“New labour laws to be introduced in early 2024”

Many of the aging labour laws would be changed and new laws to meet international standards would be introduced to Sri Lanka in January 2024, said Minister of Labor and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara at the fourth National Safety and Health Awards Ceremony at Shangri La Hotel on Tuesday.

“This is the need of the hour to drive more investments to Sri Lanka as well.”

He recalled that six people died in a Horana factory while at work and this was because no security measures were taken. “The Assistant Labour Commissioner who investigated this issue and filed a case against this company eventually became an accused and was in jail for two weeks!”

He also said that a management culture regarding health and safety in the workplace too should be created in the country. “This is why we are trying to create a culture of safety and culture should start from under the new Employment Security Act which is to be introduced soon. Under this new chapter the Labor Commissioner would be given bigger powers in dealing with regard to occupational safety and health.”

He also praised some of the large scale to small scale organizations, institutions who had taken care of workplace health safety. “We will also make provision by law making it mandatory for the appointment of a ‘safety officer’ in the new Employment Security Act for large and medium scale organizations.

The post “New labour laws to be introduced in early 2024” appeared first on DailyNews.