Code on Wages Bill likely in the Monsoon session of Parliament

Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today said his department is working hard to lay the Code on Wages Bill in the Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session.
The labour ministry had earlier sought a Cabinet approval for the new labour code on wages, a move which is seen as a first step towards labour reforms.
"If the new bill is passed in the Parliament and becomes an Act, it will significantly improve the ease of doing business as well as ensure minimum wages to all workers," the minister said talking to reporters after inaugurating the new building of ESIC regional office here.

The Code on Wages Bill, which will ensure universal minimum wage for all industries and workers, has already been approved by the union finance minister Arun Jaitley-led inter-ministerial panel on labour.
The Code on Wages Bill also seeks to empower the Centre to set a minimum wage across sectors, which the states will have to follow.
However, the states will be able to provide higher minimum wage in their jurisdiction than fixed by the Centre.

The minimum wage will be applicable to all classes of workers, which at present, is applicable to scheduled industries or establishments in the law.
Under the Code on Wages, the labour ministry has chalked out plans to streamline the definition of wages by amalgamating four wage-related statutes.

Employees now grapple with nearly half a dozen definitions of wages in various Acts across the Centre and states, Dattatreya said.
"We have decided to amalgamate 44 labour laws into four codes that include code on wages, code on industrial relations, code on social security, and code on safety, health and working conditions," the minister added.