INTRODUCTION
The Central Government intends to promulgate the new codified labour law on wages, social security, occupation safety, industrial relations, health and working conditions. The Government is of the opinion that this would have a quantum leap in the investment and the employment opportunities. The labour ministry has consolidated 29 central labour laws into four codes to simplify the process of compliance. The new code on wages ensures that two fifth of its population would be the beneficiaries. Occupational Safety, Heath and Working Conditions Code 2020 and the Code on Social security code has comprehensively discussed about interstate migrant workers. The code exhaustively expands the coverage of social security and is inclusive with unorganized sector, self -employed, migrant worker within the legislative framework. The code on industrial relation has profoundly defined workers that appends a person employed in skilled or unskilled, manual, technical, operational and clerical capacity. Twenty three states have drafted the labour code rules.
As many as 4.9million employees are recipients of this labour law that was effectuated on February 2 2022 which was upheld by the legislation on 2021. An estimated 34.25 lakh Indian expatriates are residing in the UAE. Of this, 7.74 lakh embodies the Kerala diaspora. Indians account for 40% of the total population of the country and plays a substantial role in contributing to the economy of UAE. The UAE ranks first in the NRIs population in the world. Federal Decree-Law No 33 of 2021 issued by President Sheikh Khalifa in the month of November 2021, has been elucidated as one of the extensive and comprehensive reformation to labour laws, replacing previous decrees of 1980. The new labour law paves away as reverence to employees working in private and government sectors. This plays a pivotal role in ameliorating morale and mental health of employees. The law governs employees in free zones and mainland companies, with the exception of Dubai International Financial Centre and Abu Dhabi Global Markets since they have their own implicit employment legislation. The new law is solicitous about rights of employer and employees in the right way. The abrogation of boundless contracts, protection against discrimination in any forms ,maternity leave and the new work models are main facets of the labour law.
AN OUTLINE ON INDIAN LABOUR CODE
The four labour codes on wages, social security, industrial relations and occupation safety, health and working conditions are likely to be effectuated by July 1 which would eventually replace twenty nine labour laws. According to the central government, there are over 100 state laws and 40 central laws regulating outlooks of labour. The Parliament had passed the Code on Wages in 2019 while the Code on Industrial Relations, the Code on Social Security and the Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions were passed in 2020. The Centre has finished the process of finalizing the draft rules on the codes in February 2021.The four labour codes rationalizes the forty four central labour laws. There will be an increase in working hours from nine to twelve hours for employees. The allowances have been capped at fifty per cent that leads to half of the monthly pay calculates as basic wage. Provident fund (PF) contribution is computed as a percentage of basic wage, basic pay and dearness allowance. Increase in basic pay will result in an increase in the PF contribution, which will reduce the take-home pay for workers. The PF liability for employers will also splurge in many cases. There are also chances that with implementation of four labour codes employees in India can have four days work week instead of five work days a week. Many employers split basic wages into innumerable allowances to keep PF contributions and income tax outgo low. Once implemented, employers will have to undertake restructuring exercises as per the new code on wages. There have been disparate modifications and recasting to the existing labour laws. However, the biggest amendment is on how the ‘wage’ has been defined. The new wage code that addresses this revamp aims to directly include 50% of the wages into the salary of employees. As per the New Wage Code 2021 employees are entitled to receive gratuity even if they had worked for just an year whereas earlier it was paid if the employees had worked consistently and continuously for five years under the same entity. Cost to Company (CTC) will get influenced by the increase in the basic salary and if the basic salary of an employee has been less than fifty per cent, it should be enhanced. Allowances such as leave travel, overtime and conveyance will be capped to the remaining per cent of the CTC. The Social Security Code, 2020 provides for a universal social security, commencing with the gig workers who would be covered under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, besides paving the way for the government to merge all existing social security schemes under the code. The Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH&WC Code) provides for prolonged work hours, double the wages in case of overrun beyond the fixed work hours and a single license for contractors and staffing firms, allowing them to operate pan-India under one registration, as against the prevailing situation where they have to obtain separate licenses for operating in each location. The other two codes, the Code on Wages, 2019 and the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 have financial implications and repercussions on the employer and hence the industry has been seeking extension of time from the government to tide over the Covid-19 crisis and other set back before it takes on any additional financial burden. The 2020 Bill provides that women will be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under the Bill and it also lays that in case if the women are required to work in hazardous or dangerous operations, the government will provide adequate safeguards prior to their employment.The objective behind codifying labour law is definitely a right step taken so as to achieve modernization and simplification of the labour regulation.
FEW KEY FEATURES OF LABOUR LAW OF UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
One of the key feature of the new labour law is the maternity leave. Employers are now obligated to give new mothers leave of an extra fifteen days at half-pay and an auxiliary 45 days unpaid leave in case of illness makes it an increase of thirty per cent. A working woman is capacitated to her maternity leave even if the baby is still born from the six months of pregnancy onwards. This also pertains to a baby born at any point within the maternity leave period .This new law is also felicitous to pregnant women working in private sector. Article 30.8 states that “It is not allowed to terminate the service of a working woman or give her a warning because of pregnancy, of obtaining maternity leave, or of her absence from work in accordance with the provisions of this article”. Once a woman resumes to work from their maternity leave, they are accredited to one or two rest periods per day to breastfeed their child, as long as the timescale of the two periods does not transcend an hour. This allowance endures until the baby is six months old. As per the new decree male employees in the private sector companies of United Arab Emirates are entitled to accrues paid parental leave for five working days. These five days must be taken within six months after the baby child is born. The United Arab Emirates makes it the first Arab country to countenance parental leave to employees in the private sector. Another substantial change is that employees having indefinite or permanent contracts reinstated with three year contracts with some implications for gratuity depending on the service period of the work. It makes uncomplicated for companies to hire people for part time work and permits for job shares. To be precise employment contracts must be limited. Probation period cannot exceed than six months and notice of two weeks must be given to terminate them during this time. Employees are opined to give a month’s notice or fourteen days if they want to leave the country in case they want to change their jobs during their probation period. An employee who has lost or left their respective jobs will hundred and eighty days left before their residency visa lapses from only thirty days previously. Discrimination in any form is prohibited including race, colour, gender, religion, nationality, social origin or disability. The amendments so promulgated intends to have an inclusive workspace. Equal pay for women is guaranteed for similar works done by men either for the same work or job of equal value. Employers are not supposed to use any means of force against workers or charge penalties and induce them to work against their will. Employees should not be forced to work for more than two hours of overtime a day. If that is supposed to be the job requirement they are supposed to be given twenty five per cent more than their regular hourly rate. Employers cannot impound employees documents such as passports and are not supposed to charge workers recruitment fees. Employees are not bound to pay any legal fees when they file labour case against their respective employers for the compensation of less than One Lakh Dirhams and in circumstances where the amount exceeds they are bound to pay. In cases of terminations now the employers are not allowed to terminate employee without any notice. This could be seen stipulated under article 45 of the new law. Workers are entitled to one paid leave every week with the possible additional weekly leave days upon the company’s discretion. This is inclusive with five or three day paid bereavement leave in addition to five days of parental leave. Another pertinent change is regarding the leaves. The new law ensures that the employees must use annual leaves before the end of that particular year. In case the employee has not utilized the leave on termination of employment compensation will be calculated on the basic salary. Employees are required to perpetuate good ethics and behavior that can supplement their professional skills. The law also regulates the duties of employers such as bestowing housing facility ,health and safety measures and skill development training. There was a huge dilemma faced by employees because of the visa restrictions lunge in resigning the past employment without having a confirmation of another job. Work-Life balance of an employee can be one of the reasons for satisfaction and contentment. The new labour law is providing with six job models which makes it more flexible for the employees to work for a project or to work under more than one employer which is also beneficial for the employer since they are able to have fresh talent and skills at a lower operational costs. The law provides employees to shift from one job model to another after an agreement with employer ensuring entitlements of first contract met. Employees can merge more than one job model as long as the work must not exceed for forty eight hours a week and hundred forty four hours every three weeks. This means that full time employees can have part time jobs without permission of their main employers but they are not supposed to exceed the threshold of hours. There is a scheme that enables full time or part time employees to work completely or partially outside the office. With the employer agreement the employee can split the responsibilities and pay among other employees which is referred to as shared job model. Full time, part time and temporary jobs are also some of the other job models. Twelve types of work permits are also introduced. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation said the new law was designed “in preparation for the next fifty years”, and “to deal best with the changes in the working world”. He also says that the move would enhance the labor market for years to come, “characterised by flexibility, efficiency, ease of conducting business and attracting talents, and available expertise and skills”.
MATERNITY AND PATERNITY LEAVE IN INDIA
Child care is the responsibility of both parents and thus ,they are entitled to have maternity and paternity leave which elucidates on the significance of gender dynamics in their workplace. In 2020, Union Minister Jeetendra Singh announced that male government employees who are single parents are entitled to child care leave. The Maternity Benefit Act 1961 had its recent amendments in the year 2017. The new amendments made it pellucid that female employees can have twenty six weeks of paid maternity leave in establishments where there are more than ten workers. Expecting mothers can avail themselves the benefits of eight weeks of leave before the delivery of the child. Mothers who adopt children can have twelve weeks of maternity leave benefits and that includes commissioning mothers as well. The Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules,1972, lays out a provision to male government employees to take paternity leaves 15 days before the birth or within six months of the birth of the baby. In contrast, other countries provide much better benefits to their employees. It is high time for all Indians to come out of a narrow mindset that it is primarily and solely the mothers responsibility to look after their child. It is high time to normalize paternity leave taken by fathers to look after their children and try to abridge the burden leveled upon the shoulders of woman to look after the child. Paternity leave is sanctioned to government employees only. There is no strict obligation to private sectors to avail paternity leaves by the employees. However many multinational companies and Indian private companies are inclusive about paternity leaves. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had set out a precedent to the world by granting four weeks of paid paternity leave for all the male employees to sixteen weeks across all its offices in the world. A detailed study by the World Bank delineated that policymakers across the world are evolving and progressing to all the right way .
Between 2017- 2019, sixteen countries extemporized legal protection for their parents. For instance, Fiji initiated paid paternity leave and enhanced maternity leave from eighty four days to ninety eight days. Another such example is Canada, in which it promulgated a parental leave sharing benefit of thirty five shared weeks plus five weeks of “daddy days”. The longest leave is six months provided by Ikea which protract the rule from Sweden to India.
By granting Paternity leave in India we are not just abating the burden on women but also helping them to re boost their career which otherwise at most instances they quit the job altogether and thereafter they do not turn back to their professional life.
The need of the hour is definitely to look forward having an inclusive maternal and parental framework.
IMPACT OF LABOUR LAW IN INDIA AND THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Over a period of time, there has been a revolutionary change in labour regulations in both the countries, recognizing the worker’s turmoil and providing them their rights in consonance with the mindset of upgrading them is a sign of moving in the right direction. With the advent of industrialization and modernization there has been a change in the labour sector. Labour policies definitely dynamic and must cater to the needs of social justice and economic development. However, it would be safe for one to conclude that new labour law or the codes of both the countries is definitely a step to augment growth and employment, facilitating business environment. The new labour codes introduced in India and the United Arab Emirates helps to ensure social equity and social security in India. It is quite safe to say that economic development of any country depends on how well the labour laws are administered. The highlight of the law is to know how well balanced is the employer duties and employee rights.This will definitely help to improve India’s ranking in the “Ease of Doing Business “index and Foreign Direct Investment Flows.There will be a positive impact in both the countries specially in responding to the challenges of Covid era and post Covid period. In a tweet Sheikh Mohammed said, “The diversification of our economy requires the diversity and breadth of our legislation, and we are legislatively ready for a different and upcoming economic stage.” M.S. Unnikrishnan of CII’s national committee on industrial relations said “The initiative of bringing transparency and accountability through codification of labour laws will bring ease of compliance to the industry and investment push for India.” As the law evolves, further clarity on provisions on labour codes in both countries would pave a way for the best practice to come.