When Will the New Labour Codes Be Enacted? Seeking Expert Insights

Experts, please suggest when the four new Labour Codes will be enacted.

Dear Colleague,

Consolidation of Labour Laws in India

The Labour Ministry, Government of India, has consolidated 29 central labour laws into four labour codes. These include the Code on Wages, the Code on Social Security, the Industrial Relations Code, and the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code.

1. As we all know, the "Appropriate Government" is the Central Government for a certain defined class of industries and the State Government for a certain class of industries or establishments.

Central Government

Regarding the Central Government, all four Labour Codes have been enacted—passed in both houses of Parliament, and the assent of the President has been given. Rules have been framed under all four Labour Codes. The only pending aspect is the date of implementation. It is ready and set to go!

Initially proposed for implementation on 1st April 2021, the date was later postponed to 1st October 2021 for various reasons. However, the implementation date is currently deferred indefinitely due to numerous representations from Employers' Organizations and Trade Unions. Additionally, many State Governments are yet to frame Rules under the applicable Labour Codes for their respective states. The Central Government is resolute in implementing all four Labour Codes simultaneously from the same date. The Center has provided time to State Governments to prepare rules for their respective states.

State Governments

Most State Governments have either completed drafting the Rules or are in the final stages of drafting them under the Labour Codes.

As of now, the clear declaration of the implementation date is pending. It is speculated that due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, industries have been granted some breathing space to recover from economic challenges before the codes are enforced. It is anticipated that all four Labour Codes will be implemented in the fiscal year 2022.

As HR professionals, we need to ensure that the organization is prepared in all aspects for the key provisions that may have a direct or indirect impact. Conducting internal risk assessment audits, identifying gaps, and having an action plan ready for implementation are essential steps.

Reference Article

Sharing an article on this subject for reference: https://www.financialexpress.com/ind...dline/2309682/

Thanks and God Bless,

Dr. P. Sivakumar
DrSIVAGLOBALHR
Tamil Nadu

Dear Uddhav,

I think the actual information you need is regarding when the four Labor Codes will be enforced. The Code on Wages, 2019, was passed by Parliament and received the assent of the President in 2019, and the remaining three were in 2020. Thus, the four comprehensive Codes on Labor, subsuming 29 existing Central Labor Laws, are already enacted in the legal sense. However, the date of their respective enforcement is to be notified by the Central Government after framing the Central Rules and the State Rules, which is in progress. Without Rules, a Law cannot be enforced.

In fact, the Rules convert the skeletal structure of the enacted Act/Law into a functioning organic body by providing the necessary functional inputs like the appointment of administrative machinery, defining their powers, duties, and territorial jurisdiction, formats of forms and notices, registers and returns, cognizance of offenses by Courts, and the amount of fines and/or the extent of sentences, etc.