Govt to consult unions on amendment to labour laws

With the government keen on amending the Factories Act, Labour and Employment Minister Narendra Singh Tomar today said the Centre would hold consultations with trade unions in this regard.
"The bill is in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha... We have full respect for trade unions. The government would hold consultations with the trade unions on these issues," he told reporters here.
Altogether, the amendment of three bills pertaining to the Labour Ministry have been tabled in Parliament, he said.
While the Apprentices (Amendment) Bill 2014 has been passed in the Lok Sabha, Factories' Act 1948 and the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act 1988 are under consideration in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

Allowing the employment of women at night in factory with adequate measures for safety and provision of transportation till doorstep of their residence, enhancing the limit of overtime hours from the present limit of 50 hours per quarter to 100 hours per quarter are part of the amendments proposed in the Factories Act.
Replying to a query on whether Centre is considering investing EPFO funds in the share market, Tomar said they would act upon the suggestions of fund managers.

"There are fund managers with us and we would act on the suggestions of these fund managers on EPFO. But, we do not directly invest," he said.

Highlighting the achievements of his ministry in the last 100 days, Tomar also listed out schemes that are to be unveiled in the near future.
"We have approved the Labour Inspection Scheme, which has several features including uploading the Inspection Report on the web portal within 72 hours after inspection," he said.
The Minister also spoke about creation of model ITIs and career centres for the benefit of the workforce in the country.