The government is preparing legislation to abolish the manpower employment system in Sri Lanka, Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe has said.
He was speaking at a trade union gathering attended by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday. The Minister said discussions on the necessary legal provisions were under way through the National Labour Advisory Council.
Samarasinghe said the government did not support a system in which intermediaries are paid for supplying workers who give their labour directly to companies and institutions.
He said trade unions had campaigned for a long time for the abolition of the manpower employment system and for the permanent absorption of such workers into the workforce.
The Minister said discussions among labour representatives and government officials were focused on developing a legal framework to deal with the issue. He added that the proposed changes were part of wider labour law reforms meant to strengthen workers’ rights and job security.
He did not announce a timeline for introducing the legislation.
Background
Under a manpower arrangement, a company or institution does not hire a worker directly. Instead, a third-party agency supplies the worker and is paid for doing so, while the worker does the day-to-day work at the company or institution that uses the labour. Trade unions have long argued that workers hired this way lack the job security of permanent employees.
The National Labour Advisory Council is the forum where government, employer and trade union representatives discuss labour policy and proposed changes to labour law. The Minister said it was through this council that talks on the new provisions were being held.
The Minister spoke at the same trade union event at which the President announced that the 2027 Budget would bring further relief on income tax for employees. The Budget is scheduled to be presented on 12 November.
What it means
Workers who are supplied to companies and institutions through intermediaries would be the people most affected if the legislation is passed. The Minister linked the planned law to the permanent absorption of workers, which is the demand that unions have been making.
No bill has been published yet, and the Minister gave no date. Until a law is drafted, presented to Parliament and passed, workers hired through manpower agencies stay under their current arrangements. Employers that use such agencies will also be waiting to see the details of any legal framework, including how it treats workers who are already in these jobs.
