Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India vide its Gazette notification dated 19th January, 2017 has re-categorised security industry workers under MW Act and modified the minimum rate of daily pay applicable as follow:
• Security guards without arms have been categorised as ‘Skilled Workers’ as against Semi Skilled Workers as per 2008 notification
• Security guards with arms and Security Supervisors have been categorised as ‘Highly Skilled Workers’
This notification is indeed a major milestone and a great opportunity for the Private Security Industry in India as higher payout will enable the industry to attract better quality talent, invest further in their training and certification and ensure higher levels of manpower retention. And over time, this development has potential to impact the overall quality of service standards and image of the industry.
The Central Government has revised the minimum wages payable to the employees engaged in the employment of ‘Watch & Ward’ sector to Rs. 637 per day. This will impact the End Users of security services as they will have to expand their budgets to cater for the newly notified minimum wages for unarmed and armed security guards. It may also result in the downsizing of the guard force, up-gradation of training and skills and up-gradation of technology.
