"The previous United National Party government reduced this to three months," Yapa said.
"We are reverting to the previous time limit."
The time given for aggrieved employees to take action under the Industrial Disputes Act would also be doubled from three months to six months, he said.
Populist Politics
Under Sri Lanka's labour laws it is difficult to sack workers or even lay them off when a business falls into trouble.
However the laws only protect a minority of unionized workers in the formal sector which is tightly regulated.
Economists have warned that tight labour regulations was scaring away good investors and hindering high quality job creation.
Large numbers of Sri Lankans, especially in rural areas work in the informal s