The Uttar Pradesh government has cleared an ordinance exempting businesses and industries from labour laws, except for a handful, for the next three years as a measure to get the State's industrial activities back on track in wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
The State Cabinet gave its nod to the ‘Uttar Pradesh Temporary Exemption from Certain Labour Laws Ordinance, 2020’.
The provisions would apply to all existing and new businesses and factories, the government said.
The extended lockdown against the COVID-19 crisis has “slowed down” industrial and economic activities in UP, bringing production by industrial establishments and factories to a halt, the government said.
After giving its nod to the ordinance in a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the government said in a statement, “Opportunities for new industrial investments must be created to bring the industrial activities on track.”
All factories and manufacturing establishments will be exempt from existing labour laws for three years under the new ordinance, the government said.
No change
However, some labour laws would continue to operate, the government said. Labour laws provisions related to women and child will continue to exist. So will The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996, Section 5 of Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and Workmen Compensation Act 1923.
