Align norms with Centre's labour codes: Govt to states

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Labour Codes and align them with the ones notified by the union labour ministry to minimise divergence and any possible legal issues after the roll out of codes.

A senior government official told ET that the Centre will reach out to all states and deliberate with them about their rules under each code to ensure they are not in conflict with central rules.
The move follows a recent study by the VV Giri National Labour Institute, an autonomous body under the ministry of labour and employment, which highlighted wide divergence in the rules, not only between the central and states and union territories but also among the states.

For example, the central rule provides for the spread over of 12 hours a day while Assam and Kerala restrict the spread over to ten-and-a-half hours a day.

Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have provisions for both under different conditions, the study flagged. Further, while central rules provide for revision of dearness allowance twice a year, Andhra Pradesh provides for the same only once a year and Uttar Pradesh does not have any rule in this regard

The Parliament had in 2019 and 2020 passed four labour codes-Code on Social Security, 2020; Code on Wages, 2019; Industrial Relations Code, 2020; and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020-to replace 29 labour laws.

While the President has given assent to all the codes, the government is yet to implement them. «The target is to convince identified states over the next six months to tweak their rules and align them with the central rules while persuading the laggard ones to fast-track framing of rules as the government aims to implement the codes after the general elections next year,» the official quoted above said.