HR News: 27 June, 2017

1.

Union Health Ministry tightens time adherence rules: Awards punctuality

The ‘employee of the month’ award is conferred upon people who consistently reach office before 9:00 a.m. and leave after 5:30 p.m.

Punctuality is crucial to the success of any endeavour, and the Union Health Ministry appreciates this fact.  In line with the same, it has also started acknowledging and recognising its employees who are punctual. The Ministry has begun awarding employees, who adhere to the office timings, working eight hours a day and completing 40 hours of duty in a five-day week. The ‘employee of the month’ award is conferred upon people who consistently reach office before 9:00 in the morning and leave after 5:30 in the evening.

The ‘employee of the month’ gets a letter of appreciation from the Union health secretary. The acknowledgement drive has worked wonders, as the practice has reportedly resulted in improved punctuality at the workplace with people consistently reaching on time.

2.

New maternity benefits even for those already on leave: Labour Ministry

Enhanced benefits will be applicable to the women who were already on maternity leave when the bill came into effect.

Clearing a lot of the doubts around the new Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 and its implementation, the Ministry of Labour & Employment issued a clarification stating that the enhanced benefits will be applicable to even those women who were already on maternity leave when the bill came into effect.

As per the official statement, “The enhanced maternity benefit, as modified by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 can be extended to women who are already under maternity leave at the time of enforcement of this Amendment Act.” 

3.

Uber & Ola drivers: Employees, contractual or outsourced?

The drivers of these cab aggregators have complained against the arbitrary payment deductions on unsubstantiated grounds. Neither is there any indemnity scheme for the driver, in case of fraud booking, nor is there any freedom to cancel bookings.

In response to a writ petition filed by the Delhi Commercial Driver Union, the Delhi High Court has sought a response from the cab aggregators—Uber and Ola—on whether their drivers would fall under the category of employees or workmen. This will help the court decide on the employee benefits for these drivers. The Court also issued notices to the Centre and the Delhi Government.

The Delhi Commercial Driver Union, which claims to represent over one lakh drivers operating in the National Capital Territory, has sought the court’s direction on the following aspects:

• Constituting a committee to look into the complaints of the drivers regarding work and pay condition.

• Constituting a Committee to monitor and implement various labour laws.

• Ensuring payment of compensation to the drivers, who are victims of road accidents during the course of their employment.

The drivers of these two cab aggregators have grievances that there are arbitrary deductions in payments on vague and unsubstantiated grounds. Besides, there is no indemnity scheme for the driver in case of fraud bookings, nor is there any freedom to cancel bookings. In addition, the aggregators change fares on a daily basis without prior notice. The lack of a grievance redressal mechanism is yet another issue.