Chennai, Aug 2: In a significant labour reform, the Tamil Nadu government has issued a notification to regulate the payment of domestic help in the state. According to the notification, if a person will face a jail term up to seven years if he/she is found paying less than Rs 37 per hour to his/her domestic servants. The government has also issued guidelines related to pay for home nurses and semi-skilled workers.

As per the notification, the minimum hourly wage for unskilled domestic workers is fixed at Rs 37. For skilled workers that included home nurses, the minimum hourly wage is Rs 39. The same has been set at Rs 38 for semi-skilled workers such as cooks and gardeners. These wages have been fixed for an entire 8-hour day's chores including sweeping, washing and babysitting.

The minimum pay for domestic help is fixed at Rs 6,836 per month. Home nurses must get monthly Rs 8,051 minimum salary, the notification said. If an employer is found violating these guidelines, he/she can be booked under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 along with Sections 370 and 374 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The notification was issued following the recommendations of an eight-member committee, headed by the deputy commissioner of labour of Coimbatore. The committee consulted domestic workers' unions for months before finalising the guidelines. The state government has included unskilled workers in the schedule of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 02, 2018 04:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).