Top Section
Explore Business Standard
Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.
The head of a Dubai government-owned ferry operator at the centre of a bitter labour dispute in the UK acknowledged on Thursday that the firm should have consulted with workers before firing 786 crew members but chose not to because it knew labour unions would never agree to the company's plans. P & O Ferries Chief Executive Peter Hebblethwaite made the comments under repeated questions from lawmakers who characterised the company's actions as a willful decision to break UK labour law. Hebblethwaite said the company was offering workers generous compensation after firing them without notice last week. The company, which operates in Britain and is owned by a subsidiary of Dubai company DP World, dismissed the workers as part of a restructuring plan needed to save the business. The fired workers will be replaced by cheaper staff provided by a third-party crew provider. We assessed that given the fundamental nature of change, no union could accept it and therefore we chose not to ...
The four labour codes are likely to see the light of day in a couple of months as the Centre is now keen to go ahead with the implementation of these laws, which among others will result in reduction in take-home pay of employees and higher provident fund liability of companies. Once the wages code comes into force, there will be significant changes in the way basic pay and provident fund of employees are calculated. The labour ministry had envisaged implementing the four codes on industrial relations, wages, social security and occupational health safety & working conditions from April 1, 2021. These four labour codes will rationalise 44 central labour laws. The ministry had even finalised the rules under the four codes. But these could not be implemented because many states were not in a position to notify rules under these codes in their jurisdiction. Labour is a concurrent subject under the Constitution of India and therefore both the Centre and states have to notify rules ...