Lawless: A Policy Perspective on Labour Laws and Migrant Workers Displaced by COVID-19

24 Pages Posted: 31 Dec 2020

See all articles by Shruti Singhi

Shruti Singhi

Monk Prayogshala

Anirudh Tagat

Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala; Monk Prayogshala; Monash University - School of Mathematics

Date Written: October 14, 2020

Abstract

Many of India’s 19mn migrant workers have been displaced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown. Save for a select few that received assistance from their employers and local governments, many migrants were left to make their own arrangements to return home. This paper investigates the role of labour laws and policies in overcoming the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this unequal impact on migrant workers. Given that consolidation and strengthening of labour laws and codes in India is a recent phenomenon, this paper argues that there is an opportunity to account for vulnerabilities faced by migrant laborers in particular. We review recent bills such as the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code recently passed by Parliament (2020). We provide a roadmap of labour laws and policies potentially required to safeguard migrant and minimum wage labourers from such shocks in the future.

Keywords: minimum wage, occupational safety, vulnerability, pandemic planning

JEL Classification: D78, J61, J83, K31

Suggested Citation

Singhi, Shruti and Tagat, Anirudh, Lawless: A Policy Perspective on Labour Laws and Migrant Workers Displaced by COVID-19 (October 14, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3756097 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3756097

Shruti Singhi

Monk Prayogshala ( email )

Powai
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400072
India

Anirudh Tagat (Contact Author)

Department of Economics, Monk Prayogshala ( email )

Powai
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400072
India

HOME PAGE: http://www.monkprayogshala.in

Monk Prayogshala ( email )

Powai
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400072
India

HOME PAGE: http://www.monkprayogshala.in

Monash University - School of Mathematics ( email )

Melbourne
Australia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
224
Abstract Views
1,240
Rank
246,274
PlumX Metrics