Social Benefits For Gig Workers: Gig workers were on strike on New Year’s Eve over their working conditions and better pay. Meanwhile, the Central Government has brought such a formula for such gig sellers, only after completing which they will be able to avail social security benefits. According to the proposed draft issued by the Union Labor Ministry to seek public opinion, for this, during the current financial year, gig and platform workers will have to work with a single aggregator for at least 90 days or with multiple aggregators for 120 days. This notification from the government came on December 30, a day before the announcement of a strike by gig workers on New Year’s Eve.

Digital cards will be issued

The government has made a provision to make registration mandatory for workers in the unorganized sector on the portal designated by the Central Government. According to the rules, every eligible and registered unorganized worker will be issued a digital identity card, which will contain his photograph and other details prescribed by the Central Government. It is noteworthy that the Labor Ministry has already started the registration process on the e-Shram portal, which is the national database of unorganized workers.

Through this portal, registered workers will be able to get the benefits of various social security schemes along with identification. The rules also state that eligible unorganized workers will have to update their address, profession, mobile number, skills and other necessary information from time to time. If a worker does not update these details regularly, he may be disqualified for the benefits of social security schemes.

What are the rules in the draft?

According to the draft rules, if a gig worker or platform worker does any work for an aggregator on any calendar day, no matter how low the income, and earns income from it, that day will be considered as one day of engagement (engagement day) with that aggregator. If a gig or platform worker works for more than one aggregator, his total engagement days will be calculated by adding up the work done with all the aggregators.

The special thing is that if a worker is associated with three different aggregators in the same day, then that day will be counted as three days of participation. The rules also clarify that eligible gig or platform workers will include all those employed by an aggregator directly or through its associate company, holding company, subsidiary, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) or any third party.

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New Labor Code India: Four new labor codes from the Central Government are going to affect crores of workers. Many things related to their salary structure, provident fund contribution, ESI benefits, gratuity etc. will be affected by the new labor law.

Under the new Labor Code, some special provisions have also been made. In which some definitions like minimum wage, gratuity for fixed term employees on one year’s service, beneficial rules for gig workers, salary and night shift rule for women are included. Let us know what changes are going to happen with the new Labor Code…

1. New definition of salary

In the new Labor Code, almost all the salary components received by the employee have been included in the definition of salary. But some things are not included in it. Such as House Rent Allowance (HRA), Conveyance Allowance, Travel Concession, Bonus received under any law, Commission and amount given to compensate for special expenses related to the job.

According to the new rule, the allowance should not be more than 50 percent of the total salary. There is a rule to transfer the extra portion of allowance back to wages.

2. Social Security for Gig Workers

Under the new labor code, arrangements for social security have been made for gig workers. Companies will have to deposit 1–2 percent of their turnover in the Social Security Corpus. This money will be used to arrange necessary facilities for gig workers.

3. Provident Fund Rules

Under the new Labor Code, the scope of Provident Fund has been expanded. Under this, all those industries or places where 20 or more employees work. They will have to provide PF facility. Earlier this rule was applicable only to the notified sector. This change will benefit many workers who did not get the facility of PF.

4. Gratuity Benefits

Under the new Labor Code, now employees will not have to wait for 5 years to get the benefit of gratuity. Rather, there is a provision to give them gratuity only after 1 year of service. Which will directly benefit the employees. Along with this, they will also get other benefits.

Also read: Are you planning to leave the job? Start this cool business with Rs 5000, you will earn bumper from the very first day