Labour Law Reforms: After a Tearing Hurry, Ad-hocism, Lethargy and Complexities Dominate Processes of Making Regulations – Part I

Analysing the stuttering, impeded the implementation of the much-vaunted Labour Codes over the last two years, PROF. K.R. SHYAM SUNDAR explains the five major flaws in the Union Government's follow-up to the enactment of the Codes by the union government. In this first of a two-part series, he goes over three of these flaws: a social dialogue deficit with stakeholders, inordinate delay in implementation, and ad-hoc implementation.

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WHILE the Code on Wages (CW) was passed by the Parliament in August 2019, the other three labour codes, viz. the Industrial Relations Code (IRC), the Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code (OSHWCC), and the Code on Social Security (CSS) were cleared by Parliament on September 23, 2020, even as the opposition parties boycotted the proceedings in Parliament, agitating over procedural matters relating to the controversial farmers' bills.  On the very day, the Parliament adjourned sine die even though it was to function till October 1, 2020.