The Amendments Made in ESI Act

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND
LABOUR ENACTMENTS
Amendments in Labour Laws
Submitted to: Submitted by:
Oshwani Ma’am Ashutosh Singh

(1704370011)
The amendments made in ESI Act:
ESI wage limit has been increased from Rs.15000 to Rs.21000 w.e.f 1 January
2017.
Moreover, it is a very good step as now by increasing the threshold of the wage
limit; more and more employees can have benefit of ESI schemes. Under
Employee’s Pension Scheme if members want to continue to avail the benefits
have to furnish Aadhaar number or undergo the Aadhar authentication process.
The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015
The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015 proposes to increase the bonus
payments from Rs. 10,000 per month to Rs. 21,000 per month. Another major
Labour law changes were made in Haryana under Industrial Disputes
(Amendment) Bill, 2016 that it allows enterprises with up to 300 employees to
lay off workers without the permission of the government.
Industrial Disputes (Amendment)Act ,1947
As per the new amendment under Industrial Disputes Act 1947; sec 2 a, any
workmen may directly approach the Labour Court and Tribunal directly without
any Conciliation in case of their termination, discharge and dismissal from the
services.
Recently, the government of Tamil Nadu has stated that IT professionals also
comes under the purview of the Industrial Disputes act. In the case of Raj
Kumar versus Director of Education, it has been reiterated that the definition of
workman under ID act includes any manual, unskilled, skilled, technical,
operational, clerical or supervisory.
(Section 2) Power to make rules on various matters: The Act permits the state
government to prescribe rules on a range of matters, including double
employment, details of adult workers to be included in the factory’s register,
conditions related to exemptions to certain workers, etc. The Bill gives such rule
making powers to the central government as well.
Powers to make rules for exemptions to workers: Under the Act, the state
government may make rules to
(i) define persons who hold management or confidential positions; and (ii)
exempt certain types of adult workers (e.g. those engaged for urgent
repairs) from fixed working hours, periods of rest, etc. The Bill gives
such rule making powers to both, the central and state governments.
Under the Act, such rules will not apply for more than five years. The Bill
modifies this provision to state that the five-year limitation will not apply to
rules made after the enactment of this Bill.
(Section 64) Overtime hours of work in a quarter: The Act permits the
state government to make rules related to the regulation of overtime
hours of work. However, the total number of hours of overtime must
not exceed 50 hours for a quarter. The Bill raises this limit to 100
hours. Rules in this regard may be prescribed by the central
government as well.
(Section 65) Overtime hours if factory has higher workload: The Act
enables the state government to permit adult workers in a factory to
work overtime hours if the factory has an exceptional work load.
Further the total number of hours of overtime work in a quarter must
not exceed 75. The Bill permits the central or state government to raise
this limit to 115
Overtime in public interest: The Bill introduces a provision which permits the
central or state government to extend the 115-hour limit to 125 hours. It may do
so because of (i) excessive work load in the factory and (ii) public interest.
Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017

The maximum payment under gratuity has been extended from Rs. 3,50,000 to
Rs 10,00,000. As per the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 “All
wages shall be paid in currency or current coin or by cheque or by crediting the
wages in the bank account of the employee.”
As per the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central
(Amendment) Rules, 2017
In Schedule, in item 1, after the words “fixed term employment workmen in
apparel manufacturing sector “, the new line will be added as “fixed term
employment workmen in the made up sector”. The major reform which has
been made in the Maternity Act is really a praiseworthy as they protect the
employment of women during the time of her maternity i.e. full paid absence
from work etc.
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017

Duration of maternity leave
 Increases the duration of the maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks
which can be availed prior to 8 weeks from the date of expected
delivery (earlier it was 6 weeks prior).
 From third child onwards, maternity leave to be for 12 weeks which
can be availed 6 weeks prior1.
The following new provisions have added by the amendment:
Maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers

 Maternity leave of 12 weeks to: Adoptive mothers (adopts a child
below 3 months of age); Commissioningmother.
 This period to be calculated from the date the child is handed over to
the said mothers.
Crèche facilities
 To be provided by an establishment with 50 or more employees within
a prescribed distance. 4 visits in a day to crèche should be allowed.
Option to work from Home
 Employer to permit a woman to work from home, if the nature of work
permits her to do so and the same can be availed after the completion of
her maternity leave for a duration mutually decided.
Employer to inform the woman of maternity benefits
 Woman to be informed at the time of appointment, of the maternity
benefits available, either in writing or electronically.
The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017
The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 changes the method of
payment of wages to the employees. Now the employer can pay wages to its
employees by the following modes without obtaining written authorisation (as
required earlier):
1. in coin or currency notes; or
2. by cheque; or
3. by crediting them into his bank account.
The relevant government may notify establishments, whereby the employer
should pay the wages only by cheque or crediting the wages in employees' bank
account (and not through cash).

The Amendments Made in ESI Act

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INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Oshwani Ma’am Ashutosh Singh

The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015

Industrial Disputes (Amendment)Act ,1947

Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017

Maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers

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