Assam tables bill to decriminalise labour law

The Assam government on Tuesday tabled amendment to as many as 10 labour laws.

The Minimum Wages (Assam Amendment) Bill, 2022, seeks to amend the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. It proposes to bring amendment to penalties for certain offences under section 22 and insertion of a new Section 22A compounding of offences with an objective to decriminalise the labour law by bringing in civil penalties.

The rationale behind decriminalisation is that imprisonment is too severe a consequence for economic offences that do not involve mala fide. Legal process around an offence involving imprisonment greatly increases the anxiety among employers and reduced possibility of such processes leads to improved ease of doing business. Criminal penalties, especially the risk of imprisonment are often unintentional offences, a major reason for low business investment.