The government has come a step closer to implementing a national floor wage framework as mandated by labour codes to prevent wages from falling below a subsistence level across the country, with Director General, Labour Bureau, being empowered to do the computation job.
The DG, Labour Bureau, will function as an “authority for computation of the cost of living allowance and the cash value of the concessions in respect of supplies of essential commodities at concession rate in the establishments,” read the gazette notification issued late last evening by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. This has been done to give effect to subsection 2 of section 7 of the Code on Wages, 2019.
The valuation of essential commodities (such as food or housing) supplied at concessional rates to establishments will be included in the wage calculation. The DG, Labour Bureau, who works under the Labour and Employment Ministry, will now have an added responsibility apart from his existing assignments to act as the supreme administrative and technical authority for collecting, compiling, and analysing labour statistics in the country.
The Centre has the power to set varied floor wages for different geographical areas, accommodating regional disparities in the cost of living, Puneet Gupta, Partner, Ernst & Young India, told businessline.
