Page 66 - Labor

Organisations opting flexi staffing to plug resource gaps: Report

The concept of 'Flexi staffing' is growing fast in India as 42 per cent of organisations are likely to employ temporary or contract staff in the next 3-6 months, says a survey. In the flexi staffing model, employees are recruited on a temporary or contract basis from staffing companies who facilitate hiring, on-boarding, documentation, pay rolling, employee benefits and exit management. According to the survey by staffing firm Kelly Services and Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), traditional laggard sectors like manufacturing are also adapting to this trend and are recruiting flexi staff. As per the survey, 42 per cent of the organisations indicated that they are very likely to employ temporary and contract staff in the next three to six months. Moreover, 68 per cent of organisations reported that they hire temporary staff for a period of six months to one year on short-term projects. "Flexi staffing bridges the divide between organised and unorganised sectors and plugs the

EPFO allows enrolment of new employees without Aaddhaar in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland

Retirement fund body EPFO has allowed enrolment of new members without Aadhaar in Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, on account of low penetration of the 12 digit unique identity number in these states. In an office order the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has allowed generation or creation of unique (PF) account number without Aadhaar in Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland till November 23, 2018. "Aadhaar is required for generation of UAN in respect of every employee who join an establishment registered with EPFO. However, the penetration of Aadhaar is very low in Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland...a provision has been made available in the unified portal for generation of UAN without Aadhaar in any of the three states," an EPFO said in the order. The body has over six crore subscribers across the country and manages a corpus of over Rs 10 lakh crore.

Simplilearn, Genpact partner to help employees up-skill in digital technologies

Professional services firm Genpact has tied up with education technology company Simplilearn to help employees up-skill in digital technologies. As part of Genpact's strategic global learning initiative called Education@Work, all existing employees can utilise the Genpact Training & Development portal and choose to up-skill from over 150 courses. The courses are across digital areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Data & Analytics, Digital Marketing, and Cyber Security, among others. "With the advent of disruptive technologies, AI and automation are bringing swift changes in the workforce dynamics and the Indian IT industry. This is driving an inherent need for companies and individuals to commit to upskilling and retraining programs," Neelu Chawla Vice President, Corporate Learning & Development Genpact said. The courses have been co-created by industry domain leaders and are available through a blend of online self-learning, ...

Ghaziabad I-T officials to go 2-day strike from tomorrow

Scores of Group-C income tax department employees protested on the I-T Building premises here, demanding implementation of rotational transfer system. For the second consecutive day, I-T employees protested during lunch hour today,officials said. General Secretary of Income Tax Employees' Federation (ITEF) K C Shukla accused Chief Commissioner Rajni Kant Gupta of harassing the employees and not implementing local transfer posting policy which have already been implemented in the Kanpur and Dehradun. Around 2,500 employees are affected by this adamant attitude of the chief commissioner, I-T department sources said, adding that in other zones of the I-T department this policy is already being practised. The employees will abstain from their duties on Thursday and Friday, and instead protest at the Ghaziabad office. Around 2,500 ITEF members from Meerut, Noida, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh, Agra and Dehradun would take part in the protest. August 31 is the last date for filing income tax ...

Hry govt altered 18 labour laws in 4 yrs to help workers & industry: Minister

The present BJP government in Haryana has amended 18 labour laws in last four years to facilitate workers and employers and resolve irritants dogging the industry, State Minister for Labour and Employment Nayab Singh Saini said today. "18 labour laws have been amended during the tenure of the present government..," Saini said. He said relaxing 'Regulation 30' of the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, has allowed women employees to work in night shifts. This amendment allows women employees now to work from 7 pm to 6 am provided the employer ensures their safety and safe transportation. It has benefitted 439 commercial establishments and 92,718 women employees of the state, he said. The minister also talked of another amendment in the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) which earlier required firms with 100 or more workers to seek the government's permission to retrench or lay off workers. As per the amendment to the IDA, the firms having 300 or more employees only need ...

Ryanair gets another union on board as Italian pilots back deal

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Italian pilots union ANPAC said on Tuesday a majority of its pilots had approved a collective labour agreement (CLA) with Ryanair in the airline's latest breakthrough in efforts to quell staff protests around Europe.

Ryanair Italian pilot union approves labour agreement

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Italian pilot union ANPAC on Tuesday said a majority of its pilots had approved a collective labour agreement with Ryanair in the airline's latest breakthrough in efforts to quell staff protests around Europe. A majority of over 300 Ryanair pilots approved the deal, ANPAC said in a statement.

Odisha plumbers head to flood-hit Kerala for reconstruction

With reconstruction work under way in flood ravaged Kerala, skilled plumbers from Odisha's Kendrapara district are making a beeline to the southern state. The services of Kendrapara plumbers are being sought to set right the damaged drinking water and sewerage pipelines, an official said. Kendrapara is known in the country and abroad for its skillful plumbers. Placement agencies and firms in Kerala are intent on seeking the services of Kendrapara lumbers, he said. "Batches of plumbers from the district have begun leaving for Kerala. The process has started in the past two to three days. We have received reports in this regard from the native villages of these skilled workforces," said Rajnagar Tehsildar, Nihar Ranjan Mallick. The plumbers who were engaged elsewhere have also left their workplace to head for Kerala. "I was engaged in a plumbing firm in Kolkata. I have taken a month's break from my job to return home. We a batch of plumbers will leave for Ernakulum very ...

Chinese firm close to buying Israel's ColorChip for $300 million - media

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's ColorChip, a maker of communication components for telecom providers and data centres, is close to being bought by an unnamed Chinese company for as much as $300 million, Israeli media reported on Monday.

Worker unrest disrupts production at Odisha unit: JK Paper

JK Paper today said some contract workers have disrupted production at its Rayagada plant in Odisha since morning. Some of the contract workers at JK Paper Mills (JKPM) at Rayagada district in Odisha, have resorted to illegal and unlawful stoppage of work, which has resulted in disruption of production since today early morning, the leading paper maker said in a regulatory filing. The matter is being handled by the labour department and local administration, Government of Odisha, it added. JK Paper has two paper manufacturing units JKPM at Rayagada and Central Pulp Mills, Songadh, Gujarat with a combined capacity of 4,55,000 TPA. The company, which is a leading player in branded copier paper segment and among top players in coated paper and high-end packaging boards, had recently invested about Rs 1,775 crore in expanding and modernising the Rayagada plant.

ESIC payroll data: 23 lakh jobs lost in 10 months till June

If the employees' provident fund figures show 47 lakh new jobs were created between September 2017 and June 2018, over 23 lakh jobs were lost in the 10-month period, going by the employees' state insurance figures.

Strike affects MCL's coal mining in Talcher

Coal mining operations in the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) were severely affected today due to cessation of work by the contractors workers at Talcher coalfields, an official release said. Mahanadi Coalfields Contractual Transport Workers Union had called the agitation today in support of their demands, primarily the payment of enhanced HPC (High Power Committee) wages. The contractors workers in Talcher Coalfields had resorted to cessation of work at 6 am today, affecting coal production and supply from the company to the tune of about two lakh tonne in a day, it said.

Analysis: South Korea's 'Jobs President' faces policy roll-back over employment uproar

SEOUL (Reuters) - Kim Hyun-ji voted for Moon Jae-in to be South Korea's president last year thinking things would improve with his promises to create jobs and address inequality. She now says that was a mistake.

DTC contractual drivers, conductors may go on leave on Raksha Bandhan

Delhiites may face commuting problems on Raksha Bandhan as an organisation of contractual drivers and conductors working with DTC has decided to go on mass leave on the day of the festival. The Delhi Transport Corporation has reduced the wages of contract-based drivers and conductors following a high court order, said Contract Karmchari Ekta Manch. The transport department in the past had been providing free bus rides to women and girls visiting their brothers in different parts of the city to tie Rakhi on the festival. However, if the members of the organisation went on mass leave, DTC services may be affected. "All the contract employees are requested to celebrate the festival with their families and refrain from joining duty on August 26," the organisation said in a statement. DTC officials said that all the depot managers have been instructed to ensure availability of drivers and conductors on the day of the festival. The depot managers have issued notices asking the employees not

ESIC brings IVR help desk, audio visual clips to employer insured persons

The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has launched an IVR help desk and video clips to create awareness among insured persons about benefits of the ESI scheme, the labour ministry said today. The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) help desk at a toll free number has been started for facilitating on the spot redressal of callers; queries, and also receiving complaints / grievances simultaneously. "Complaints requiring longer period are given unique ticket number and forwarded to PG Portal of ESIC for early redressal," the ministry said in a statement. The help desk facility on ESIC Toll Free No 1800-11-2526 has been welcomed by callers, the ministry outlined, adding that on an average, more than 1000 calls are being received daily and are attended to the utmost satisfaction of the callers. To empower insured persons and their beneficiaries and create awareness among other stakeholders, ESIC has has produced seven Audio-Visuals clips using info graphics and simple language, ...

Drop in U.S. jobless claims points to labor market strength

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign the labor market was holding firm despite tensions between the United States and its trading partners that have led to tit-for-tat tariffs.

BMS to protest against fixed term employment, contract labour on Sept 6

RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has decided to stage a nationwide protest on September 6 to press the government to withdraw its notification on fixed term employment and to stop exploitation of contract labour. It has also demanded equal pay for similar work. BMS said the increasing number of contract workers and their extreme exploitation and harassment has created huge resentment in the entire labour sector. "In order to take immediate steps and to pressurise the state and central governments to withdraw the notification on Fixed Term Employment and to stop the exploitation of contract labour, the BMS will stage protests at the district centres across the country on September 6, 2018." a BMS statement said. The decision was taken at BMS' 142nd Central Working Committee Meeting held in Cochin from August 10-12, it said. In the Contract Labour (Regulation and abolition) Act, it is mentioned that, contract labour should be abolished as far as possible; and where it is not .

'Employees positive about current job roles for next one year'

The rise of specialist job roles and new opportunities has instilled confidence among employees, with a majority of them feeling positive about their current job roles for the next 12 months, according to a study. A majority of the employees surveyed recorded a promising outlook of advancements in their current job roles in the next 12 months, in which skills development took a lead with 87 per cent, followed by compensation levels (80 per cent), scope of functions (79 per cent) and career promotion (76 per cent), according to Michael Page India's Job Applicant Confidence Index Q2 2018. In this study Michael Page recorded and analysed the responses of 660 professionals, across industries, regions and job positions in India. The rise of specialist job roles further inspired confidence among employees, it said. A few such positions include digital marketing heads, data and cyber security experts, professionals with expertise in risk analytics, strategic procurement and ...

U.S. jobless claims fall, point to labor market strength

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign the labor market was holding firm despite tensions between the United States and its trading partners that have spawned restrictions on global commerce.

Strike-hit Ryanair announces deal with Irish union

Ryanair today said it had "reached agreement" with an Irish union representing pilots, in a move that could end strike action that has resulted in cancelled flights across Europe. "Ryanair today (Thursday) confirmed that overnight it had reached agreement with FORSA union and its Irish pilots committee on behalf of Republic of Ireland based pilots," the no-frills airline tweeted. Reports said that the union has recommended that the pilots back the deal, of which no details were disclosed. "Ryanair will take these proposals to its Board in due course after the Irish based pilots have voted on this signed agreement," the tweet added. "The mediator... has asked both sides to refrain from further comment until the ballot has concluded and we will respect his wishes," Ryanair continued. Earlier this month, Ryanair pilots across Europe staged a coordinated 24-hour strike to push their demands for better pay and conditions, plunging tens of thousands of passengers into transport chaos at the