Which of the following labour related Acts have been amalgamated into the 'Code on Wages, 2019' ? I. Minimum Wages Act II. Payment of Bonus Act III. The Contract Labour Act IV. Equal Remuneration Act Select the correct answer using the codes given below. Codes :
- (a)I and II only
- (b)II and III only
- (c)I, II and IV only
- (d)I, II, III and IV
Correct — C, I, II and IV only. The Code on Wages, 2019 amalgamated four central labour laws: the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. Of the items listed, that means the Minimum Wages Act (I), the Payment of Bonus Act (II) and the Equal Remuneration Act (IV) are subsumed. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act (III) is NOT part of the Code on Wages — it was folded into the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. Hence I, II and IV only, option (c). (The Payment of Wages Act, the fourth law subsumed, is simply not listed as an option.)
- (a)I and II only — It leaves out the Equal Remuneration Act (IV), which was in fact merged into the Code on Wages — so this set is incomplete.
- (b)II and III only — It wrongly includes the Contract Labour Act (III), which went into the OSH Code, not the Code on Wages, and omits the Minimum Wages and Equal Remuneration Acts.
- (d)I, II, III and IV — It adds the Contract Labour Act (III). That Act belongs to the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, not the Code on Wages — this is the intended trap.
India consolidated 29 central labour laws into four Labour Codes: the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020. The Code on Wages — the first to be enacted (August 2019) — merged four wage-related statutes and, notably, extended the concept of minimum wages and timely wage payment to all workers across sectors.
The distractor turns on the Contract Labour Act. Group each old law by which Code absorbed it: wage/bonus/equal-pay laws → Code on Wages; contract-labour and factory/safety laws → OSH Code; unions, strikes and retrenchment → Industrial Relations Code; ESI/EPF/gratuity → Social Security Code. Placing Contract Labour under the Code on Wages is the mistake options (b) and (d) invite.
- Code on Wages, 2019 subsumed: Payment of Wages Act 1936, Minimum Wages Act 1948, Payment of Bonus Act 1965, Equal Remuneration Act 1976
- The Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 was merged into the OSH Code, 2020 — not the Code on Wages
- Four Labour Codes in total: Wages (2019), Industrial Relations (2020), Social Security (2020), OSH (2020)
- The Code on Wages was the first of the four Codes to be passed (2019)
- Payment of Wages Act, 1936
- Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (I)
- Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (II)
- Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (IV)
- Code on Wages, 2019
- Contract Labour Act, 1970 (III) → OSH Code, 2020
I + II + IV go into the Code on Wages; the Contract Labour Act (III) goes to the OSH Code — answer (c).
- Placing the Contract Labour Act under the Code on Wages — it is in the OSH Code
- Forgetting the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (the fourth law subsumed), often left off the option list
UPSC and UPPSC ask which old Acts a particular Labour Code replaced, or how many Codes there are and which subjects (wages, safety, relations, social security) each covers.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
How many Labour Codes have consolidated India's central labour laws?
- (a)two
- (b)three
- (c)four
- (d)five
Answer(c) four — Code on Wages 2019, and the Industrial Relations, Social Security and OSH Codes of 2020.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 has been subsumed under which Labour Code?
- (a)Code on Wages, 2019
- (b)Industrial Relations Code, 2020
- (c)Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
- (d)Code on Social Security, 2020
Answer(c) Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.