Open Access Research Article
Emerging Trends In Employee Welfare (By-Ms. Kiran Kumari)
Published Paper
Article Details
Emerging Trends In Employee Welfare
Authored By-Ms. Kiran Kumari
Assistant Professor
Mody University of Science and
Technology
Rajasthan.Email
Emerging Trends In Employee Welfare
According to
Deloitte’s millennial survey, a majority of surveyed millennia’s in 19 out of
30 countries report that they do not expect to be “happier” than their parents.[1] In
India employee welfare emerges as a strategic priority to face global
competition. Human Resource Managers are endeavoring to use strategic
approaches towards employee benefits for attracting and retaining the
employees. Indian organizations truly have given many advantages to their
employees, for example, health benefits, statutory retirement plans, HR
benefits and leave benefits programs etc. The bases for vibrant business
environment are global competition, foreign investors and educated population. A
survey report published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in
the year 2017 on strategic use of benefits, found that companies who adopt a
key strategy to their employees welfare program are having more satisfied
workers as compared to the organizations that are not using such strategic
benefits. Human
Resource Management should anticipate latest emerging trends towards employee
welfare activities to enhance the employee engagement. Many employers
are putting in place innovative programs for financial wellness, mental health,
healthy diet and exercise, mindfulness, sleep, stress management, and more. The
aim is to both increase worker productivity and meet global expectations. This
paper tries to identify some important changes in employment relations in the
post-reform period.
Keywords:
Human Resource Management (HRM), Employee benefits; Labour reforms.
Introduction
Labour
reforms in year 2019 have been announced by Mody Government and are expected to
get Parliament's nod on at least two codes on wages as well as industrial
relations. The Indian Ministry is under process of four labour codes on social
security & welfare and occupational safety, wages, health and working
conditions, industrial relations by amalgamating, simplifying and rationalizing
the relevant provisions of the existing central labour laws.
Labour
Codes
THE
CODE ON WAGES BILL 2017:
This was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 10, 2017 and afterward by the
standing committee. The report of the Standing Committee is being awaited. This
will enable the Central government to set benchmark minimum wages for different
regions across the country. "Keeping
the social security and
welfare aspects of workmen better and intact, we are working in the direction
of bringing reforms in various labour laws with objective of ease of doing
business in new future," Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar.
CODE ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND WELFARE: Indian Ministry
is formulating Code on Social Security and Welfare on March 1, 2018 with consultation of tripartite
body.[2]
CODE ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS: On March 23, 2018 the Indian
Ministry is formulating by amalgamation of thirteen labour laws relating to
safety and health standards, health and working conditions.
1.
“The Factories Act,
1948 (Act no. 63 of 1948);
2.
The Mines Act,
1952 (Act no. 35 of 1952);
3.
The Dock Workers
(Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986 (Act no. 54 of 1986) ;
4.
The Building and
Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service)
Act, 1996 (Act No. 27of1996) ;
5.
The Plantations
Labour Act, 1951 (Act No. 69 of 1951) ;
6.
The Contract
Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970;
7.
The Inter-State
Migrant workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979;
8.
The Working
Journalist and other News Paper Employees (Conditions of Service and Misc.
Provision) Act, 1955;
9.
The Working
Journalist (Fixation of rates of wages) Act, 1958;
10.
The Motor
Transport Workers Act, 1961;
11.
Sales Promotion
Employees (Condition of Service) Act, 1976;
12.
The Beedi and
Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment)Act, 1966;
MATERNITY BENEFIT (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2017: This came into force from April 1, 2017. Increased paid maternity leave from 12 weeks
to 26 weeks and benefited 18 lakhs women employees.
PAYMENT OF GRATUITY (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2018: Payment of Gratuity bill was passed by Parliament. This provides for hike in upper ceiling on
tax free gratuity amount from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
FIXED TERM EMPLOYMENT WORKMAN: The ministry also included the category of fixed term
employment workmen for all sectors in the Industrial Employment (Standing
Orders) Act, 1946. The objective of fixed term employment is to provide
flexibility to the employers in order to meet the challenges of globalization,
new practices and methods of doing businesses and it is beneficial for workers
also, as it gives the ''Fixed Term Employment Workman' the same statutory
benefits as that of regular workers in a proportionate manner. This will
decrease the exploitation of contract workers as the employer would directly
hire the worker without any third party in the form of contract for a fixed
term.[4]
Drastic changing patterns in compensation and benefits trends have kept HR
professionals on toes in the last decade. Every organization aims at attracting
and retaining highly talented, engaged professional to enhance productivity,
and to achieve so, they use every tool at their disposal. Here is the best
prevalent practices under compensation and benefits that gained ground during
that particular phase and cracked new codes for the future.
DISPENSARY-CUM-BRANCH
OFFICE (DCBO): To administer primary medical services and
financial benefits, Employee State Insurance Corporation has begun to gradually establishing at
least one contact point in every area of the nation in the form of a
dispensary-cum-branch office.
ATAL BIMIT VYAKTI KALYAN YOJANA: The Employee State Insurance Corporation took into account
the shift in employment patterns and the current state of employment in India,
where short-term contracts have replaced long-term employment, and they
authorized the "Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana" scheme for insured
persons coverage under the ESI Act, 1948. In the event of unemployment and
while the insured person is looking for new employment, this program provides
relief that is paid straight into their bank accounts in cash.
“UMANG: BY ESIC CHINTA SE MUKTI”
MOBILE APP: The IP
can access personal and enrolled family demographic details, contribution
details, insurance & eligibility details information on entitled Benefits,
claim status, dispensary and branch office to which he is affiliated among
other things using the Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance.
PRADHAN MANTRI ROJGAR PROTSAHAN
YOJANA (PMRPY): The Government of India is now paying full employer's
contribution (Employee Provident Fund and Earning per Share both) with effect
from 1st April, 2018 for a period of 3 years to the new employees as
well as to the existing beneficiaries for their remaining period of three
years. Before 1st April, 2018, the Government was paying under PMRPY
only the EPS share (8.33% of the wages) out of the total employer’s share of
contribution (12% of the wages).
THE PAYMENT OF GRATUITY (AMENDMENT)
BILL, 2018: The Payment of Gratuity bill by Lok Sabha on 15th March, 2018 and by the
Rajya Sabha on 22nd March, 2018, has been brought in force on 29th
March, 2018. The present upper ceiling on gratuity amount under the Act has
been raised from Rs. 10 Lakh, to Rs. 20 Lakhs
SHRAM SUVIDHA PORTAL: A unified web portal called the
"Shram Suvidha Portal" was created to increase accountability and
transparency in the application of labor regulations.
v Transparent Labour Inspection Scheme
through computerized system
v Common Registration for
ESIC and EPFO
v Online Registration by
Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) under three Acts i.e the Contract Labour
Regulation and Abolition Act, 1970, the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation
of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 and The Building and
Other Construction
Workers’ (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996. A number
of measures have been implemented to increase the safety of mine workers, 110
Mines have received assistance from the Directorate General of Mines Safety
(DGMS) in the creation of Safety Management Plans and Risk Assessment Studies.
The approach has produced a safer management system that is more pro-active.
With the assistance of the relevant state government, the Directorate General
of Mines Safety performed occupational health studies on 9863 people working in
unorganized stone mines in various states' regions. Affected individuals in 211
cases of silicosis were counted.[5]
Organizational Objective Towards
Employee Benefits – 2020:
v Increase in attraction and retention
policy
v Improves in employee’s engagement.
v Health related benefits cost
v Improving employee perceived value
benefits
v Alignment with Global benefit
strategy
v Improving Employee wellbeing
v Improving employee performance
v Reducing Employee absenteeism
v Controlling employment cost and
others.
Employee
Welfare Trends And Opportunities In The Year 2019:
Human
Resource professionals required to stay on following emerging trends to
increase their employee wellness.
PRIVACY CONCERNS:
Data
security is not a just IT problem. Kaiser Health News (KHN) published an article which
has shown concerns about the privacy of employee health data collected through
participation in workplace wellness programs. Employee wellness data is
collected through wellness
surveys,
wellness portals, gym records and lab tests. Organizations need to be
transparent with their employees about who has access to their health data.
Employers also need to make sure their wellness vendors maintain the highest
data privacy, security and compliance standards.
Prioritizing
Self-Care:
“Best of 2018” recently announced by company Apple. Self-care
helps in burnout a kind or stress from work and increase the feelings of
self-worth and self confidence. Company Apple listed out self-care as the trend
of the year. According to Harvard Business Review, a wellness program creates a kind
of culture in which it is acceptable and encouraged individual to
prioritize self-care. It's being offered at some of the world’s biggest
companies to cut workplace stress and boost productivity. Now reputed
organization’s employers prioritizing holistic wellness and its a good news.
Onsite
Clinics:
Reputed
organizations’ are selecting onsite health clinics. It's estimated
by 2020, two-thirds will have such facilities. Building onsite health
clinics shall enable organizations’ to offer a competitive edge, control costs
and provide quality healthcare to employees. It is essential for wellness
professionals to regularly assess and evaluate their wellness strategies.
Taking note of the latest industry trends each year can help you refresh your
employee wellness strategy and will help keep your employees happy and healthy.[6]
Conclusion
Welfare is
becoming a core responsibility of reputed corporate houses and a critical
performance strategy to drive employee engagement, organizational energy, and
productivity. It is also a growing expectation among the talent companies for
attracting, retaining and training the manpower. Companies should consider a
flexible benefits strategy and the type of structure that would encourage
employee satisfaction, control on expenses and growth in revenue. Recruitment
and retention rates should improve as a result of higher levels of employee
satisfaction, tax efficiency and commercial advantages. A proper communication
strategy should develop to raise awareness about the retirement benefits. Many
major organizations are rethinking their reward and development programs to
include some version of holistic, end-to-end well-being programs, which are now
both a responsibility of good corporate citizenship and a key element of an
enterprise talent strategy. This investment responds to the needs of workers,
companies, and corporate leaders, and is being addressed by a growing number of
well-being resources and tools.
Article Information
Emerging Trends In Employee Welfare (By-Ms. Kiran Kumari)
Authors: Ms. Kiran Kumari
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2022/10/14
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Access Open Access
- License CC 4.0
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