With reference to casual workers employed in India, consider the following statements:All casual wor

Question

With reference to casual workers employed in India, consider the following statements:All casual workers are entitled for Employees Provident Fund coverage.All casual workers are entitled for regular working hours and overtime payment.The government can by a notification specify that an establishment or industry shall pay wages only through its bank account.Which of the above statements are correct?

Accepted Answer

Holding that an employer cannot differentiate between contractual and permanent employees, the Supreme Court in Pawan Hans Limited & Ors. Vs Aviation Karmachari Sanghatana has ruled that casual workers are also entitled to social security benefits under the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act.Code on Social Security, 2020 - The Code replaces nine laws related to social security. These include the Employees’ Provident Fund Act, 1952, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 among others. The code is applicable to any establishment (subject to size-threshold as may be notified by the central government).Social security fund: The code states that the central government will set up such a fund for unorganized workers, gig workers and platform workers. Further, state governments will also set up and administer separate social security funds for unorganized workers.Code on Wages, 2020, Section 6 & 7 are related to number of regular working hours and Weekly day of rest & overtime provisions respectively. Hence statements 1 & 2 are correct.The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 has been amended by Payment of Wages (Amendment) Act, 2017 (effective from 28.12.2016) to enable the employers to pay wages to their employees by (a) cash or (b) cheque or (c) crediting to their bank account. The amendment in the Act also enables the appropriate Government to specify the industrial or other establishment, by notification in the Official Gazette, which shall pay to every person employed in such industrial or other establishment, the wages only by cheque or by crediting in his bank account. Hence statement 3 is correct.Source Citation: Vision IAS: PT Economy