IntroductionThe qualityof jobs in manufacturing industry, particularly for employees working inproductional activities in India are often poor, in terms of lackof sufficient social protection system (SPS) as well as inadequate physicalworking conditions, safety and health, as a result, these workers are moreprone to accidents or partial or complete physical disablement either temporarilyor permanently, even sometimes death. Social security is an investment inemployees that empowers them to cope up with changes to their life post toretirement and that is why employees are more avid for SPS, SPS act as an automaticsocial and economic boost for hassle free life, and also help to stimulateaggregate demand in times of crisis and beyond.
SPS should consist of basic social security guarantee schemesthat ensure effective access to essential health care and basic income securityat a level that allows employees to live in dignity and hassle free life throughoutthe employment and post employment cycle, particularly in cases ofsickness, unemployment, maternity and employment injury. Informal sector illustrates the employment activitiesof the working poor who work very hard but their work is not regulated by thepublic authority or the legal system and work in the informal sector can’t beconsidered decent compared to recognised, protected, secure formal employment. Ina daily mundane the majority of working agepeople are economically active, and generally secure their livelihoods throughincome generating activity, whether in formal or informal employment, andwhether such activity can be categorized as decent work or not. Whethercurrently economically active or not, persons of working age have specificsocial protection needs. In order to meet these needs effective policies areindispensable not only to realize their right to social security, but also toensure the efficient functioning of labour markets and broader economic andsocial development.
Needs generally fall into three broad categories: the needto replace income lost temporarily or permanently as a result of unemployment,employment injury, disability, sickness or maternity; the need for income supportor other social protection measures where income is insufficient to avoidpoverty and or social exclusion; and the need for support to restore earningcapacity after any of the contingencies listed above and to facilitateparticipation in employment. Informalworkers are not considered or protected under the legal system to secure theirlife during and post employment. Informal workers are more susceptible toemployment injuries. They are not embraced under the law andtherefore receive little or no social protection.
They rarely able to holdmeetings for effective representation and have little or no voice to make their work takes careof their security in terms of their employment benefits. They are excluded fromavailing public benefits like PF, Pension and ESI. The wages depend on thestrategies of business organizations and their employment is generally unstable and their incomes are scanty andirregular. Why employees should have SPS? To answer this question properly wereally have to know what arrangements could be made to protect themselves and theirdependents after retirement. Employees believe that everybody depending onsocial security benefits as their principal source of income after retirement couldlive a life of intolerable hardship.
Social security is more than a retirementbenefit. Social security benefits support dependents of the employees when theydie and can provide monthly benefits like pension and medical facility when theemployee retires or if the employee becomes severely disabled which in turnhelp to relieve poverty. Employment under social protection system(SPS) helpsemployees and their dependents qualify for those benefits and to mean theprotection caused by the stoppage or substantial reduction of earningsresulting from sickness, employment injury, maternity, old age, and invalidityor death.
Although these benefits seek to protect covered persons from a wholerange of different hazards, they have a number of elements in common. With theexception of unemployment benefit, they have some biological related issues likedisease, injury, child birth, old age, death and the addition of a child or ofchildren to the family. All these could put the employee income from his job underpressure. 27.
8 per cent of persons with severe disabilities worldwide onlyreceive a disability benefit (ILO, 2017). Social protection contributes to the promotion of employment, higherlabour productivity and investments in human capital and capabilities, andstabilizes aggregate demand during major economic crises (ILO, 2014a). Thecurrent issues that the world struggles today are high levels of unemployment, underemploymentand informality, SPS adapts to ensure the protection of incomes and tofacilitate access to health, education and decent employment, including forthose in insecure and informal employment (ILO, 2017a, 2016b, 2013 a).
SPS canalso have a positive impact on productivity (Alderman and Yemtsov, 2013) WorldSocial Protection Report 2017–19: Universal social protection to achieve the SustainableDevelopment Goals, 29 November 2017, ILO, Geneva. International Labour Conference (2002): Decent Workand the Informal Economy, 90th Session, International Labour Organization,Geneva. Generallyspeaking, informal employment incorporates non full-time, temporary, seasonaland casual work in the informal sector. It also includes full-time temporarywork in formal organizations, self-employment and those employed by theself-employed (He, 2003; Wang and Tan, 2003) References1. He,P. 2003. “AResearch Report on the Social Insurance for Workers in InformalEmployment”.
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2003. CreatingNew Opportunities for Employment through Developing Informal Employment. InstitutionalSystem Reform, 12: 545 Google Scholar.3. WorldSocial Protection Report 2017–19: Universal social protection to achieve theSustainable Development Goals, 29 November 2017, ILO, Geneva.4. ILO (International Labour Office).
2014a. World Social Protection Report 2014/15: Building economic recovery,inclusive development and Social justice (Geneva).5. ILO (International Labour Office).2017a. World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2017 (Geneva).6. ILO (International Labour Office).
2016b. Non-standard employment around the world: Understanding challenges, shaping prospects (Geneva).7. ILO (International Labour Office).2013a.
The informal economy and decent work: A policy resource guidesupporting transitions to formality (Geneva).8. Alderman, H.; Yemtsov, R. 2013.
Howcan safety nets contribute to economic growth?, Policy Research WorkingPaper, No. WPS 6437 (Washington, DC, World Bank).