Though the Centre and States are holding back the announcement of the rollout of the four controversial labour codes brought in 2019 and 2020 fearing adverse political fallout during the 2024 general election in the country, India has already begun witnessing relaxation being given to employers. Several states have already relaxed their laws and several others are preparing to do so. More and more enterprises are also resorting to anti-labour policies such as layoffs and fixed-term or informal employment without providing social security to the workforce. Roll-out of the four labour codes was expected to be notified from April 1, 2023, but in absence of any consensus among the Centre, States, and representatives of industries and trade unions, the date has been deferred.
Central Trade Unions are still insisting on their demand of rolling the codes back alleging those to be anti-labour, while the Centre seems bent upon rolling them out if not in 2023, maybe after the election result of 2024 after which the Modi government hopes to come back to power. Union Minister of Labour has said several times that they are ready for implementation of the codes since these are the much desired and awaited biggest labour reform in the country since independence but the chief reason of holding them back is that all state governments are yet to notify their rules, which is important because states are also required to do so because labour is in the concurrent list of the Constitution of India. Some of the states have even reservations about the rules, while the CTUs have been threatening to intensify their protest against the codes, and if implemented unilaterally, they would again go on strike across the country and sectors. In the meantime, the existing labour laws are being changed. In February 2023, the Karnataka legislature passed an amendment to the Factories Act of 1948 to be implemented in the state. It now allows industries to extend working hours up to 12 hours a day while keeping the maximum weekly work hours at 48.
After the change in labour legislation in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, some five-six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are preparing to bring amendments to the existing labour laws even before the four controversial codes are notified for implementation in the country. The rules are being changed to favour foreign multinational companies, like Apple and Foxconn, etc, who have been demanding relaxation in the existing Indian labour laws even before the labour codes are implemented. It must be noted that many tech companies have laid off thousands of workers in the last two years in utter violation of the Indian labour laws and taking benefit of the loopholes therein. Even though as many as 31 states have pre-published the draft rules under the Code of Wages, 28 States under the Industrial Relations Code, 28 states under the Code of Social Security, and 26 states under the Occupational Safety Health and Working Conditions Code, Centre has been strategically encouraging amendments to the labour laws by states and UTs so that the codes would face less resistance at the time of their implementation. The workforce of the country is under the pressure of rising unemployment and high inflation, and hence willingly accepting low quality low poorly paying jobs, such as informal and short-term contract jobs without any social security.
