The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Centre notifies draft wage rules, recommends eight hour working day

    Synopsis

    The draft rules of the Centre has recommended eight hour working day against 10-12 hours in nearly 12 states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab who have raised the work hours for labourers to address the issue of labour shortage and ensure social distancing at the work site.

    Untitled-8Agencies
    The draft rules have also proposed the country be divided into three geographic categories – metropolitan area with a population of 40 lakh or more, non-metropolitan area with a population of 10-40 lakh and rural areas – to set the minimum wage.
    The labour ministry has notified the draft wage rules under the Labour Code on Wages, paving way for an eight hour working day in factories and establishments, conflicting the recent move by at least a dozen state governments to enhance the work hours in factories to either 10 or 12 hours.

    While the draft rules have left it to the technical committee to determine minimum wages in the country, there is no clarity on the criteria for determining the national floor level statutory minimum wage for the country.

    “The normal working day under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13 shall be comprised of eight hours of work and one or more intervals of rest which in total shall not exceed one hour,” labour ministry has said in the draft rules called the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2020.

    Nearly 12 states including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab among others have raised the work hours for labourers to address the issue of labour shortage and ensure social distancing at the work site through notifications under the Factories Act, which is being proposed to be subsumed under the code on occupational safety.

    “The fixing of work hours at 8 hours a day under the wage rules is in conflict with enhanced work hours announced by some states. Consequently, the actual minimum wage will be less than the one prescribed by the technical committee in these states,” labour economist KR Shyam Sundar said.

    The draft rules have also proposed the country be divided into three geographic categories – metropolitan area with a population of 40 lakh or more, non-metropolitan area with a population of 10-40 lakh and rural areas – to set the minimum wage.

    Besides, it has classified expenditure limits across different heads based on which the minimum wage will be calculated. For instance, 10% of minimum wage has to be spent on house rent while the expenditure on fuel, electricity and miscellaneous items will constitute 20% of the minimum wage and that on education, health and other contingencies would constitute 25% of the minimum wage.

    While calculating the wage, an intake of 2,700 calories per day and 66 metres of clothing per annum for a standard family will be taken into account.

    “It is absolutely disappointing that the Rules have failed to describe the exact criteria for determining the national floor level minimum wage, which is very critical for workers,” Sundar added.

    Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, a central trade union affiliated to the RSS, however, welcomed the draft rules saying it is a step towards universalisation. "It will help reduce the wage disparity across the country,"Vrijesh Upadhyaya, secretary general of BMS said.

    An internal panel of the labour ministry had said in its report last year that “the single value of the national minimum wage for India should be set at Rs 375 per day as of July 2018. In addition to the minimum monthly wage of Rs 9,750, the seven-member panel had also suggested that a housing allowance of Rs 1,430 should be provided for city-based workers.



    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 News, Budget 2024 Live Coverage, Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more

    (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
    (Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 News, Budget 2024 Live Coverage, Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.

    ...more
    The Economic Times

    Stories you might be interested in