LEARNING SERIES BY SHEKHAR GANAGALURU (ISSUE 6)

7/12/2022

LABOUR LAW PRACTICE TEST – 02
1. As per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, the Contractor is not required to issue a letter of appointment to the contract labour he employs.
a) True
b) False

2. As per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, an employer is allowed to issue a letter of appointment in his own format.
a) True
b) False

3. As per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, it is mandatory for an employer to issue a letter of appointment to the apprentice engaged under the Apprentices Act, 1961.
a) Ture
b) False

4. As per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, it is not mandatory for an employer to issue a letter of appointment to the trainees engaged in line with the certified standing orders of the Company.
a) True
b) False

5. The letter of appointment issued before the commencement of the code is enough to fulfill the requirements of the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020.
a) True
b) False

6. As per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020 the employer is authorized to decide his own format for the letter of appointment.
a) True
b) False

7. Is it mandatory for a contractor to issue an experience certificate to the contract workers as per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020?
a) Yes
b) No

8. The experience certificate should be issued to contract workers in the prescribed format as per the code.
a) Yes
b) No

| Refer to the detailed answers in Learning Series Issue 05 |

Q1. Should the workers engaged in 'fixed-term employment' be issued a letter of appointment in accordance with the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020?

Q2. Under what circumstances can the principal employer engage contract labour through a contractor to work on any core activity?

Section 57 of the code, prohibits the employment of contract labour in core activities of any establishment.
However, under the following circumstances the principal employer can engage contract labour through a contractor to work on any core activities:

Q3. What is the responsibility of the Contractor with respect to Payment of Wages for the Contract Labour?

As per section 55 (1), a contractor is responsible for the payment of wages to contract labour employed by him.
As per section 55 (2), a contractor should disburse wages only through bank transfer or electronic mode.
As per rule 81 of the draft central rules of the code, the contractor has the following responsibility with respect to the payment of wages:

04. A newly employed contract worker does not have a bank account to disburse wages through bank transfer or electronic mode. How do handle such cases?

In section 55 (2) of the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, the following provision is provided:
Provided that where it is not practicable to disburse payment in the mode specified in this section, then, the payment shall be made in such manner as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.”
In rule 81 (3) of the draft of the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions (Karnataka) Rules, 2021, the following provision is provided to manage these kinds of cases:
“Newly employed persons may be paid wages in cash up to two months or till the opening of bank account, whichever is earlier.”

Suggested to refer to the applicable state rules to understand the applicable provision in this regard.

05. Who is an “Inter-State Migrant Worker” as per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020?
As per the Section 2 (zf) of the Code, an “Inter-State Migrant Worker” means:

06. An employee from Andhra Pradesh is working in our company in Karnataka and he is getting a salary of Rs.18,500/- per month. Is he an Inter-State Migrant Worker as per the code?

The Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, introduces income as a criterion for defining Inter-state Migrant workers.
As per this criterion, those who earn more than Rs.18,000 per month are not under the purview of Inter-state Migrant workers.
In line with this, in the given case, as an employee drawing Rs.18,500/- per month, he is not an Inter-stage Migrant Worker as per the code.

07. To which establishments do the Inter-State Migrant Workers Chapter in the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020 apply?

08. What is Journey Allowance? Whom does this allowance to be paid as per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020?

09. Should Journey Allowance be paid to all workers from other states working in the factory as per the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020?
No. This allowance is to be paid for the Inter-state Migrant Workers whose wages are not more than Rs.18,000 per month.

10. We are paying Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) to all the employees working in our factory. In this case, should we pay the Journey Allowance to Inter-state Migrant Workers?

The Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) paid to all employees of the factory cannot be considered as Journey Allowance applicable for Inter-state Migrant Workers as per the Code.
In the following criteria the LTA can be considered as Journey Allowance:

- The LTA is paid only for the eligible Inter-state Migrant Workers.
- With the terms and conditions that the allowance is paid for the workers to compensate their travel expenses w.r.t. to & from journey from the place of employment to the place of residence in their home state.