A parliamentary panel may seek key changes in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code after it was flooded with demands by various organisations and trade bodies to be more flexible over rules for small and medium enterprises and to allow them to work longer hours, and have shared facilities such as crèches.
The parliamentary committee on labour is reviewing the OSH code, one of the four codes aimed at overhauling India’s archaic labour sector laws to make them more industry- and worker-friendly. Out of the four codes, the wage code has already been cleared by Parliament. Another, the code on industrial relations, has been cleared by the Union cabinet.
The OSH code has prescribed that “holidays and working hours or any other condition to be observed by the employer may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.” According to prevailing laws and international norms, up to eight hours of work is allowed following the first International Labour Organization (ILO) convention in 1919.
“Many organisations who deposed before us feel that the eight hour-schedule was sacrosanct in the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution. But now, a hundred years after the first ILO convention, the world has changed. So, there is an opportunity to look into the issue,” said labour panel chief Bhartruhari Mahtab, a six-term MP from the Biju Janata Dal.
Another panel member added on condition of anonymity that at least in some sectors such as textiles and information technology, the government can think of extending working hours.
{{/usCountry}}Another panel member added on condition of anonymity that at least in some sectors such as textiles and information technology, the government can think of extending working hours.
{{/usCountry}}Panel members also said that the extended fixed hours would be at higher wages. Trade unions affiliated to the Left parties submitted a memorandum to the panel and are vehemently opposed to any such plan. “The historic May Day is a result of the workers’ demand for fix working hours. International conventions have divided the day into eight hours of sleep, eight hours for work and eight hours for recreation for workers,” said Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) general secretary Tapan Sen.
The code puts the onus on the employers to provide a crèche and other facilities for women workers who are allowed to work in night shifts. These provisions, many members said, are capital-intensive and place a burden on people who run small and medium sector enterprises. The panel may consider asking the government to allow common facilities for workers in a particular sector and area which can be maintained by a group of enterprises. “As it is the MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) work on slender profit margins amid tough competition. Individual enterprises may find it difficult to maintain their separate facilities. So a joint facility can be a feasible idea,” said a third panel member, also on condition of anonymity.
The labour committee has so far met the Indian Film and TV Producers Council, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives’ Associations of India, Action Aid Association, National Labour Law Association, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Joint Forum of Plantation Workers Unions, Darjeeling Planters Association, Tea Association of India and several trade unions. “The panel will now meet a few states before finalising its report,” Mahtab added.
During the discussions, many members and different organisations have also pointed out that the OSH Code is applicable only for establishments with 10 or more workers, excluding a large number of workers who work in micro, family-run establishments. The panel may ask the government to devise a mechanism to ensure safety and good health of a worker in such establishments as health and safety of all workers are important.