Giving me false hope for years… they should have fired me a long time ago when i still had my age… now i am overage where do i go?

Before 1991, Indian economy was a highly regulated one where public sector played an important role. Government went in for economic liberalization in the year 1991. Gradually it opened up the economy for foreign players and by 1993 India started attracting substantial amount of FDI. After the entry of foreign institutional investors in the country, for the first time the focus had shifted from providing social security through jobs to profit making. All the companies started looking for different options available to them in terms of employment in order to decrease their labour costs.

And so, companies started hiring through contractors which resulted in sharp increase in the employment of contract workers. Organizations realized that using contract labour in non core areas was proving very efficient, as it provided them with the kind of labour flexibility required. Using contract labour not only made them price efficient, but also improved their productivity. Lack of guidelines in CLRA Act on usage or non-usage of contract labour in “core activities” prompted some organizations to use contract workers in core activities too.

The issue of usage of contract labour has been debated for long now. One of the main reasons for this debate parity of wages –wage differences that is observed between the permanent and the contract workers.

There have been many cases have involved sham and bogus contracts/contractors. But the current central act does not define or elaborate on these. Hence there have been lots of ambiguities and misunderstanding regarding what exactly qualifies as a sham and bogus contract and what are its implications. Hence the term “sham and bogus contract/contractors” should be clearly defined and included in the act.

I think we should be able to look at this subject with the perspective that , Do I want to be a good employer, if the answer is yes, then, I will adapt to fair employment practices and work within the preview of labor laws.Importantly, given the fierce competition, it is time to have a re-look on all the labor laws for inviting suggestion for amending the laws and whether we want to change with the time in this age of outsourcing & shared services as jobs of today no longer as the job as were few decades back. World is changing and so is technology, market dynamics because of which, the longevity of any industry / product cannot be guaranteed and so employment/engagement.

Rajeev Joshi

While the case you have highlighted is of manufacturing, have witnessed a similar practice is the sales function of the fmcg, retail and fmcd companies where the last mile fleet on street on the store associates are on contract. I guess one of the reasons companies do it and sadly so is to make the employee count and wage bill look lesser than it actually is. Also this number is prone to high attrition which means more administrative work for the HR. However, honestly I fail to understand how the work they are doing is not core to company’s operation.

While I do not disagree to the exploitation of the labour force, I do feel that abolition seems like an archaic concept now. What we need is a better regulation and governance mechanism. And sadly other than employees and the employer there is another stakeholder I.e. the state or the politicians who come up with schemes that only lead to further exploitation.

Thanks sir for sharing this article.