Body On Saturday, Chief Justice of India Justice N V Ramana emphasised the importance of creating an educational model that teaches students how to deal with real-life challenges and bemoaned the fact that institutions of higher learning were losing their social relevance due to the proliferation of education factories. After being awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from his alma mater, Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU), he emphasised that such education should also help to build social unity and make people into valuable members of society. Justice Ramana added that young people need to be conscious change agents who consider sustainable development approaches. This consciousness must be forward-thinking in your particular disciplines while also taking into account the requirements of our society and environment. It is time for our educational system to change, he continued. The importance of interpersonal connections and responsible citizenship must be emphasised in our institutions. To provide young minds with the skills and attitudes they need to change our society with awareness and the proper understanding, we should combine our historical baggage with a futuristic vision. The development of an educational model that teaches us how to handle obstacles in real life is urgently needed. It should make it possible for us to develop social cohesion and produce people who contribute significantly to society. True education should equip people with the awareness of the pervasive problems in society as well as the means to address them. He emphasised that when our institutions of national importance were established, the only goal was to give everyone a good education geared toward country building. The CJI recalled how many social movements in the state had flourished on this university campus in the past. In a previous era, when we were students, we had a strong connection to social issues and people's problems. These early connections to social concerns are what influenced our attitudes toward nation-building. According to CJI Ramana, institutions and their research divisions ought to concentrate on problems that our nation faces and work to provide complete solutions. Universities need to work with famous research and development organisations in addition to developing their internal skills. This will give students real-world experience and promote a culture of scientific inquiry and research. He also urged the state to actively participate in allocating funds for research and innovation, stating that it would be a sad commentary if we allowed our most important fields of study and research to deteriorate due to a lack of funding. The CJI stated that while pursuing economic growth, we must not lose sight of our responsibility to preserve culture and the environment, since doing so would be a great dishonour to our roots. He also urged the creation of a democratic system in which the diversity of identities and viewpoints is acknowledged as well as the development of an inclusive vision of growth. Share on: */

Body The four new labour codes aim to standardise terminology, streamline processes, and provide a greater level of worker safety. The updated laws, which are waiting for their effective notice date, will replace and combine the current 29 core labour laws. The Occupational Security, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (the "OSH Code") and Guidelines, one of several codes, has established specific regulations for the issue of appointment letters and has established formats for a comparable document (part 6 of the OSH Code learn with Rule 7 of the OSH Guidelines). The 13 current guidelines do not need any special clauses regarding the issuing or format of appointment letters. Appointment letter: A legal contract An official contract between the employer and the employee is the appointment letter. It is a document that the employer issues certifying the employee's position inside the company as well as the terms and conditions of employment. As previously stated, an employer is required under the OSH Code to issue each employee a letter of appointment in a format that may be established by the appropriate regulations immediately upon the employee's employment with the organisation. According to the OSH Code, if a worker has not received such an appointment letter on or before the graduation of the Code, the employer must give one within three months of the Code's graduation. Contrast that with the current scenario, in which no format is mandated. Therefore, even if an employee has previously received an appointment letter before the new regulations take effect, a fresh appointment letter must be given out within three months of the new regulations taking effect date. The new appointment letter must follow the format requirements outlined in the Code. Aadhaar Number, Labour Identification Number (LIN), Universal Account Number (UAN), and avenues for obtaining greater wages/higher positions (basis for increments, promotions, etc.), which are now not mentioned within the appointment letter, will now need to be included. In addition to the aforementioned, the appointment letter and its sections pertaining to social security, gratuities, etc. will need to be examined in order to realign and reflect the modifications necessary under the other labour codes aside from OSH. Additionally, adjustments will be required to clarify the special advantages offered to women employees and fixed-term employees, as necessary. This is a positive move since it will increase openness and standardise the information that should be included in appointment letters. To further guarantee that all applicable rules are followed, the employer shall additionally make reference to the OSH Code and Rules informed by the relevant states as well as any other state legislation, such as the Shop and Establishment Act, while issuing an appointment letter. Additionally, one should be aware that the employer may face harsh fines, ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh if the OSH Code and Rules are not followed. For every day that a violation persists, there will be extra fines of Rs 2,000 if compliance is not maintained. Therefore, it is essential for employers to keep an eye out for notifications of the Labor Codes' effective dates, recognise and comprehend the changes mandated by them, be prepared to assure compliance, and tell their staff. Share on: */

Body The Central Government intends to implement new labour laws from July 1, 2022, which will affect the salary structure, PF contribution, working hours, and earned leave encashment. So far, 23 states have framed the labour code rules passed by the parliament in February 2021. Listed below are the changes that would be implemented after the new labour law comes into force: 1. The companies would be allowed to change the office working hours by increasing it to 12 hours from current 8-9 hours. But to compensate for the extra working hours, the companies would require to allot the employees three weekly offs. 2. Across industries, the maximum amount of overtime hours for workers has been increased from 50 to 125 hours every quarter. 3. The take-home wage component and the employer's contribution to the provident fund will both change significantly. The employee's basic wage might be reduced to 50% of the gross income under the new regulations. It will raise both the employee's and the employer's PF contributions. Some employees, particularly those in the private sector, will see their take-home pay decline. 4. The amount of money received after retirement, as well as the gratuity amount, will increase enabling the employees to live a better life after retirement. 5. The government also wants to simplify how much leave a worker may take during his or her job, how much leave can be carried over to the next year, and how much leave can be encashed while on the job. The revised Labour Codes have cut the 240-day work requirement for leave to 180 days of employment in a year. However, the amount of paid time off will stay the same, with one day of paid time off for every 20 days worked. Similarly, no changes have been suggested to the 30-day restriction on carrying forward leaves. 6. The federal government has recognised Work From Home (WFH) as a common market practise across sectors, particularly after the onset of the covid-19 epidemic, in the draught model standing order applicable to the service industry. Share on: */

Body Human resource (HR) leaders are not just limited to talent acquisition and management but have been upgraded to be involved in business operations citing the new corporate set-up. The shift in HR's role is due to three main reasons, including the advent of technology, rapid globalisation and the recent outbreak of COVID-19. HR needs to understand all the aspects of the business while handling the HR strategy. HR professionals need to be ahead of the curve and stay updated about the upcoming trends and what's happening on the business front. HR needs to be futuristic to manage the business ecosystem more efficiently. For example, green energy will become a prime thing in the next three to five years, and HRs need to be professionally capable to facilitate the shift. HR has to be more careful after the Great Resignation phenomenon post the pandemic. They need to overcome challenges in talent management by meeting the employees and understanding them, as the great migration is still on and the employees are comparatively knowledgeable with more vivid choices. The employee-employer relationship is transforming rapidly, and nowadays, employees are seeking a partnership in business. Hence, the HR's role becomes more prominent to understand the expectations of the employees and the changes that they expect. Share on: */

Body Startups are known for making lucrative offers to job seekers which are difficult to reject, but the recent scenario in the market has forced startups to take extreme steps making it a scary place. Some of the popular startups in India like Vedanta, Meesho, Trell, Furlenco, Unacademy, Cars24 and many others have laid off over 5000 employees. It is estimated that the firings will continue further. Most of the laid-off employees stated that they were not even given prior notice before being fired. Talking about the exact figures, in the first quarter of 2022, Ola laid off close to 2100 employees, Unacademy let go 926 employees, Vedantu fired more than 600 employees, whereas Cars24 has laid off 600 employees. Even Meesho, a newly founded startup, has laid off around 150 employees. The main reason behind these firings is unknown, but cost-cutting is the common reason for the layoffs. Other reasons might include the slowed funding to the startups that are eventually building pressure from the investors. A popular ed-tech company Vedantu has a workforce of 5900 employees and has asked 424 of them to leave the job, which accounts for 7% of the workforce. A successful e-commerce platform, Meesho, which clocked 100 million users and registered a 6 lakh sales base, has also laid off close to 150 employees. The company's management has promised to offer severance packages and outplacement assistance to laid-off employees. A used car marketplace Cars24, has also fired over 6% of its workforce in May, accounting for over 600 employees. The company has not revealed the reason for the firing as yet. Share on: */

Body Remote working has been the latest modification in the way businesses operate. Earlier, it was a luxury for the employees to work remotely, but it became a necessity in the past couple of years and might become a norm in the future. It will eventually give exposure for talents from tier 2 and tier 3 towns more opportunities by enabling flexible working, which would not mandate them to migrate. As talent boundaries expand due to the current scenario of working from home, organisations need to focus on being inclusive in their compliance approach by promoting flexible working. The business world might witness the much-anticipated unified labour code roll-out in 2022, which will simplify compliances. A close working of human resources and information technology has always been a boon for the organisations, and it has grown drastically since 2020, considering the hybrid working models. It becomes more crucial for HR and IT to collaborate as more technology influences how employees perform their jobs. Organisations need to focus on promoting leaders to manage change, identify new opportunities, and execute new strategies in the currently evolving business environment. Businesses have started recognising the value of skills in terms of leadership development for a broad range of managers. In 2021, businesses witnessed a higher turnover of employees because of industrial expansion, which resulted in a sudden decline in talent demand. As per the estimates, in 2022, organisations will avoid buying talent from outside and focus more on building organic talent. Share on: */

Body As per a recent study conducted by Tracking Happiness, the employees seem to be less happy when it takes more time to commute to work. The survey stated that more than 25% of employees travel less than 10 minutes to commute to work. About 15% travel less than an hour, whereas 10% travel for less than 50 minutes to reach their workplace. About 2% of the employees travel less than 90 minutes to work. The average travel as per the survey comes to 40 minutes. The data provided is for the one-way commute to work. A negative correlation is evident after the comparison between commute times and average employee happiness scores. The data revealed that the employees' happiness decreases if the commuting time is more. The study even revealed that the average happiness scores remained relatively stable when the commute time is less than an hour. However, if the commuting time exceeded over an hour, then the happiness scores fell drastically. Another declaration of the survey states that remote work arrangement makes the Millennials happiest. The survey included responses from 12,455 respondents, and most of the young people from them appeared to be happy with the remote working arrangement. The study revealed that millennials who were allowed to spend an extra day working remotely seem to show signs of increased happiness by 4% at the workplace. The data even revealed that the youngest and oldest generations are the happiest at work. The study even concludes that the return of the work from office set up after two years of work from home has reduced the happiness of the employees. Share on: */