Government to cover PF contributions of new workers earning less than Rs.15,000 per month
12 November 2020: The Finance Minister announced the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana under which the government will subsidise the Provident Fund contributions of both employers (12% of wages) and employees (12% of wages) for two years for newly hired employees earning less than Rs. 15,000 per month. The scheme will cover EPFO-registered establishments that will hire additional employees compared to September 2020. The scheme will come in force if the firm adds a minimum of two new employees for establishments with up to 50 employees and a minimum five new employees for establishments with more than 50 employees.
Manufacturing sector to get production-linked incentives worth ₹2 trillion to help local firms scale
12 November 2020:The scheme is designed to boost manufacturing by providing cash incentives of 4-6% on incremental sales to companies in specific sectors like electronic components, electronics and technology items, chemistry cell batteries, automobile and auto components etc. The government hopes that by incentivising such companies to expand production, more non-farm jobs will be created.
Tamil Nadu: State to form new welfare board for fireworks and match industry workers
11 November 2020: Tamil Nadu government will create a separate welfare board for the fireworks and match industry workers with the intention of ensuring their continuous functioning. This new welfare board will aim to provide social security to 4 lakh workers in this sector.
Haryana: Government to subsidise employers for hiring ‘native’ workers
03 November 2020: Haryana government has decided to provide an annual subsidy of Rs 48,000 per employee for seven years to those industries that employ local youth in order to fulfil its poll-time promise of providing 75 per cent reservation in the private sector jobs to state domiciles. This was announced as a part of Haryana Enterprises and Employment Policy-2020 which includes extending the exemption from electricity duty from 10 years to 20 years in order to “attract more industries” to Haryana. There are also special measures to give 100 per cent investment subsidy to new investors.
Central Government to frame sector-specific model employment contracts for industries
02 November 2020: The Central Government is planning to frame sector-specific model standing orders for textiles and garments sector, electronics manufacturing, IT and IT-enabled services, gems and jewellery, agricultural equipments, among others to ensure companies do not have to go through the process of certification.
This will create different norms of operation for different industries, thereby creating different standards of employment conditions for different workers. This possibility of variation will create more vulnerabilities for workers in industries with low unionisation.
