A Critical Analysis of The Code On Wages 2019: Need For Right To Minimum Wage

In the recent past, the lawmakers have made efforts in order to simplify the numerous existing legislations pertaining to Labor Law in India. One such legislation that has been assented by the Parliament is the Code on Wages, 2019 (“Code”)[1]. This Code replaces four laws, namely, Payment of Wages Act, 1936; Minimum Wages Act, 1948; Payment of Bonus Act 1965; and Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. However, as per the lawmakers, efforts have been made to include the “unorganized sector” of the labor, which earlier were out of the ambit of minimum wages, yet again, it failed to do so. The paper gives a critical analysis of the Code focusing on minimum wages and its fixation for the unorganized segment of the labor. It tries to argue that not having to explicitly mention or define the unorganized sector will lead to a certain ambiguity and vagueness in the interpretation by the courts. Hence, this altogether defeats the purpose of having a simplified legislation. The paper is divided majorly into three parts. The first part deals with the importance of minimum wage in a worker’s life and that it is rather a basic right of the worker than just a law that is to be followed. Hence, workers from all spheres should be entitled to the “Right to Minimum Wage”. The second part of the paper lays down the efforts made by the government in terms of minimum wage and the kind of labor that is included along with the criteria laid down for fixing the minimum wages. It continues to deal with the critical analysis of the Code with respect to the kind of labor included, focusing on the explicit inclusion of the unorganized sector. Finally, the paper concludes with certain suggestions that is felt as a need for the government to consider, in order to make the Code even more efficient and not hamper with the basic right of Right to Minimum Wage