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Labour Minister Mandaviya issues detailed rebuttal to Congress president Kharge on new labour codes

NEW DELHI: Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday undertook a strong defence of the newly implemented Labour Codes . In a statement posted on X, he issued a point by point rebuttal of the charges levied against the codes earlier in the day by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The opposition parties today staged a protest in the Parliament House complex demanding the immediate withdrawal of the codes.Billing the labour codes anti-labour, anti-worker and pro-cronies! on X, Kharge charged them of posing athreat to job security, creating longer workdays and weakening the trade unions. Tagging Kharge in his post, Mandaviya said, Everything you said about the Labour Codes is misleading and false. Job security fully protected Elaborating, the Labour Minister said that Fixed Term Employees (FTEs) will enjoy all benefits that Permanent Employees enjoy -Employees Provident Fund, Employees State Insurance, timely wages and minimum wages A mandatory one-month notice and retrenchment compensation remains intact, he said. A Reskilling Fund has been introduced for the first time. Increasing the threshold will boost job creation, giving employers flexibility to hire more people directly instead of through contractors. More formal jobs mean more social security, fixed wages, safety norms, and assured benefits, the very things Congress failed to expand in decades, the Labour Minister charged. FTEs are now eligible for gratuity after just one year, another first under the Modi Government, he said. New Labour Codes: Push power, judicial, urban reforms next Flexibilityin working hours Weekly working hours remain strictly capped at 48 hours. Workers can choose to work 12 hours per day for just four days and avail three paid holidays, he said. Any work beyond normal hours requires double overtime pay with the employees consent, he added. Trade Unions get statutory backing as the negotiating union. These reforms prevent flash strikes that harm workers wages and public convenience, he claimed. Reduced disruption means fewer lost man-days and more stable incomes for workers, the Ministy added.Collective bargaining is strengthened, not undermined, he felt. Labour Codes expand protections to 40 crore unorganised sector workers, including Gig & Platform workers, he said. Health, safety, and welfare rights fully apply to all establishments. No sector-specific protections have been removed. Journalists, beedi workers, and others continue to receive the same protections as before, Mandaviya said.Appointment letters are now mandatory for every employee. Charging the Congress of attacking reforms it never had the vision to introduce, the Minister said, The Modi government stands firmly for workers welfare, job creation, formalisation, and social security. Many non-National Democratic Alliance states have already enforced the labour codes amending their existing labour laws, he pointed out.