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With whom

are the labor

laws?

Laws are intended to monitor stakeholder actions health care, livestock etc. are inflation-proof and will
in any undertaking. Ideally, labor laws should be not be affected. We found, though, that a financial
a symbol of interaction between business groups, crisis injects a sense of panic, and it has a negative
individual employees, trade unions, the general public impact on consumers, businesses and governments
and policy. All of these actors are equally significant expenditure on essential items such as food, education
for a country’s social and economic environment. and health. It shows without doubt that business
The laws therefore have to address the needs of companies would like to have consistency in all their
each of these blocks or call them clusters and, where input costs. Although companies would have some
we have conflicting demands, the country’s greater aspects of their budgets as set, they want to keep them
interest must be kept in mind and a tight rope game as low as possible and make everything as flexible
must therefore be performed. The expectations of as possible. Which requires tremendous versatility
each stakeholder community continue to evolve, in the hiring and firing process. While some western
considering the volatile and fast-paced times we economies have promoted these activities for business
live in. The government will therefore have a really groups, they are also acutely aware that some of these
working program to recognize and keep pace with policies could be misused by some organisations.
the developments that surround us. Unfortunately our Therefore, the laws that control hiring and firing have
labor laws have remained what they were many years been put in place. In addition, this approach is on
ago, despite the challenges of globalization that India the road to creating an intimate relationship with the
has been going through. Recent changes were minor at workforce and so workers have a rather functional
best. interaction with their employers. Keeping this aside,
we do note that the western economies have achieved
Since India deals in many goods and services, our such a level that they can deliver their residents
market is part of the global economy. Changes taking superior social benefits.
place in some part of the world affect the structure of
economies ‘ supply and demand. Therefore purchasers With the context, let us look at the situation in India.
and sellers of goods and services must continue to
adjust their consumption and production accordingly. • Employer organisations will want more and more
flexibility in terms of employment, working hours,
It refers to all economic sectors: financial services, type of work, number of employees, workforce, skill
consumer products, transportation, communications, levels, etc, provided that they have to compete in the
information technology, outsourcing of knowledge market with their multinational peers.
systems, schooling, health care, hospitality, television,
culture, transport, forestry, food processing, etc. No • India is a few years away from giving its people a
industry is resistant to these changes. Global financial reasonable level of social welfare and the standard of
crisis has also proved that. Classically, people say, such facilities will take a considerable amount of time
when there’s an economic recession, employment, to reach a stage where the citizens are proud of these
44 January 2020