Labour Min likely to seek Cabinet nod for IR Code this week

Labour Ministry is likely to move a Cabinet note on the Labour Code on Industrial Relations (IR) for its approval this week.

The ministry has completed all the formalities on the Code including the opinion of the Law ministry as well as tripartite discussions with trade unions and employers, a source said.

"Now it will be sent for the Cabinet approval as soon as this week. After approval, the Code will be put before Parliament for passage," the source added.

Code on Industrial Relations is one of the initiatives of the NDA government to subsume 44 labour laws into four broad codes -- Industrial Relations, Wages, Social Security and Industrial Safety and Welfare.
 

IR Code proposes to make retrenchment easier for firms employing up to 300 workers as well as make it tougher to form a trade union.

The bill seeks to combine Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Trade Unions Act, 1926, and Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 into a single code.

At present, companies employing 100 or more workers are required to seek government's permission for retrenchment under the Industrial Dispute Act.

Also, any seven or more members of a trade union can apply for registration of the Trade Union.

The draft bill proposes that 10 per cent of workers shall apply (be applicant) for registering a trade union.

The provision relating to easing retrenchment, lay off and closure norms and tougher rules for forming unions in the proposed bill has led to uproar by the central trade unions.

They went on a nationwide strike on September 2 last year as well as this year to protest proposed amendments to the labour laws, which the government says will improve ease of doing business.