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Raise funeral compensation for employees: House panel

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary committee has recommended that funeral compensation for employees be enhanced to Rs. 5,000 and that it be linked to periodic upward revision under the provisions of the Workmen’s Compensation (Amendment) Bill, 2008.

The amended Bill proposes to increase the compensation paid in the event of death of an employee from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,000 on a par with that for ESIC (Employees State Insurance Scheme) beneficiaries.

This action is affirmative in nature but insufficient in application as well as in quantum. The proposed increase in funeral expenses is negligible in the present cost of living, says the Standing Committee on Labour and Employment, in its 37th report submitted in the Lok Sabha last week. Moreover, the ESIC caters primarily for the section of workers who are “organisedly unorganised,” and hence the benefit cannot and should not be a benchmark for determining the amount payable for any welfare activity for the employees.

Similarly, the enabling provision to revise the wage ceiling from time to time without any time stipulation is an open-ended approach without a sense of commitment to the needs of the workforce. It will be most unlikely that any periodical review of wage ceiling is undertaken to determine the benefits under the Act. Hence the revision in wage ceiling of employees to determine their benefits should be done at regular intervals, not exceeding a gap of five years.

Importantly, the panel recommended that replacement of “workmen” by “employees” as proposed in the amended legislation should also include those working on a casual or contract basis, engaged by an individual, a group of individuals, a company, and directly or indirectly by the establishment and those working within the country or abroad.

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