Labour Law Assignment
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Sanket SwaroopLabour Law Assignment
Uploaded by
Sanket SwaroopLabour Law Assignment.
Introduction:-
The gig economy is a term coined primarily in the previous decade which is based on
flexible, temporary, or freelance jobs, often involving linking with clients or customers
through an online medium. The tasks performed by a gig economy worker can be anything
from getting groceries to writing code. A gig worker can opt to work for a specified number
of hours, like choosing to work in a shift or work by project. Once the task or change is
complete, the worker moves on to whatever is the next gig that might be another task with
the same company or something entirely different with another company. While embracing
this tectonic rise of the gig economy, we as a nation have also been experiencing massive
growth in the number of gig workers in the past few years.
India constitutes about 40% of the temporary jobs offered globally, with almost 1.5 crore
skilled workers pumping the ever-so-increasing demand for contract-based jobs or the
freelance industry. Freelancers are attracted to the gig economy because they can follow
their forte and, respectively, leverage the elasticity and freedom that comes along with it. A
worker or independent contractor chooses to select their work hours and, at times, even
the mechanism through which they wish to complete the work. Such workers or
independent contractors can work from home, especially when the project is related to arts
and design, information technology, or creative writing. This also leads to the autonomy of
choice for both the employer and the worker or independent contractor to look for other
suitable options due to no restriction with respect to closeness to the workplace.
The changing landscape of Indian labour legislations:-
The labour laws in India have been endorsed to ensure that the workers are entitled to all the
aids they require to endure themselves.
The Parliament of India has passed the four labour codes, and it has also received the
President’s concurrence. The government aims to implement all the four codes in one go
from the next FY 21-22 (Q2) and complete the final stretch of sectoral labour reforms. Below
mentioned are the labour codes which will be coming into effect in due course of time:
The Code on Wages, 2019:
It applies to all employees in both organised and unorganised sectors to regulate
salary and bonus payments in all jobs. It also attempts to provide comparable wages
to employees performing similar labour in any industry, trade, business, or production
facility.
The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020:
It pursues to regulate workers' health and safety conditions in institutions with 10 or
more workers, including mines and dockyards.
The Code on Industrial Relations, 2020:
The Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, the Trade Unions Act of 1926, and the Industrial
Employment (Standing Orders) Act of 1946 are all being merged. The Code intends
to improve the business environment in the country by minimising the problem of
industry labour compliance.
However, there have been a few occurrences during the passage of the bills that have
raised concerns since the government may not have undertaken full due diligence and
may be biased heavily in favour of enterprises rather than employees. They are
currently awaiting the President's approval decree. The following are some of the
changes:
Currently, every company with more than 100 employees must get authorization from
the government before going through the layoff procedure. The barrier has now been
raised to 300.
Workers will almost certainly be unable to strike under the Industrial Relations Code
2020. Workers would now be required to submit a sixty-day notice before striking
within the limitations of the law under the new regulation. And, in the case of
outstanding legal processes, the strike can only take place 60 days after the
proceedings are completed.
The government has the authority to exempt any new institution from any law's
obligations, including protecting worker safety, which is a red flag because any new
factory-based organisation employs a big number of people and will likely lack safety
and welfare provisions for a long time.
Challenges faced by the gig economy:-
In India, cases have repeatedly dealt with situations in which an employer-employee
relationship could or could not be established. Despite the fact that the central and
state governments' current focus may be on dealing with the larger challenges posed
by the organised sector, given the growing strength of gig workers, authorities may
begin to focus on the gig economy and seek to extend the applicability of certain
statutes to them. If it is established that the objective of labour and employment laws
is to provide a sense of protection to the workforce and to identify minimum rights for
gig workers, the Order may be useful.
The difficulty persists in that gig workers do not fit the definition of an "employee" or
"worker," and hence are not covered by Indian labour laws. The nature of their
employment poses the true issue in regulating them. For example, Ravi, a 22-year-old
food delivery driver in Jaipur, works only two days a week: Saturday and Sunday, and
makes around Rs.70 each food delivery order on these days. Ravi is paid on the basis
of the assignment and there is no written contract. He can always opt out of the
service by logging out of the mobile app whenever he wants.
The difficulty persists in that gig workers do not fit the definition of a "employee" or
"worker," and hence are not covered by Indian labour laws. The nature of their
employment poses the true issue in regulating them. For example, Ravi, a 22-year-old
food delivery driver in Jaipur, works only two days a week: Saturday and Sunday, and
makes around Rs.70 each food delivery order on these days. Ravi is paid on the basis
of the assignment and there is no written contract. He can always opt out of the
service by logging out of the mobile app whenever he wants.
COVID-19: Big game changer for gig economy:-
The COVID-19 global crisis has led to constant changes in government stances on
how things will function, as well as the phases of lockdown, which have massively
disrupted almost all economic activity, forcing all businesses to shut down and only
essential services to operate for the greater good of people's safety and wellbeing. The
gig or platform network, on the other hand, is one part that is running smoothly.
Short-term work projects or contracts have enabled anxious firms and thousands of
unemployed workers keep things rolling in the gig economy. Gig employment appeals
to both people and engagement firms because of its flexibility.
For the greater good of people's safety and wellbeing, the COVID-19 global crisis has
resulted in constant changes in government stances on how things will function, as
well as phases of lockdown, which have massively disrupted almost all economic
activity, forcing all businesses to shut down and only essential services to operate.
The gigabit or platform network, on the other hand, is a well-functioning component.
Thousands of unemployed employees and nervous businesses have been able to keep
things moving in the gig economy thanks to short-term employment initiatives or
contracts. Because of its flexibility, gig employment appeals to both individuals and
engagement firms.
Conclusion:-
In the end, I would say that the government should create an empowering
environment that gives the gig economy its due importance in the process of nation
building and increasing the employment for youth who are the growth drivers of the
Indian Economy. At the same time, it must be the government’s priority to create a
safety net with the help of relevant legislation to support the gig economy. Pertinent
measures include promoting better connectivity, focused cybersecurity which is a
serious matter, ease of Internet access, reliable supply of power, lower costs
associated with logistics, and many other areas which can be improved to enhance the
contribution of this economy.
