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New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 strengthens collective bargaining, dispute resolution and job security through clear, uniform provisions. This Code empowers workers with uniform definitions while providing employers greater flexibility in operations and ease of doing business. Overall, it aims to promote industrial peace, boost productivity and support a balanced, growth-oriented work environment, according to an official statement issued on Sunday.
To ensure that more workers have access to basic labor rights, the definition of ’employee’ has been expanded to include sales promotion staff, working journalists and supervisory staff earning up to Rs 18,000 per month, thereby extending statutory labor protections to a wider section of the workforce.
The National Labor Commission highlighted the need to rationalize and simplify the existing labor laws with the aim of protecting the interests of workers. The integration of three existing laws – the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, the Trade Union Act 1926 and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 – into the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 is a step in this direction.
The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 is designed to consolidate and amend the laws relating to trade unions, retrenchment, industrial disputes and simplify compliance by providing uniform definitions. The Code seeks to promote industrial harmony by balancing labor protection with business flexibility and facilitating ease of doing business.
The statement said that with the introduction of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the number of rules has been reduced from 105 to 51, the number of forms from 37 to 18 and the number of registers from 3 to zero, thereby reducing the overall compliance burden to promote employment. It provides access to benefits such as health care and sick leave.
The Code expands the definition of “industry” to include any organized activity carried on by co-operation between an employer and employee, whether capital is invested or profit is intended, thereby bringing within its scope non-profitable and low-capital activities.
It expands labor rights of employees in non-profit and non-capital-based organizations and expands access to formal dispute resolution through conciliation authorities and industrial tribunals. Collective bargaining rights now available to more workers
A single, consistent definition of wages has been implemented in all labor codes. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 provides for a 50 per cent limit on exclusion to ensure that statutory benefits such as gratuity, retrenchment compensation and social security contributions are calculated on a fair and adequate share of actual earnings, thereby preventing employers from artificially dividing salaries to reduce liabilities. Legally, this is consistent with the principle of beneficial construction in social welfare law, giving courts a clear statutory basis for protecting workers’ rights and reducing the ambiguity that previously caused disputes.
Trade unions that previously lacked formal recognition now have a clear path to legal recognition. A union with 51 per cent membership in an establishment may be classified as a negotiating union with special rights to represent workers in collective bargaining and grievance redressal. The statement further explained that if this limit is not met, a negotiation council will be formed, which will include representatives of all trade unions with at least 20 percent membership.
–IANS
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