Are you paying overtime in compliance with recent rulings?
If your company’s employees are working overtime to help you achieve a profitable bottom line, you’re in a…
Temporary Amendments to Provisions under State Labour laws in the wake of COVID-19 – India
Labour law has undergone various changes all across the globe due to the pandemic COVID 19. The Union and State government of India has also brought amendments in Labour Laws to relax certain regulations concerning working hours, overtime wages, etc to provide employment opportunities and uplift the economy of the country through the commencement of businesses.
Many state governments have carried out temporary modifications in Labour Laws in areas such as working time, daily hours, overtime wage rate, etc, subject to certain conditions.
Uttar Pradesh
The Government of Uttar Pradesh passed an Ordinance on May 8, 2020, aiming to suspend various labor laws such as the Minimum wages Act, Weekly Holidays Act, etc, applicable to all factories and establishments related with the manufacturing process for a temporary period of 3 years. This has been issued subject to fulfillment of certain conditions such as –
Chandigarh
The Government has issued a notification applicable to all factories working in the Union Territory via a notification dated June 03, 2020. The order contains the change in provisions relating to daily hours, weekly hours, etc.
The Government has issued a notification dated June 03, 2020, which proposes changes in the Factories Act of 1948 with respect to daily working hours, overtime wage rate, etc. The notification allows for an increase in daily hours of workers in the factories from 9 hours to 12 hours and the weekly working hours from 48 hours to 72 hours. Also, a woman worker shall not be allowed or required to work between 7 pm until 6 am.
The Government has maintained the provisions relating to overtime as provided in the Factories Act, 1948. The overtime shall be paid at twice the regular rate of wages for working beyond the 9 hours. This amendment shall remain effective until the expiry of 3 months from the date of issue of the notification.
Gujarat
The Gujarat Government passed an Ordinance which allows exemptions to all factories registered under the Factories Act, 1948. The following have been amended via the notification which shall remain effective until October 19, 2020 –
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
The Administrator has passed a notification on 23rd July 2020, exempting all the factories in the Union Territory from the provisions of the Factories Act of 1948 relating to daily hours, weekly hours, weekly holidays, and overtime. The order shall remain effective until the expiry of 2 months from the date of the issue. Following changes have been brought via the Notification:
Note: Similar labor law amendments passed by other State Governments in the past, have been published under global compliance update dated June 2, 2020.