Labour Minister unveils new Employment Draft Bill 

• Minister says draft was created with inputs of all relevant stakeholders 
• Says Labor Advisory Council is expected to scrutinise and propose amendments to Bill by 21 July 
• Current draft Bill recognises need for rights for part-time workers, domestic workers, trainees, apprentices and those working from home 
• Moots an increased female representation in executive boards of trade unions among other changes

Labour Minister Manusha Nanayakkara

Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara presented the newly proposed Employment Draft Bill to the Labor Advisory Council yesterday.  The Minister said the draft was created with the inputs of all relevant stakeholders including employers, employees and trade unions. 

Nanayakkara said the Labour Advisory Council has been granted a deadline of 21 July to provide their input, ideas, and proposals regarding the Employment Draft Bill.  Following this period, the Minister assured that all received suggestions would be thoroughly considered, and necessary amendments would be incorporated into the Bill before its final presentation to the cabinet and then to parliament to be passed into law. 

While the Bill aims to bring significant reforms and improvements to the employment sector, the current draft has over thirty-four new proposed provisions. These include the introduction of legal provisions to prevent all forms of discrimination and harassment in the workplace, the introduction of new legal provisions on occupational safety and health, the removal of the disparities between the provisions of the Wages Boards Ordinance and the Shop and Office Employees Act regarding working terms and conditions as well as the relaxation of legal provisions in existing law for night work of female employees subject to certain conditions. 

The draft Bill has also considered long-overlooked rights of part-time workers, domestic workers, trainees and apprentices, and those working from home. The draft has also proposed to grant paternity leave for males. 

It also seeks to remove existing restrictions on the payment of gratuity and allow for flexible working hours according to the needs of the employees.

Concerning trade unions, the draft seeks to introduce provisions that unfair labour practices by trade unions should also be prohibited by law. It has also mooted female representation in Executive Boards of trade unions and will attempt to raise the number of members required to form a trade union. Trade unions will also be required to notify employers before the date of commencement of a strike and obtain majority consent of members for the strike.

The draft has proposed to introduce provisions that will require employers to obtain permission from the Commissioner General of Labour to lay off employees for a short period of time. 

The Minister noted that it has also been proposed to introduce provisions to initiate the regularisation of Man Power Supply institutes and Employment Agencies.