GK Today Notes

1. Bills and Acts in Current Affairs

Rajya Sabha passes Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2016 August 12, 2016:The Rajya Sabha has passed the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to raise maternity
leave for working women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children. The Bill seeks to
amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The law protects the employment of women during the
time of her maternity and entitles her of a maternity benefit Key Facts The Bill aims at increasing
womens participation in the workforce which is decreasing day-by-day. The provisions of bill
apply to every establishment employing ten or more persons and include mines and factories. No
employer can remove any woman employee on the ground of pregnancy. It is a mandatory for
every establishment having 50 or more employees to have a creche. There is also a provision in
the bill to provide 12 weeks maternity benefit to a commissioning mother and adopting mother
(adopting a newborn aged below three). In this case commissioning mother is defined as a
biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in another woman. However,
a woman who has two or more children will continue to get only 12 weeks maternity leave. With
this India will be in third position in the world in terms of the number of weeks allowed for
maternity

leave

behind

Norway

(44)

and

Canada

(50).

Union Cabinet approves Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016;The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for introducing the Maternity Benefit
(Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.
The law protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a
maternity benefit. The maternity benefit includes full paid leave from work to take care for her
child. This law is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons. Proposed
amendments Increase Maternity Benefit to 26 weeks from 12 weeks for two surviving children
and 12 weeks for more than two children. Mandatory 12 weeks Maternity Benefit to Adopting
mother and Commissioning mother. Facilitate Work from home for women during the time of her
maternity. Mandatory for establishment having 50 or more employees to have Creche. Comment
These amendments will help approximately 1.8 million women workforce in organised sector.
Maternal care to the child during early childhood is crucial for growth and development of the
child. Background The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development had proposed this Bill to
enhance Maternity Benefit to 8 months based on recommendations of the 44th, 45th and 46th
Indian Labour Conference. The conference had recommended enhancement of maternity
benefits

to

24

weeks.

Lok Sabha passes Employees Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2016 August 9, 2016:The Lok Sabha has unanimously passed the Employees Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2016
to reduce litigation in cases of disputes arising over compensation to workers. The Bill seeks to
amend the Employees Compensation Act, 1923. This law provides payment of compensation to
employees and their dependents in the case of injury by industrial accidents, including
occupational diseases. Key Features of Bill Duty to inform employee of right to compensation:
Mandatory for employer to inform the employee of his right to compensation under the parent Act.
Such information must be given in writing in Hindi, English, or the relevant official language at the
time of employing him. Penalty for failure to inform: If employer fails to inform his employee of his
right to compensation he will be fined penalty between Rs. 50, 000 to Rs. 1 lakh. Appeals from
the Commissioners order: Any dispute related to an employees compensation will be heard by a
Commissioner (with powers of a civil court) only if the amount in dispute is ten thousand rupees.
It allows Union Government to further raise this amount. In parent Act, appeals related to a
substantial question of law from the Commissioners order will lie before the High Court. Deletion
of withholding payments pending appeal provision: Earlier in the parent Act, any payments
towards the employee can be temporarily withheld if an employer has appealed against a
Commissioners

order

in

High

Court.

This

provision

has

been

deleted.

Parliament passes Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 July
26, 2016:Parliament has passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016.
The bill was first passed in Rajya Sabha and later in Lok Sabha during Monsoon session of
Parliament. It seeks to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 to widen
the scope of the law against child labour and stricter punishments for violations. Key Facts The
Bill calls for complete ban employment of children below 14 in all occupations and enterprises,
except those run by his or her own family. It defines children between 14 to 18 years as
adolescents and bars their employment in any hazardous occupations. It makes child labour a
cognizable offence attracting a jail term of up to two years and penalty upto fifty thousand rupees.
The Bill has a provision of creating Rehabilitation Fund has also been made for the rehabilitation
of

children.

For

more

details:

Child

Labour

(Prohibition

and

Regulation

The Rajya Sabha unanimously passed Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Amendment Bill, 2016:The Bill seeks to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 to widen the
scope of the law against child labour and stricter punishments for violations. Key Provisions of Bill
Prohibition of employment of children below 14 years in all occupations or processes except
where child helps his family. Addition of a new category of persons called adolescent. They are
person between 14 and 18 years of age. Prohibition of employment of adolescents in hazardous
occupations as specified (mines, hazardous processes and inflammable substance). Empowers
Union Government to add or omit any hazardous occupation from the list included in the Bill.
Punishment for employing any child increased i.e. imprisonment between 6 months and two
years (from earlier 3 months-one year) or a fine of 20,000 to 50,000 Rupees (from earlier 10,000
to 20,000 Rupees) or both. Proposes penalty for employing an adolescent in a hazardous
occupation i.e. imprisonment between 6 months and 2 years or a fine of 20,000 to 50,000 Rupees
or both. Empowers the government to make periodic inspection of places at which employment of
children and adolescents are prohibited. Government may confer powers on a District Magistrate
(DM) to ensure that the provisions of the law are properly carried out and implemented. Comment
The Bill is aligned with the statutes of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention. It
calls complete ban on child labour so they can get compulsory primary education in light of Right
of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. About Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 1986 Prohibits the engagement of children below 14 years in certain types of
occupations and regulates the condition of work of children in other occupations. It prohibits
employment of children in occupations such as bidi-making, carpet weaving, automobile
workshops, handloom and power loom industry, domestic work and mines.
Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015:The Lok Sabha has passed The Payment of Bonus (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to allow doubling of
wage ceiling for calculating bonus of factory workers and establishments with 20 or more
workers. The Bill seeks to amend the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and was introduced in Lok
Sabha by the Minister of State (MoS) for Labour and Employment. Key provisions of Bill Eligibility
of Employees: Seeks to raise the eligibility limit for payment of bonus from a salary of Rs 10,000
to Rs 21,000 a month. The parent Act mandates payment of bonus to employees whose salary or
wage is up to Rs 10,000 per month. Calculation of bonus: The Bill seeks to raise this calculation
ceiling of bonus to Rs. 7,000 per month from present from Rs 3500 per month ceiling or as per
the minimum wage notified for the employment under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (whichever
is higher). The parent Act clearly mentions that the bonus is payable to an employee in proportion
to his or her salary or wage. Prior publication of rules: The Bill seeks to mandate prior publication
of rules made by the Union Government in the Official Gazette to allow for more public

consultation. Retrospective effect: The Bill will have retrospective effect and will come into force
on April 1, 2015. The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965: It provides for the annual payment of bonus to
employees of certain establishments including factories and other. Under the Act, bonus is
calculated on the basis of the employees salary and the profits of the establishment.