The New Wage Code is about to reach its stage of completion by the Central government which will likely be implemented in October this year.
Many changes have been made under this bill regarding holidays, salary and working hours of the employees.
The work hours of employees are to increase under the New-Wage Code by 9 to 12 hours. According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the rule of 48 hours of work in a week will be applicable. Some unions had questioned the rule of 12 hours work and 3 days leave. The government later stated that under the rule of 48 hrs of work in a week, if an employee works for 8 hours then they will get one week off and if someone works 12 hours a day, then that employee will have to give leave for the remaining 3 days.
There will be a change in the salary structure of employees, the take-home salary will be reduced. According to the Wage Code Act, 2019, the basic salary of an employee cannot be less than 50 per cent of the cost of the company (CTC). At present, many companies reduce the basic salary significantly and give more allowances than above.
The good news is that employees will be able to take more leaves under the new wage code. The leaves will be increased to 300 from 240.
This will be for the first time that all workers in the country will receive get minimum wage i.e. minimum salary. New schemes are also being structured for migrant labours. The provision of Provident fund will be a part of everyone's salary structure to provide social security.
