The government has said that two bills being drafted under the Labour Reform Package (LRP) will be dumped.

The government had been working to amend the Labour Policy and introduce an Unemployment Benefit Act, Social Security Act, Bonus Policy, Trade Union Act and Labour Commission Act.The Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLTA) has announced that it has abandoned work on the Unemployment Benefit Act and the Labour Commission Act and that the issues to be covered by them will be inserted in other acts.

Ministry sources said they were now working on the Labour Policy, Social Security Act, Bonus Policy and Trade Union Act.The Unemployment Benefit Act was envisioned to provide financial support to workers who have contributed to the Social Security Fund (SSF) for the period they are out of a job. Similarly, the Labour Commission Act was conceived to form a Labour Commission in the country to look after labour related issues, especially labour protest.

According to the MoLTM, the committee formed to review the four acts has said that the unemployment benefit scheme can be incorporated in the Social Security Act, which is being introduced to insure facilities for workers. “If the goal is to create a foundation to provide facilities to workers, there is no need for two different acts,” said Nabin Pokharel, joint secretary at the ministry.

With various agencies to handle and resolve labour problems already in existence, the planned Labour Commission Act was also abandoned. “There are agencies like Labour Offices, Labour Department, Labour Relation Reform Committee and Labour Court to look after workers’ woes, hence we thought a separate labour commission was not needed,” said a senior official at the ministry.

Trade unions had been lobbying for the establishment of an autonomous body to get workers’ problems addressed on time and more effectively. They had also demanded that the body work as a mediator to resolve employer-worker disputes and conduct research on matters related to workers and training and awareness programmes besides working to ensure workers’ rights and interest.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Fund Management Committee (SSFMC) has submitted a draft of the Social Security Act to the MoLTM. The act seeks to institutionalize 11 different social security schemes for the country’s workers.
A ministry source said that the ministry would send the draft to the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs (MoLPA) and parliament after conducting discussions with the stakeholders and making amendments as necessary. Mahesh Baral, director of the SSFMC, said that the draft has proposed to introduce three social security schemes including workplace accident, reproductive health and health insurance for industrial workers across the country within the current fiscal year.

Published on: 12 February 2012 | The Kathmandu Post