Information Technology department urged to ready office wellness policy, says Kerala Labour Minister Bindhu Krishna

The Labour department has urged the Information Technology department to ready an office wellness policy, Minister for Labour, Women and Chid Development, Dairy Development, and Animal Husbandry Bindhu Krishna has said

Addressing mediapersons at ‘Leader’s Vision’ meet the press organised by the Press Club, Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday, the Minister said changes over time and implementation of new technology, including artificial intelligence, had created a lot of apprehension in the labour sector. A number of problems faced by employees in various places, including in Thiruvananthapuram, were coming to the department’s attention.

“The United Democratic Front (UDF) government will ensure a department where both employers and employees are treated the same within the framework of law and social security. Steps in this direction are under way.”

On concerns about the reaction of the industry to the government-mediated talks in the wake of a U.S.-based health care analytics company laying off nearly 800 employees in the State, the Minister said the government was not in favour of one above the other. “Our State cannot progress without either. If we are not employer friendly, businesses will not come here. They should come to Kerala so our people get employment. At the same time, the businesses should protect the rights of their employees. Without businesses, the question of protection of employee rights does not even arise. There is no clash in this. The government policy is to be both employer-and-employee friendly.”

The department, she said, had ensured that employees of CorroHealth were given additional compensation since they did not want to be relocated to other centres. All necessary documents were also to be issued to the employees. “If issues related to companies shutting shop arise in future, they will be addressed on a case-to-case basis.”

Labour codes

On implementation of the labour codes in the State, Ms. Krishna said talks at the Ministerial level were over. These would be followed up by talks at the Chief Minister level.

The labour codes had been passed by Parliament. Even though labour was on the Concurrent List, the State had limitations in overruling Central statues, she pointed out.

Also, as the Union government had notified the rules for the four labour codes, the State would have to publish its rules too. A draft of the final rules was ready. There were many concerns about the labour codes and rules in society, and a decision could be taken only after detailed discussions.