Unions raise concerns about overtime, definition of factory in draft code published by Karnataka govt

The Karnataka government has published draft rules for the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, which cap daily working hours at 10.5 hours and limit overtime to 144 hours in a quarter. The proposed code also consolidates 13 existing Acts, including the Factories Act, Mines Act, and Interstate Migrant Workmen Act, among others. Satyanand Mukund, state secretary of the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), expressed concerns about the definition of factory, overtime compensation, and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator regime's potential impact on enforcement. Payal Gaikwad, a labour lawyer, criticized the draft rules for not requiring displacement allowances for inter-State migrant workers and relying heavily on audit-based mechanisms instead of frequent inspections. However, Prashanth B.K. from CCI Legal believes the code will bring accountability to both employers and employees.