Ease of Compliance (e-Compliance)
"A Good Initiative by Govt - Digitization of Labour related records/registers by establishments / business units for ease in compliance"
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| Compliance Watcher |
No. Z-20025/ 15 /2016-LRC
Government of India Ministry of Labour & Employment
***
Shram
Shakti Bhavan, New Delhi Dated 17th August 2016
SUBJECT: Digitization of Labour related
records/registers by establishments / business units
for ease in compliance - reg.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
(MoLE) has taken a number of initiatives to bring transparency and
accountability in enforcement of Labour Laws and also in reducing complexity in
compliance due to multiplicity of Labour Laws and enforcement agencies. A
Unified Shram Suvidha Portal has been
launched by the Ministry of Labour & Employment since 16.10.2014, to
facilitate transparent risk-based inspections, their timely reporting and
submission of returns etc.
2.
As per the provisions under various Central
Labour legislations and the Rules made thereunder, establishments/business
units have to maintain various registers and documents. Digitization of these
Registers and other related documents has the potential to achieve economy and
efficiency in working environment.
3.
With introduction of Information Technology Act 2000, the maintenance
of such registers is also being accepted in electronic format. Section 4 of the
Information Technology Act, 2000 provides that “Where any law provides that
information or any other matter shall be in writing or in the typewritten or
printed form, then, notwithstanding anything contained in such law, such
requirement shall be deemed to have been satisfied if such information or
matter is rendered or made available in an electronic form; and accessible so
as to be usable for a subsequent reference”.
4.
In view of the above, Ministry of Labour
& Employment has envisaged digitization of these labour related records and
to move towards a regime of online maintenance of all labour-related records by establishments and integrate the same
with Shram Suvidha Portal, to lessen the burden of avoidable compliance. To
proceed further in this direction, a Concept Note on the issue has been
prepared (copy enclosed)
5.
Comments/suggestions of stakeholders/other members public are invited
on this proposal for consideration in the Ministry of Labour & Employment.
It is requested that the comments/suggestions should reach the Ministry within one
month time from the date of issuance, on the address S. K. Tripathi, Under Secretary (LRC),
Ministry of Labour & Employment, Room No. 17, Shram Shakti Bhavan, Rafi
Marg, New Delhi – 110001, or through email to sushil.tripathi@nic.in.
Encl:
As above
(S. K. Tripathi) Under Secretary to the Government of India
Tel. No. 2376 6937
Ease of Compliance (e-Compliance)
to maintain
electronic registers envisaged in various Labour Laws
Background
Ministry of Labour & Employment in Government of
India is responsible for improving working conditions and the quality of life
of workers through laying down and implementing policies, programmes, schemes,
projects; provide social security and welfare measures, regulating conditions
of work, occupational health and safety of workers; eliminate child labour from
hazardous occupations and processes; strengthening enforcement of labour laws,
maintain harmonious industrial relations and employment services on a
sustainable basis.
2.
Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoLE) has recently
taken a number of initiatives to bring transparency and accountability in
enforcement of Labour Laws and also in reducing complexity in compliance due to
multiplicity of Labour Laws and enforcement agencies. A Unified Shram Suvidha
Portal has been launched by the Ministry of Labour & Employment since
16.10.2014, to facilitate transparent risk-based inspections, their timely
reporting and submission of returns etc. The unified portal has been envisaged
as a single point of contact between employer, employees and enforcement
agencies to usher in transparency in day-to-day transactions and also to avoid
the duplicity of information being collected by multiple agencies for enforcement
of Labour Laws. Now to move further in this direction, Ministry proposes to
move towards a regime of online maintenance of all labour- related records by
establishments and integrate the same with Shram Suvidha Portal so that the information is available in real time
to both establishment and the Ministry.
Objective
3.
There are 43 labour laws (Annexure-A) and various set of rules, which are in vogue to
protect the interest of workers in the country. Out of these, 14 Labour Laws
provide for maintaining more than
80 Registers/records in specified formats (Annexure-B). However on scrutiny, it
is observed that information required in the registers overlaps and is being
recorded in multiple registers resulting in duplicity, inconsistency,
inaccuracy etc. Further the establishments have to submit Returns also, in
prescribed manner under several legislations. These registers and records have
to be produced/made available to the Inspectors during the inspection of the
establishments, as per the law.
With introduction of Information
Technology Act 2000, the maintenance of such registers is also being accepted
in electronic format. Section 4 of the Information Technology Act, 2000
provides that “Where any law provides that information or any other matter shall
be in writing or in the typewritten or printed form, then, notwithstanding
anything contained in such law, such requirement shall be deemed to have been
satisfied if such information or matter is rendered or made available in an
electronic form; and accessible so as
to be usable
for a subsequent
reference”. In view
of this provision,
if an
employer/establishment makes available access to the
electronic records to the Inspectors or any such authority authorised by the
Law, then that employer / establishment will not be required to produce
print/hard copy of these documents. Government has already issued directions to
the Labour Enforcement Authorities for not insisting for print/hard copy of
registers/records if they are made available in digitised format.
4.
As mentioned earlier, more than 80 registers/records
are required to be maintained by establishments to comply with the provisions
of various Labour Acts/Rules (Annexure-B).
The purpose
of e-Compliance is to digitize
various labour related records, improve the availability/reliability of real-
time data, ease of doing business, to lessen the burden of compliance, move
towards a paperless regime of registers/records and to bring transparency and
accountability. Incidentally, it will also save a lot of tree cover and forest
areas in the country used for production of paper thus, saving the environment.
The Objectives of this exercise include:
·
Simplification of Registers provided under 14
Central Acts/Rules (Annexure-B)
·
To limit the need of maintaining multiple
registers having identical/similar/same
information
·
Maintenance of on-line Registers/Records in establishments
·
Accessibility through single portal i.e. Shram
Suvidha with single sign-on
·
Availability of real-time data
·
To bring about economy and efficiency in working environment
Project Description
5.
The project envisages following: -
·
Enable relating of relevant Act applicable to an
Establishment (Applicability Matrix)
·
Single sign-on through Shram Suvidha Portal
·
Data Collection
o
Availability of On-line data entry forms to
maintain similar information in multiple registers and to avoid duplicate work
o Customised
Data Entry specific to Acts applicable
o Data
import from Excel/CSV files
o Integration
with existing systems using APIs/web services
·
Information Accessibility
o Output
reports in prescribed Registers as per Acts
o Workers
on their information
·
Integration with other Social Security Schemes
·
Employment Verification
·
Reporting under Acts
o Management
Information System (MIS), Drill-down, Graphical Presentation
o Performance Reports
o Exception Reports
·
Data Ownership and Retention Period (On-line,
Archive and Off-line)
Methodology
6.
The approach to be adopted in this exercise includes:
· Categorisation of Registers according to nature
of data being recorded
·
Consolidation of more than 80 Registers into
about 9 electronic registers with objective of removing data duplicity
o Uniform
Registers present in various Acts with more or less similar information
1.
Employee Register
(Annexure-C)
2.
Wage Register including overtime, damage, fine and
advances (Annexure-D)
3.
Attendance Registers for daily attendance and
leaves (Annexure-E)
o Act
Specific Registers
4. Accidents
under Mines Act 1952 and Employees State Insurance Act 1948
5. Bonus
under Payment of Bonus Act 1965
6.
Contractors under Contract Labour Act 1970 and Inter
State Migrant Labour Act 1979
7.
Health under Building and Construction Workers Act 1996
8. Journey
Allowance under Inter State Migrant Labour Act
1979
9. Nominations
under Payment of Wages Act 1936
·
Design and development of e-Compliance Platform
·
Provision of servers for hosting
·
Integration of e-Compliance Platform with Shram
Suvidha portal
· Capacity Building (Training and Awareness)
Timelines
·
The project is likely to be initiated soon.
Please
find the list of Annexures:
2. 80 registers/records are required to be maintained by establishments to comply with the provisions of various Labour Acts/Rules
(Annexure-B).
Annexure-A
List of Central Labour Laws
1.
The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923
2.
The Trade Unions Act, 1926
3.
The Payment of Wages Act, 1936
4.
The Employers Liability Act, 1938
5.
The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act,
1938
6.
The Weekly Holidays Act, 1942
7.
The Mica Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1946
8.
The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
9.
The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
10.
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948
11.
The Factories Act, 1948
12.
The Employees’ State Insurance Act,
1948
13.
The Plantation Labour Act, 1951
14.
The Mines Act, 1952
15.
The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
16.
The Working Journalists and Other Newspapers Employees
(Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955
17.
The Employment Exchange (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959
18.
The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
19.
The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
20.
The Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1962
21.
The Personal Injuries (Compensation Insurance) Act, 1963
22.
The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
23.
The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
24.
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.
25.
The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
26.
The Limestone and Dolomite Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1972
27.
The Sales Promotion
Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976
28.
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
29.
The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976
30.
The Iron Ore Mines, Manganese Ore Mines and Chrome Ore Mines Labour Welfare (Cess)
Act, 197
31.
The Iron Ore Mines, Manganese Ore Mines and Chrome Ore Mines Labour
Welfare Fund Act, 1976
32.
The Beedi Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1976
33.
The Beedi Workers Welfare Fund Act,
1976
34.
The Inter-State Migrant
Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979.
35.
The Cine Workers
and Cinema Theatre
Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981
36.
The Cine Workers Welfare (Cess) Act,
1981
37.
The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981
38.
The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986
39.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
40.
The Labour Laws (Exemptions from Furnishing Returns
and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Act, 1988
41.
The Building and Other Construction Workers Cess Act, 1996
42.
The Building and Other Constructions Workers’ (Regulation
of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996
43. The Unorganized
Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008
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