The Union Labour and Employment Ministry has sought comments and objections on the draft Model Standing Orders, which are the legally-binding documents that govern service conditions of workers, for the service, manufacturing and mining sectors, a Ministry statement said on Saturday.
The Ministry published the drafts on December 31, 2020, inviting comments from stakeholders for 30 days.
“Keeping in view the needs of the services sector, a separate Model Standing Orders for Services Sector has been prepared first time,” the statement said.
The Ministry said when an employer adopts the order relevant to their establishment it would be deemed to have been certified.
“All the three Model Standing Orders encourage employers for use of information technology in dissemination of information to the workers through electronic mode...The concept of ‘work from home’ has been formalised for the service sector,” the statement said.
In case of the IT sector, the order says the working hours would be decided after an agreement between the employee and employer or as per the conditions of appointment.
Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said: “The orders will pave the way for the industry harmony as they aim at formalising the service-related matters in an amicable manner.”
The government had increased the threshold of applicability of the standing orders through the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 passed by Parliament in September 2020. Instead of the earlier 100 worker limit, the orders now apply to establishments with over 300 workers. This move, trader unions had alleged, would lead to a “hire and fire” situation.
