The Ministry of Labour and Employment on Monday allayed doubts over reforms Bills known as Labour Codes passed by Parliament a few days ago, saying the criticisms being aired are unfounded.
On raising the employee limit of smaller units for closure to 300, the Ministry said the Parliamentary Standing Committee had also recommended an increase in threshold from 100 workers to 300 workers for seeking prior permission for retrenchment, lay-off and closure.
"It is only the aspect of prior permission of the appropriate government which has been removed and other benefits and workers' rights have been kept intact. The workers' rights such as notice before retrenchment, compensation at the rate of 15 days wages per completed year of service and pay in lieu of notice period has not been compromised." Further, the IR Code envisages an additional monetary benefit equivalent to 15 days of wages under the newly created Reskilling Fund. There has been no empirical evidence to suggest that a higher threshold promotes hire and fire, said the ministry in a statement.
Besides, the Ministry said that fixed-term employment is pro-worker. It has already been notified by Central government and 14 other States, including Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
