Night shifts for women, new layoff rule: Labour department in Delhi gets fresh directions

Officials said that directions were also given to amend the Delhi Shops and Establishment Act to increase the threshold of minimum number of employees from one to 10 for the applicability of the Act and to allow shops and establishments to work 24/7.

The government has also given directions to “increase the threshold of workers from 100 to 200, in the Industrial Dispute Act, for seeking permission for closure.” Explaining this further, a senior official from the Labour department said, “Currently, if any factory or a company wants to exit the business and do layoffs, they have to seek clearance from the departments concerned and the authority. But now, if a factory has 200 or fewer employees, they don’t have to seek permission for the closure of the factory and layoffs. This has been done as part of the ease of doing business…”

When asked about the move’s likely impact on labourers, the official said, “The labourers will have options to approach the labour court. At present, if the company wants to exit and they don’t have the profit to pay the labourers in future, there is no point. So, this is part of the ease of doing business.”

Responding to this, Krishna Yadav, General Secretary of Shramik Vikas Sanghatan, said, “If the government is allowing a factory or industry to exit the business and do layoffs without seeking permission from any authority. There should also be an act to provide compensation to the workers because they are the ones who will be affected and end up losing jobs without any employee funds or benefits.”

The government issued a slew of directions, including these in a high-level meeting held by the L-G, along with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, to review the status and progress of various aspects related to the BJP government’s flagship policies — ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and ‘Maximum Governance – Minimum Government’, enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At the meeting, the L-G also observed that “restrictive and archaic laws, processes, and regulatory regimes had hampered and discouraged businesses and economic activities”, his office underlined in a statement. “It was underlined by the L-G and the CM that the progress during the last 11 years was far from satisfactory….,”

The meeting was also attended by Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood, Industries Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Chief Secretary Dharmendra, top police officers, and heads of all departments concerned.

Meanwhile, the Fire department was asked to empanel agencies for a third-party audit. “… so that the large commercial establishments and industrial establishments are allowed to get NOC (no objection certificate) on the audit certificate of empanelled agencies. “Small establishments may be given an option for a third-party audit. An expression of interest can be floated immediately,” said an official.

The department was also asked to revisit its regulations in view of technological advancements and availability of small, drone-based and robotic firefighting equipment, which had made the existing regulations vis-à-vis the breadth of approach roads for access of fire tenders, redundant.

Furthermore, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has been directed to reduce the time to give “consent to operate to 20 days, after which it should be a deemed approval”. It has also been directed to allow self-certification for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in both green and white industries and to empanel a third-party agency for certifications.

Officials said that the IT Department will make a single window portal for all kinds of NOCs.