The Cabinet will soon take up a proposal to amend the law governing employment exchanges in the country to increase the ambit of its coverage, particularly bringing private sector firms employing 10-24 workers under its purview. One of the proposed amendments in the legislation is also to change its title 'Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act 1959 to Employment Guidance and Promotion Centres (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act 1959, sources said.

The change in the title of the Act is sought under the proposal to lay emphasis on guidance and counselling rather than mere registration of jobs.
Under the proposed amendments to the Act, private companies with 10-24 employees will come under the ambit of this legislation which are at present covered on voluntary basis, the sources said.
For increasing the effectiveness of the law, it is also proposed that penalty should be increased from Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 for first instance of not providing details of the vacancies to the employment exchanges and to Rs 10,000 from existing fine of Rs 1000 in case of second default for employers.
Besides, the ministry has proposed to insert a new sub-clause in the Act to make it compulsory for employers to intimate results of selection to the exchanges against vacancies notified within 30 days from the date of selection.

It was noted that despite repeated efforts employers do not provide results of selection process to exchanges. It has also proposed to include those engaged on contractual basis or by outsourced agency into the total staff strength so that an employer also provides information about such vacancies.
The proposal also seeks to bring the vacancies connected with any unskilled office work within the purview of the Act. That would be possible after withdrawing exemption regarding such information under the law.

It also proposed to omit a clause in the Act where employers are not required to provide any information regarding vacancies with remuneration of less than Rs 60 per month. Sources said the amendments proposed are aimed towards plugging loopholes and facilitating better coverage and proper implementation of the Act.