Indian Labour Conference Archives - CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017

admin — Mon, 08 May 2017 12:07:47 +0000

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017

No. S·36012/03/2015-S5-1
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment

Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg,
New Delhi, dated 12th April, 2017

The labour Department,
All States/Union Territories

Sub: The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 – reg.

Sir/Madam,

In line with recommendations of the 44th, 45th & 46th Session of Indian Labour Conference (ILC) and demands from various quarters, the Government has recently enacted the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. Through this Amendment Act, following provisions have been added to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961:-

Increase in the maternity leave from existing 12 to 26 weeks for working women with less than two surviving children.

Provisions for work from home for nursing mothers.
Mandatory provisions for establishments having fifty or more employees to have the facility of creche.
Extension of twelve weeks of maternity benefit to the ‘commissioning mother‘ and the ‘adopting mother‘ from the date the child is handed over.

Provisions of the Amendment Act have come in to force w.e.f 1st April, 2017, except those relating to creche facility (Section 4( 1)} which would come into force from 01.07.2017.

2. After the enactment of the said Act, the Ministry has been receiving numerous queries relating the revised provisions of the Act. The Ministry has examined such queries in consultation with Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) and the same are clarified as below :-

S No.	Query	Clarification
1.	Applicability of the Act to contractual or consultant women employees.	Since there is no amendment in Sec. 2 of the Act, hence the original provision will prevail. The Act is applicable to all women who are employed in any capacity directly or through any agency i.e. either on contractual or as consultant.
2.	Whether enhanced maternity benefit, as modified by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) bill, 2016 can be extended to women who are already under maternity leave at the time of enforcement of this Amendment Act?	Yes.
3.	Whether enhance maternity benefit can be extended to those women who have joined after availing 12 weeks of the maternity leave?	Those women employee who had already availed 12 weeks of maternity leave before enforcement of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017 i.e. 1st April,2017, shall not be entitled to avail the extended benefit of the 26 weeks leave.
4.	Protection of women in case she is fired by the employer after learning her pregnancy?	Under Section 12 of the M.B. Act, 1961 it is emphasized that any dismissal or discharge of a women during the pregnancy is unlawful and such employer can be punished under Section 21 of the Act.
5.	Whether benefits of this Act can be extended to the employed women in the unorganized Sector	The Maternity Benefit Act is applicable to all mines, plantations, shops and establishments and factories. Mines, plantations, shop and establishments could be either in organized sector or unorganized sector. Also, clarification at SL. No.1 may be seen.

3. It is requested that these clarifications may be noted for compliance and also circulated widely so as to make the pregnant working women aware of their rights.

Yours faithfully,
(H.L. Meena)
Director (SS)

Source: The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017

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Amendment in Bonus Act: Agenda of Indian Labour Conference

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 03:44:42 +0000

Amendment in Bonus Act: Agenda of Indian Labour Conference

Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Labour & Employment

12-July-2015 15:27 IST

47th Session of Standing Labour Committeerevises agenda for 46th Session of Indian Labour Conference

In a meeting held here on 10th July,2015 , 47th Session of Standing Labour Committee shortlisted agenda items for
detailed deliberation in the 46th Session of Indian Labour Conference.

Sl. No.	Agenda Item
1.	Implementation of the conclusions/ recommendations of the 43^rd, 44^th and 45^th Indian Labour Conference, particularly on Contract Labour, Minimum Wages and Scheme Workers and Tripartite Mechanism
2.	Social Security for the workers both in organized and unorganized sector
3.	Amendment of Bonus Act – Removal of conditions on payment ceiling, eligibility limits, decisions to pay minimum bonus without linking to loss when the performance indicator satisfy grant of bonus
4.	Labour Laws amendments proposed/done either by the Central or State Governments
5.	Employment and Employment Generation

The Standing Labour Committee (SLC), a tripartite body is a pre-curs or to the Indian Labour Conference(ILC). As a matter of practice, and to maintain continuous dialogue with social partners, meetings of these apex bodies are convened once in a year to discuss the topical issues concerning labour. All the 12 Central Trade Union Organisations, Central Organisations of employers, all State Governments and Union Territories and Central Ministries/Departments concerned with the agenda items, are the members of the ILC and SLC.

Source: PIB

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45th Session of the Standing Labour Committee – Agenda Points for the 45th Indian Labour Conference

admin — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:46:51 +0000

45th Session of the Standing Labour Committee

Finalizes Agenda for the 45th Indian Labour Conference

‘Rapid economic growth’ coupled with ‘Safeguarding the rights of the workers’ will lay the foundation of our country’s development in a sustained manner. Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of Labour and Employment, emphasized this while delivering his presidential address at the 45thsession of Standing Labour Committee here today at Vigyan Bhawan. He laid stress on the proactive measures to improve the situation of the workers in general and those of the vulnerable sections of the society in particular. According to him the concept of ‘Dignity of human labour’ and ‘Safeguarding the interest of our work-force’ should be the cornerstone of all our policies. He stated that active labour market policies and speedy Social Security coverage are the two basic requirements of our present day society. Shri Kharge said that one of the contemporary challenges is employment generation. In this regard MGNREGA has been able to provide income support and has contributed towards checking distress migration. Other employment generation programmes like National Rural Livelihood Mission, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojna and Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme etc. have also contributed a lot towards providing livelihood security.

Labour and Employment Minister also spoke about various legislative steps taken by his Ministry for Labour Welfare in recent years. These are:-

· Increase of wage ceiling in the Payment of Wages Act, 1936;

· Amendments in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for speedy reconciliation and settlement of disputes;

· Provision of reservation for OBC in the Apprenticeship Act, 1961;

· Increase in Wage Ceiling in the Bonus Act;

· Increase of Medical Bonus under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961;

· Increase in gratuity ceiling to Rs.10 Lakh.

Shri Kharge further stated that the process of amendment in the Mines Act, 1952 is in progress. Cabinet has approved amendments in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, which will facilitate ratification of ILO Convention 138 and 182. He said that 94 % of our workforce is in the unorganized sector. This area requires relentless efforts and innovative indigenous solutions. Strategies for bringing improvement in this area should aim at improving Labour Legislation and Labour Administration. According to him extending organizational support and augmenting bargaining power of the unorganized workers should be a priority.

According to Labour and Employment Minister India faces a mammoth challenge in the area of skill training. Because of Government’s intense efforts we have been able to increase the number of ITIs to more than 10,000 and improved the infrastructure of existing ITIs. Modular Employable Skill is one of the ambitious schemes of Ministry to address the employment needs of the unorganized sector. Government has been able to develop 1,422 short term courses for providing skills in a short span to a large number of people. Shri Kharge stated that 27 States/UTs are implementing RSBY and more than 3.35 crore smart cards have been issued. More than 46.75 lakh persons have availed hospitalization facilities.

Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shri K. Suresh stated that Ministry of Labour and Employment is always guided by the spirit of tripartism and it works towards creation of harmonious relationship and conducive industrial environment. He further stated that we should ensure that labour-management relations in our countries must be marked by confrontation, cooperation and consensus, not confirmation. Any proactive step in this regard will act as a catalyst in sustaining our growth momentum which is also very essential to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly poverty eradication.

The Standing Labour Committee finalized the following agenda for 45th Indian Labour Conference:

1. Service conditions, wages and social security for various categories of workers employed in different Central Government and State Government schemes (Anganwadi, Mid-day meal, ASHA, Sarva-Shiksha Abhiyan and other schemes under various Ministers of Central Government.

2. Social Security with special reference to Assured Pension with indexation for all workers including self-employed.

3. Labour Law for micro and small enterprises

4. Measures to improve employment and employability

Following Labour Ministers from various States attended this Session of the Standing Labour Committee:

1) Shri Prithibi Majhi, Minister of Labour & Employment, Government of Assam;

2) Shri Janardan Singh Sigriwal, Minister of Labour Resources Department, Government of Bihar;

3) Sh. Chandra Shekhar Sahu, Minister of Labour Department, Govt. of Chhattisgarh;

4) Pt. Shiv CharanLal Sharma, Labour & Employment Minister, Govt. of Haryana;

5) Shri Abdul Gani Malik, Minister of Higher Education, Labour & Employment, Govt. of J&K;

6) Shri Shibu Baby John, Labour Minister, Government of Kerala;

7) Shri Mangilal Garasia, Minister of State (Labour) Labour & Employment Department, Govt. of Rajasthan; and

8) Shri Harish Chandra Durgapal, Minister of Labour & Employment, Uttrakhand.

The Central Ministries participating in the meeting were:

Agriculture & Cooperation, Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Coal, Commerce, Economic Affairs, Environment & Forests, Financial Services, Heavy Industries, Health & Family Welfare, Home Affairs (Inter State Council), Industrial Policy & Promotion, Khadi and Small and Medium Enterprises, Mines, Overseas Indian Affairs, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Planning Commission, Posts, Power, Public Enterprises, Railways, Revenue, Road Transport & Highways, Rural Development, Social Justice & Empowerment, Steel Telecommunications, Textiles, Urban Development and Women & Child Development.

From Employers Group following organizations attended the meeting:

Council of Indian Employers, All India Manufacturers’ Organization, LaghuUdhyogBharati, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry, The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India.

From Workers Group following organizations attended the meeting:

BharatiyaMazdoorSangh, Indian National Trade Union Congress, All India Trade Union Congress, Hind MazdoorSabha, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, All India United Trade Union Centre, Trade Union Co-ordination Centre (TUCC), Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), Labour Progressive Federation (LPF), United Trades Union Congress (UTUC) and National Front of Indian Trade Unions –Dhanbad (NFITU-DHN).

Source: PIB

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