Context: Recently, Union Labour Ministry notifies Draft Rules under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.
Key Points

• The draft rules provide for the operationalization of provisions in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code) relating to safety, health and working conditions of dockworkers, building or other construction workers, mine workers, inter-state migrant worker, contract labour, working journalist, audio-visual workers and sales promotion employees.

Salient features of the draft rules

• The draft rules provide for appointment letter in prescribed format including designation, category of skill, wages, avenue for achieving higher wages or higher position to every employee of an establishment within three months of coming into force of the rules.
• According to the draft rules, no employee shall be employed in any establishment unless he has been issued a letter of appointment.
• It also made provision for annual health examination to be conducted by the employer free of cost for every worker of factory, dock, mine and building or other construction work, who has completed 45 years of age.
• Provision has also been made in the rules for journey allowance once a year.
• It also provides for single electronic registration, licence and annual integrated return for an establishment.
• An all-India single licence for contractor supplying or engaging contract labour in more than one state for five years has been provided as against work order-based licensing at present.
• Prohibition of employment of contract labour for the core activity of an establishment and classification of core and non-core activities, are also provided in the OSH Code.
• Rules regarding payment of wages to contract labourers provide that the contractor shall fix the wage periods and no wage period shall exceed one month.
• Besides, the wages of every person employed as contract labour in an establishment or by the contractor shall be paid before the expiry of the seventh day after the last day of the wage period.
• It also provides the wages shall be disbursed through bank transfer or electronic mode only.
• Under the rules, safety committees have been made mandatory for every establishment employing 500 or more workers to provide an opportunity for the workers to represent their concern on occupational safety and health matters.
• Rules have been provided for the composition and functions of safety committees.
• Rules have been made regarding conditions related to the safety of women employment in all establishments for all types of work before 6 am and beyond 7 pm with their consent.
• It provides that for calculating overtime on any day, a fraction of an hour between 15 to 30 minutes shall be counted as 30 minutes. Currently, less than 30 minutes is counted as no overtime.
• Mines rules have also been simplified and integrated with the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions rules.