Labour Laws

The company said its US workforce strategy centres on hiring local employees, including through campus recruitment; it aims to hire 15,000 people in the US over five years

Shram Samvad campaign will cover industrial clusters across 316 districts, with consultations involving industry, lawyers, chartered accountants and other stakeholders

Top executives are arguing that high labour costs are eroding Germany's competitiveness

Experts say workers in some hospitals, educational institutions and service establishments could lose access to retrenchment safeguards and dispute mechanisms

Pending and concluded matters under the Industrial Disputes Act will remain governed by the Bangalore Water Supply test, while the new Code's definition will be interpreted independently

Actuarial projections show ESIC's benefit spending could outpace contribution income over the next four years, even as interest income keeps the corporation in surplus

A parliamentary panel has flagged India's heavy compliance burden, saying overlapping rules and approvals continue to raise business costs despite deregulation efforts

At the Mumbai meeting, states and UTs are expected to present the progress made on these initiatives, share best practices and highlight challenges faced during implementation

In a major policy shift hailed as "gold standard for progressive labour governance", the Telangana government has officially banned cash wage payments to workers, mandated electronic transfer, and brought gig workers under the safety net of minimum wages. A new government order (GO) on labour governance activates the provisions of the Centre's Code on Wages, 2019, completely repealing and superseding the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, across the state. A government statement on Monday said, "Payouts via paper cash are explicitly banned. Employers must disburse wages through direct electronic transfer (NEFT/RTGS/IMPS) or bank check, building an unalterable trail for labour inspectors and protecting vulnerable workgroups." By bridging structural business requirements with social protections, the GO (No 6) achieves an "elegant legal balance," it said. The GO eliminates the "fragmented, friction-heavy industries-wise frameworks seen in other states" and implements a unified, transparent grid

Experts say overlaps between Labour Codes and state Shops and Establishments Acts may create compliance uncertainty for companies across working hours and leave rules

Millions of them don't have clear job contracts and safety benefits

A second trade investigation launched by the US into alleged forced labour practices across 60 economies, including India and China, is expected to place particular scrutiny on Beijing amid allegations of forced labour in the Xinjiang region, think tank GTRI said on Sunday. India's exports of solar panels, electronics and garments to the US may also face closer scrutiny under this new US investigation into forced labour in global supply chains, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. On March 12, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched a Section 301 probe, covering 60 economies. This is the second Section 301 probe this month. The investigations will determine whether acts, policies, and practices of each of these economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labour are unreasonable or discriminatory, and burden or restrict US commerce. The probe will examine whether countries allow

Under the Code on Wages, fixed term employees are now eligible for payment of gratuity if they serve for a minimum period of one year

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday said the recently passed Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act addresses the labour shortage faced during peak farm seasons. The VB-G RAM G Act, which replaces the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), was passed in Parliament last week. Addressing virtually on the occasion of Farmers Day, Chouhan said the law strikes a balance between the welfare of farmers and labourers, according to an official statement. "VB-G RAM G is extremely useful in the broader interest of the country, as it empowers and makes the farming community self-reliant. While the VB-G RAM G fully takes care of the upliftment of labourers, it also focuses on farmers, ensuring sufficient labourers are available for farming," he said. The minister pointed out that farmers often face difficulty in finding labourers during sowing and harvesting seasons. "Now with this new law, this problem wil

The proposal to rename the rural employment scheme, raise the number of guaranteed workdays and alter its cost-sharing structure has reignited debate over its implementation and intent

Civil society groups say the VB-G RAM G Bill could weaken casual labour's bargaining power, as MGNREGA served as a safety net and fall back option when farm wages turned unattractive

Gurnani said that both the Centre and state governments will help the labour inspectors understand their new role of inspector-cum-facilitator and provide them with training

The Centre has proposed renaming MGNREGA as VB-RaM G, raising guaranteed workdays to 125 and shifting the funding pattern to 60:40, drawing criticism over diluted worker protections

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

From national floor wages to fixed-term employment, the reforms introduce long-awaited changes, but uniform state-level adoption is key to avoiding fresh complexity