A parliamentary panel has disapproved of “different welfare facilities” that a labour bill has proposed for employees and workers in establishments and called for removing such anomalies from the draft legislation.

The labour ministry, which had introduced the bill in July 2019, had said workers were a subset of employees, but the House committee, headed by Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, said it was “not convinced” by such reasoning.

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code Bill seeks to subsume 13 existing laws and provides for the welfare of workers in establishments with more than 10 workers, except at mines and docks where it applies to even one worker.

Coverage under the law would entitle workers to safety and health provisions.

The bill provides for bathing places and locker rooms as extra facilities for employees, while employees and workers are both entitled to facilities like sitting arrangements, canteen, ambulance and restroom.

When the panel questioned the logic behind the separate provisions, the ministry said workers were a subset of employees. Workers, it said, did not include those in administrative, managerial and supervisory ranks who earned more than Rs 15,000 a month; so separate facilities had been proposed for the two categories.

The House panel said it was “not convinced with the reasonings adduced by the Ministry for prescribing different welfare facilities for Employees and Workers on the plea of the workers being a subset of employees”.

“Prudence therefore demands that such anomalies have to be removed so as to dispel any impression of misgivings,” the panel said in a report.

The panel recommended creches for children of plantation workers. It also suggested a provision for inter-state migrant workers to ensure their safety.

The OSHWC Code intends to subsume 13 laws related to factories, dock workers, building and other construction workers, plantation labourers, contract labourers, inter-state migrant workers, working journalists and other newspaper employees, motor transport workers, sales promotion employees, beedi and cigar workers, cine workers and cinema theatre workers.

The bill proposes single registration for an establishment instead of multiple registrations. Six of the 13 labour laws provide for separate registrations, which means an establishment now needs to register with separate authorities before they can start operations.

Sources said single registration would help create a centralised database.