More than half of the world's labour force is in Asia and the Pacific and it is projected to account for 55 percent in 2030. While the proportion of the global labour force in Africa is expected to rise, making it the second largest by 2030. Social security which includes the income security of the labour force is of prime importance for any government & state, so as to empower them to meet the need for protection against certain life risks and social needs. Although wages are necessary for the maintenance of workers and their families, in many parts of the world access to adequate and regular wages is not guaranteed.
In many countries, wage arrears continue to be a problem. Workers face problems in receiving timely and full wages due to various reasons, like the bankruptcy of the enterprise or lack of accountability and transparency in the unorganized sector. Problems can also arise in cases where part of wages, and sometimes a large part, are paid in kind. Such situations push the workers concerned into poverty. In certain cases, these practices may even expose them to the risk of debt bondage or forced labour.
ILO standards on wages address all of these issues. They provide for the regular payment of wages, the protection of wages in the event of the insolvency of the employer and the fixing of minimum wage levels.The ILO is committed to promoting policies on wages and incomes that ensure a just share of the fruits of progress to all and a minimum living wage for all employed in need of such protection. Many member countries of ILO abide by the wage laws and policies. For example in India, the Payment of Wages Act seeks to ensure that the employers make a timely payment of wages to the employees working in the establishments and to prevent unauthorized deductions from the wages.
Leveraging technological intervention is imperative in bringing that paradigm shift in the existing process of wage transfer through automation. This not only will check the timely disbursal of wages but authenticate the database of workers.
The e-Muster Roll Platfrom integrated with e-Shramik, Contractor Database Management System (CDMS) and online payment gateway sources information on registered labour, auto generates work id and enables online fund transfer from contractors to labourers. Anchored by the Works department, the platform covers four other engineering departments- Water Resources, Panchayati Raj & Drinking water, Rural Development and Housing & Urban Development.
The integrated EMRP platform has access to the workers’ cycle- from registration to labour tagging, attendance, payments and compliance with EPF and ESI. The unified portal act as a great monitoring mechanism for the government, providing them with a clear visibility of leakages. The automation has expedite the process of payment with seamless transaction. E-Muster brings in greater clarity in employment and payments data of workers. Besides, italso makes the administration accountable and accessible to the diligent workforce.
Benefits:
- Creates single unified database for all labourers engaged in works commissioned by multiple line departments
- Guarantees fair remuneration and ethical treatment to labourers by contractors
- Upholds statutory protection on minimum wages & social security benefits (such as EPF & ESI)
- Promotes transparency and speed in disbursal of wages, provident fund and insurance dues
Features:
- Labour Registration: uniquely identify all labourers engaged in public works by government contractors
- Labour Tagging: easy tagging of labourers to projects ,shifts and minimum wages as per shift which is defined in a matrix and also configured per project
- Labour Attendance: captures the attendance of the labourers based on which the due wages is calculated
- Labour Payment: enables direct fund transfer from the contractor’s bank account to the respective labourer’s bank account.
- EPF/ESI Compliance: facilitates verification of payment of statutory employer EPF & ESI contribution from contractors to labourers
- Supervisor Tagging: supervisors are tagged to the specific projects enabling easy monitoring
- Analytical Reports: generation of different analytical reports on labour utilization & wage deviations supports administration decision making and identify leakages in the process for timely action for course correction.
