Firms can now convert permanent jobs into fixed-term contracts

The Union government has done away with the safeguard provision that deterred employers from converting permanent jobs into fixed-term contracts, as part of the new labour laws notified last week.

The Industrial Relations (IR) Code, 2020, notified on September 29, has allowed companies to hire contract workers directly through fixed-term contract, known as fixed-term employment. Earlier, firms had to go through a contractor to hire contract workers — seen as an expensive and cumbersome process.

Fixed-term contract workers are entitled to receive all statutory dues that permanent workers in the same unit get. But such workers, unlike permanent employees, are