Kerala High Court. File photoKochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday granted sanction to the Wage Protection System (WPS), stipulating payment of salary in select labour sectors through bank accounts in order to ensure minimum wages for employees.
It has also been made mandatory to upload salary particulars on the Labour Department’s website.
The court lauded the state government’s efforts – although it came a little too late - to ensure minimum wages for labourers using technology and observed that the new norms would be welcomed by genuine and righteous employers.
Justice P B Suresh Kumar issued the order while dismissing about 200 petitions filed by various organisations, including the Kerala Private Hospitals Association, challenging the amendment made to Kerala Minimum Wages Rules on July 8, 2015.
Details of the court order
• Taking into account the security precautions adopted by the government, there is no substance in the apprehension that the data uploaded on the website could be misused. The court cannot interfere in the framing of a statutory law just because of the possibility of causing inconvenience to employers.
• Employers should be welcoming the new norm as it would do away with verification of records and physical inspections on their premises.
• Disbursal of wages through individual bank accounts is within the legal framework. Through the IT-enabled payment system, wages could be paid via cash, cheque, or through bank accounts. It is up to the government to decide on the mode of payment.
• The argument that it is a biased decision to bring institutions only in six sectors is under the purview of the law is absurd. The government has made it clear that the law will initially be implemented in computer-literate industries and it will be gradually introduced in other sectors on the list.
• Governments have not been able to fully tap the potential of digital technologies to enhance levels of administrative efficiency and productivity. The switch to an electronic salary transfer system from the conventional modes of payment will improve transparency and eliminate the possibility of human error in the computation process.
Arguments of petitioners
• The newly introduced system is impractical and goes against business interests. Making sensitive information public would lead to lack of protection of trade secrets. The new system does not comply with the provisions under the Kerala Minimum Wages Rules that stipulates salary payment in cash. Secrecy will be lost as salaries being paid to staff including doctors would get publicised.
Government’s stance
• The amendment to the Kerala Minimum Wages Rules was mooted to ensure minimum wages to labourers and to put in place a monitoring system in select sectors. Though minimum wages were fixed in many of these sectors, there was a flood of complaints that several employers did not comply with the norms, compelling their staff to work for meagre salaries.
The general public will not have access to the information uploaded on the Labour Department’s website. Only labour inspectors and employers would be able to log on to the website with a user ID and password to view the data. So, there will be no scope for misuse of the information.
