,

this is if you are in that business. Similarly, for the Cine workers, what we now need to look at all of them are called the

Employees Compensation Act,

the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act,

the Employee State Insurance Act,

the Employment Exchanges Compulsory Notification of Vacancies Act,

the Maternity Benefit Act,

the Payment of Gratuity Act,

the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act.

All these get covered under a new code, which is coming in called as the Social Security Code. But as of today, all of them are separate acts. Now, some of these laws may apply to an organisation, some of these may not apply to an organisation.

A lot of discussions is happening about the four codes which will come and really make life easier. Yes, they would, but the point is that the laws that we discussed till now are going to be covered under the four codes or merged into the four codes. But there are other laws also which need to be followed by an organisation. Some fall under the Gambit of Labour Laws, some do not fall under the Gambit of labour Laws, but they are so much designed for a employment perspective or an organization perspective, that normally you will have your human resource function taking care of them.

So, I'm going to tell those also. The first is called the

sexual harassment of women at workplace prevention, prohibition and redressal act.

The other is the Apprentices Act.

And then we have the

Child and Adolescent Labor, Prohibition and Regulations Act.

There's another act which we normally ignore it and put it in the IT domain, but that is called as the

Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

That also includes certain sections which are necessary.

The Industrial Establishment's Conferment of Permanent Status to Workmen Act,

the Industrial Establishment's National and Festival Holidays Act,

the Information Technology Act.

The Labor Welfare Fund Act,

the Payment of Sustenance Allows Act,

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.

If you are not a factory, if you are not a manufacturing organisation, then you have a different act called as the

Shops and Establishment Act

Now, Shops and Establishment Act are not a central act. They are not run by the state, I mean, central government. They are run by each of the specific states where you are there. So depending on how many states you have offices, or registered offices, or offices on rent, you will need to be following all of these. And then the last one being called the

Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act.

So if you can follow all of these laws , you would normally be compliant to majority of the expectations that an organisation is required to fulfil from the side of a labour or employment laws.

India HR Guide is aimed at discussing and shedding light on aspects in a crisp manner that organisations in India follow in the area of Human Resources. It is aimed at CEO's, MD's and line managers to understand how various aspects of Human Resources can help shape their organisations journey in India. Our industry leading expert, Mandeep Singh, offers years of accumulated knowledge from having advised clients across sectors, and spread across the remotest corner of the country. Let's make the workplace, a better place.

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