The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India has vide its notification bearing ref. no. G.S.R. 1048(E) dated 04 November, 2016 notified the Ease of Compliance to Maintain Registers under various Labour Law Rules, 2017 ('Rules') for providing combined registers under various labour laws to facilitate ease of compliance, maintenance, inspection and for providing easy accessibility to the public through electronic means and thereby increasing transparency.

The Rules have come into effect on 21 February 2017.

Acts covered under the Rules

The compliance requirements under the following statutes have been dealt with under the Rules:

a) Building and Other Construction Workers’ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996;

b) The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970;

c) The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976;

d) The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979;

e) The Mines Act, 1952

f) The Minimum Wages Act, 1948;

g) The Payment of Wages Act, 1936;

h) The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976; and i) The Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955.

Combined registers under the Rules

The following combined registers are required to be maintained pursuant to the Rules:

FORM A- Format of Employee Register

FORM B- Format of Wage Register

FORM C- Format of Register Of Loans/Recoveries

FORM D- Format of Attendance Register

FORM E- Format of Register Of Rest/Leave/Leave Wages

The Rules allow employers to maintain these registers in electronic form or in physical form.

It has been clarified that if a register is maintained in electronic form then the layout and presentation of the register may be adjusted without changing the integrity, serial number and contents of the columns of the register.

Comparison Table

Conclusion

The Rules address the need of the hour. It is likely to improve the ease of doing business for shops, establishments and factories as it will allow employers to maintain combined registers instead of multiple registers under various labour laws covered by the Rules. The Rules will certainly ensure that more businesses comply with labour laws and will help in reducing the cost of compliance.

Disclaimer

This news flash has been written for the general interest of our clients and professional colleagues and is subject to change. It is not intended to be exhaustive or a substitute for legal advice. We cannot assume legal liability for any errors or omissions. Specific advice must be sought before taking any action pursuant to this news flash.

For further clarification and details on the above, you may write to the Labour & Employment team comprising of senior associate Mallika Noorani at and associate Shruti Tandon at .