Want labour machinery to focus on defaulting firms: Labour Secretary

Labour Secretary Vandana Gurnani talks about how the ministry plans to enforce worker protections without bureaucratic drags and how states are aligning their rules with the national framework

Days after the Centre notified the long-pending four labour Codes, the labour ministry is busy with preparatory work in finalising the rules. In an interview at her office in New Delhi, Labour Secretary Vandana Gurnani tells Shiva Rajora and Asit Ranjan Mishra how the ministry plans to enforce worker protections without bureaucratic drags and how states are aligning their rules with the national framework. Edited excerpts:

 

Labour is a concurrent subject and states too need to notify the Labour Code rules. How are the states gearing up? What kind of interaction are you having with the states?

 

Interaction is a continuous process. It is not that it is happening only now. We’ve had six regional consultations with the states and their rules are in sync with the national framework. States have the flexibility to adapt the rules to their local context. We will continue to have this engagement and in areas where they need support. 

 

Since states have the flexibility in rulemaking, don’t you think rules may diverge drastically and in turn may create problems for both employees as well as employers?  

 

The rules that states have made are in sync with whatever the national framework is. In the Codes, there are sections in which only the states have to make rules, so they will be making those rules. So it’s not as if there will be a huge divergence because the overall framework has been set by the Codes. We have not seen any such divergence [yet]. 

 

How do you ensure that worker-friendly provisions such as the minimum wage and universal social security are executed?

 

On minimum wage, there is no confusion regarding its application. It is universal now. Many a time legislation is not enforced easily because of grey areas [in interpretation]. Soon floor wage will also be declared, meaning that no state can set its minimum wage below the floor rate. 

 

We want to make the inspection system web-based, using artificial intelligence and big data. We would make sure that the energy of the labour machinery is focused on defaulting organisations and that it has better oversight over such organisations. Human interface is going to be reduced.

 

On safeguards for workers, grievance-redressing committees with tripartite representation are proposed in workplaces, apart from having trade unions. In fact, trade unions get legal recognition under the Codes. 

 

Tribunals, which are the legal recourse for workers, are also being broadbased. Each tribunal will have an administrative member, along with a judicial member. This is being done with the expectation that a two-member tribunal will be able to dispose of cases faster. So these are the legal safeguards. 

 

For social security to unorganised workers a tripartite national board will be set up, which will be able to oversee the rollout of the social security for the unorganised sector. Similarly, a separate board has been proposed for gig and platform workers. All these will be tripartite in nature.

 

Due to change in the definition of wage, companies also have to change the wage structure. Don’t you think it will be unpopular with the employees because the take-home salary may come down?

 

This formula needs to be understood. It says that if the allowances are more than 50 per cent (of the total) -- in the past there was a tendency to depress the wage and to increase the allowances -- the difference gets added to the basic wage. Now, what does it do? It will increase the contribution to gratuity, which is something the employer has to give. It will increase the maternity benefit, which is linked to the wage and is, again, the employer’s responsibility. 

 

When it comes to provident fund (PF), [remember that] contribution is mandatory up to basic wage of ₹15,000. It’s a very small amount or a small proportion. The vast majority is voluntary and is between employer and employee. Hence, the impact of this in terms on the number of people affected, as well as the amount of deduction, is going to be minuscule. Therefore saying the take-home salary will drastically reduce is [not right]. 

 

The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said AI might disrupt the labour market in India significantly. How do you see this in the context of the Codes? How prepared are we?

 

Most assessments have shown while AI will disrupt some jobs, it will also create jobs. We in the labour ministry are trying our best to make sure that our national career service (NCS) portal, which we offer as a job-matching kind of a service, is upgraded. It has been significantly upgraded. We are working on a pilot where we want to see how we can take NCS towards our digital public infrastructure, which can be used by various people in the ecosystem.