Employment, Labour and Benefits

“Excepting the solitary reason namely difference in sex among the workers, there is no reason or rhyme to treat the women differently, nor it could be held that it is a protective legislation to save the women from exploitation. On the other hand, the very provision results in denial of livelihood, improvement in status to women as well as economic freedom and the impugned provision in any view of the matter offends Article 15(1) of the Constitution.”

Welcome to the fourth edition of the E-Bulletin (Volume I) brought to you by the Employment, Labour and Benefits practice group of Khaitan & Co. This E-Bulletin covers regulatory developments, case law updates and insights into industry practices that would impact businesses from a sector agnostic standpoint.

On 14 October 2019, the Government of Andhra Pradesh (Government) notified and brought into effect the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries / Factories Rules, 2019 (Rules) framed under the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries / Factories Act, 2019 (

In a step towards implementation of the recently notified Code on Wages, 2019 (Wages Code) which awaits a notification to be brought into force, the Ministry of Labour and Employment the draft Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2019 (Draft Central Rules) on 1 November 2019. The Draft Central Rules will be available for public comments for a period of one month.

On 1 August 2019, the Goa Legislative Assembly passed the Factories (Goa Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Goa Bill), which can be accessed here. The Goa Bill introduces certain significant changes to the Factories Act, 1948 (Factories Act) as applicable to Goa, which are set out below:

On 25 July 2019, the Government of Telangana (Government) issued a notification (Notification) exempting all information technology enabled services (ITES) and information technology (IT) establishments in the state of Telangana from the coverage of sections 15, 16, 21, 23, 31 of the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act, 1988 (Act) for a period of 5 years with effect from 30 May 2018.

As mentioned in our previous update, the Industries, Energy and Labour Department of Maharashtra (Maharashtra Labour Department) revised the basic rate of wages prescribed for employment in shops and commercial establishments in Maharashtra (S&E), by nearly twice the amount previously prescribed.

A significant development in its own right, the Code on Wages, 2019 (“Wages Code”) is an attempt by the Government of India to consolidate and simplify the existing multitude of labour laws in the country. The Wages Code will subsume and replace the following 4 labour statutes:

In a move to consolidate the law relating to occupational safety and health, welfare facilities and working conditions in relation to employees and workers, the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2019 (OSH Code) was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 23 July 2019. The proposed legislation seeks to replace 13 extant statutes, which are –

In State Bank of India v Moser Baer Karamchari Union [Company Appeal (AT) (Insolvency) Number 396 of 2019] (Moser Baer), the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, New Delhi (NCLAT), ruled on the scope of ‘workmen’s dues’ under Section 53 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) from the perspective of the dues of an employer towards provident fund, pension fund and gratuity.