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Indian labour laws and the

changing nature of work

abor is a concern of India’s Concurrent List To make India a business-friendly nation, and for the
Lwhere the Central & State Governments are both sake of slogans such as “Ease of Doing Business,”
eligible to enact legislation. Currently the Central “Make in India,” it is critical that the regulation of jobs
Government has passed 44 labor-related laws dealing and labor laws be equivalent to international standards.
with minimum wages, unintended and social security This is one of the most important areas in any country
provisions, conditions of employment, disciplinary which affects the flow of foreign direct investment.
action, trade union development, industrial relations,
and worker welfare. The Ministry of Labor and Jobs has launched online
registration mechanism for the Provident Fund
According to the United Nations, India stands at a Origination of the Employees (“EPFO”) and the State
stage with the biggest youth population where the idea Insurance Company of the Employee (“ESIC”), with
of becoming a global economy is no longer a utopia no registration costs except manual interference.
but a nice probability. In such a situation, it becomes The application for both EPFO and ESIC can also
important to be mindful of current laws and rights and be performed via the standard registration form,
continuing changes for workers in both structured and according to the employer’s discretion. The Ministry
unorganized industries. has opened common registry service for 5 Central
Labor Laws on DIPP’s e-biz platform.
Shift in the economy of a nation is characterized by
growth of the secondary and tertiary sectors. The The State has also created a forum for a single
share of jobs in these industries is actually less than common annual return electronically under 9 Central
30 per cent, but their contribution to GDP is almost Labor Acts to ensure streamlined reporting by the
double that. India’s workers today display a strange establishments of the single online return rather than
dichotomy. On the one side, the professional industry, individual returns.
which has a fairly stable wage structure and is often
highly regulated, hires a relatively small proportion of
the total workforce.

It, while the unorganized sector also hires a large
proportion of the population, who often operate at
fairly low salaries in uncontrolled conditions. Of the
total number of people working in the traditional
economy, a significant population has jobs in the
public sector, while the private sector, although most
of the time in press, ends up getting the least share of
the pie.
36 January 2020