Under the new labor laws being made in the country, the provision of leave for three days a week is possible in the coming days.
According to the Ministry of Labor, the central government can give an option of four working days a week and three days paid vacation with it. The government wanted to implement the rules in the new labor code from April 1, but these were currently deferred to allow the states no time to prepare and give more time for companies to change HR policies.
Work days can be reduced from five days
The new labor code will also include these options in the rules, on which the company and employees can decide by mutual agreement. Under the new rules, the government has included increasing the working hours to 12. The maximum working week limit is 48, so the scope of working days can be reduced from five.
EPF new rules
Giving further information on the announcement made in the budget on taxation of EPF , the Labor Secretary said that the tax will be levied only on the contribution of the employee to invest more than two and a half lakh rupees. The contribution from the company will not come under its purview or there will be no burden on it. Also, EPF and PPF cannot be added for discount. The government has taken this decision due to the large investment made by the people with higher salaries and increasing expenditure on interest. According to the Labor Ministry, only one lakh 23 thousand shareholders out of 6 crore will be affected by these new rules.
No proposal for increase in EPF pension
On the question of increase in minimum EPF pension, the Labor Secretary said that no proposal was sent to the Finance Ministry in this regard. The proposals sent by the Ministry of Labor and Employment have been included in the Union Budget. Labor organizations have long been demanding an increase in the monthly minimum pension of the EPF. He argues that in the name of social security, the government is paying a minimum pension of Rs 2000 or more monthly while the EPFO shareholders are getting very less pension despite paying the share.
Rules can be implemented soon
The government was to implement the labor code rules from 1 April but these were postponed. The state governments have not yet finalized the rules, which have resulted in these being postponed. The decision to postpone the labor code was also taken so that companies get time to change their salary structure and HR policy as the employee cost of these rules will increase. According to senior labor ministry officials, the Labor Code has been deferred for some time. The government wants at least some industrialized states with the Center to notify the rules of the Labor Code. So that, there is no legal problem. However, they are expected to be implemented soon.
