The Central government expects all states and Union Territories (UTs) to publish rules for the new labour codes by October 31 for them to take effect, Labour Secretary Chandra Bhushan Kumar said on Thursday.
Barring one state, all other states and UTs have pre-published the rules where they invited suggestions and feedback from stakeholders, Kumar said. So far, 10 states and UTs have published the final rules, Kumar said at a seminar on the new labour codes organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce. While Kumar did not name the state yet to pre-publish the rules, he said the Union labour ministry is discussing the issues with the state, which should be resolved soon.
“I had a personal meeting with all the states and UTs, and we are hoping that by October 31, we will have these rules at the state level,” the labour secretary said.
The Centre notified the final rules under all four labour codes in May—Code on Wages 2019, Industrial Relations Code 2020, Code on Social Security 2020, and The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020. The new labour codes, which subsumed 29 existing labour laws, were notified in November.
The four labour codes aim to strengthen worker protection, including for unorganised workers, regarding statutory minimum wage and its timely payment, social security, occupational safety, and healthcare. Under the Code on Social Security, 2020 benefits have been extended to all workers including gig and platform workers.
Kumar said the ministry will release “master FAQs” on the new labour codes in the coming days, addressing several issues and queries from stakeholders.
The labour secretary also said that there has been progress on setting a statutory national floor wage under the Code on Wages. A committee on the floor wage has already been formed and discussions with states and stakeholders are underway, Kumar said.