Rajasthan Assembly to take up labour reform Bills on Thursday

The amendments proposed in the Industrial Disputes Act include empowering employers to retrench up to 300 employees without govt permission

The Rajasthan Assembly is likely to discuss four labour reform Bills - including the one that would give greater freedom to employers in hiring and firing workers - on Thursday.

The Bills propose amendments to the Factories Act, 1948, the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and the Apprenticeship Act, 1961, that the Rajasthan government had tabled in the House last week.

As these laws fall under the Constitution's concurrent list, the state can bring amendments and subsequently seek the President's assent. The Vasundhara Raje government has an advantage in clearing the Bills as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds a three-fourth majority in the 200-member Assembly.

The amendments proposed in the Industrial Disputes Act include empowering employers to retrench up to 300 employees without prior permission of the government. At the moment, the upper limit is 100 employees. Plus, in case of retrenchment, a worker should raise objection within three months. At present, there is no time limit.

The proposed amendment says a trade union can be formed only if it gets 30 per cent of the total workers as members. The figure is 15 per cent at the moment.

The amendments in the Factories Act propose to increase the threshold limit of employment for factories operating without power from 20 to 40 and from 10 to 20 for factories operating with power. Complaints against the employer about violation of this Act would not receive cognisance by a court without the prior written permission from the state government. A provision for compounding of offence has also been added. According to the proposed amendment, the Contract Labour Act will only be applicable to companies that employ more than 50 workers, against the current 20.

Amendments to the Apprenticeship Act call for a third-party training provider along with ease in rules to add more trades.

Trade unions have opposed the amendments, threatening to organise protests.

"The amendment proposals to labour laws by the BJP government in Rajasthan are aimed at establishing a jungle raj in workplaces, giving the capitalist class complete freedom to loot and exploit the workers," said a statement by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions.