"The present form of laws is impediment to growth, that's why there is a need of reforms."
The Labour Ministry plans to table as many as nine Bills in the upcoming winter session of Parliament starting next month in its bid to improve ease of doing business.
"The government wants to rationalise labour laws and these laws are in the interest of workers and will protect their rights. The purpose of this is employment generation and ease of doing business," Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya told reporters.
Explaining further, the minister said: "The present form of laws is impediment to growth, that's why there is a need of reforms."
The legislations that the Ministry plans to table in Parliament include Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012, and Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which have already been approved by the Cabinet.
Dattatreya said his ministry will place the Small Factories (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill before the Cabinet for vetting after which it will be placed before Parliament.
To simplify and rationalise laws, the 44 existing central labour laws will be converted into four codes, of which two -- the Labour Code on Wages and the Labour Code on Industrial Relations -- are being prepared to be placed before the Cabinet.
"Tripartite meetings are over on these two codes. We have tried our best to reach a consensus and there are a few differences, which will be solved. We are preparing a Cabinet note and we expect this to be cleared to be tabled in the coming session," Dattatreya hoped.
The ministry will also place before the Cabinet an amendment Bill for the Employees' Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Bill and upon clearance, this too shall be placed before Parliament for discussion and clearance.
"That apart, we will be approaching the Cabinet with amendments to the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill and the Employees' State Insurance Act," the minister said.
Asked why the government wants to bring two separate laws on wages, Dattatreya said: "The minimum wage in different forms will be featured in the wage code and the second part touches on a national minimum wage that will be statutory and all state governments will have to implement it," he added.
The ministry will also seek the Cabinet nod for a proposal to amend the Building and Other Construction Workers Related Laws Amendment Bill, which will also be placed in the winter session.
Even as the Labour Ministry is working on the next wave of labour reforms, the central trade unions are not on board on the industrial code, the Small Factories Bill and the EPF Amendment Bill.
They are strongly opposed to some amendments, including those relating to easing retrenchment, lay-offs and closure of units provision and forming unions under the proposed New Industrial Relations Code.
The Bill allows companies employing up to 300 workers to lay off staff without seeking official sanction. At present, industries hiring up to 100 workers are allowed to lay off without permission.
Besides, the unions are opposing the Small Factories Bill, which exempts units with less than 40 workers from 14 labour laws, including ESI and EPF Acts.
That means they can buy health insurance and provident fund schemes for their workers from the open market and need not subscribe to ESIC schemes as per the new law.
Unions have also objected to the proposed EPF Amendment Bill which seeks to provide an option to workers of the formal sector to choose between Employees' Provident Fund Scheme and the New Pension Scheme (NPS).
They feel that this will dilute the social security net. They have also been demanding Rs 15,000 per month minimum wages across the board.
As many as 10 trade unions observed a nationwide strike on September 2 against the government's proposed amendments to the labour laws through these Bills, which they termed as "anti-worker and unilateral".
The ministry wants to push these bills during the winter session to support the government's initiatives to improve ease of doing business and 'Make in India' programme.
The idea is the government wants to push foreign as well as domestic investments in the country for sustained economic recovery for Asia's third-largest economy.
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 "Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya")
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