The Supreme Court annuls Gujarat’s “anti-labor” notice that allowed 12-hour shifts and reduced overtime.
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court struck down a notice, approved by the Gujarat government in April amid the coronavirus shutdown, that allowed all factories in the state to extend work shifts up to 12 hours from the previous eight hours and drastically cut pay for hours. extra in half. The court also ordered the state to pay overtime owed to workers at the original rate.
“Workers cannot be charged during the (coronavirus) pandemic. It is not the proper response. The right to employment and a fair wage are part of the right to life,” said a three-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud , Indu Malhotra and KM Joesph delivered the verdict via video conference.
The court added that the pandemic “cannot be classified as an internal emergency that threatens the security of the nation to end the requirements of the law.”
The sentence was handed down on a petition filed by Gujarat Mazdoor Sabha. The union had challenged the Gujarat Department of Labor and Employment’s decision exempting factories from the provisions of the Factory Act 1948 regulating overtime pay, fixed hours of work for workers and rest intervals , among others, from April to July.
Gujarat was among the six states that ordered longer shifts for workers after the coronavirus shutdown. Several companies affected by the blockade have expressed their inability to pay wages in whole or in part.
The governments of these states – Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan – had said the goal was to ensure that companies can operate with fewer workers and reduce the number of shifts, while meeting targets.
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