Guidelines silent on workers’ wages

NEW DELHI: Has the ministry of home affairs (MHA) walked back a March 29 order asking all employers to pay wages to workers even during the lockdown?

The Union home ministry’s latest Covid management guidelines doesn’t mention this provision. Crucially, the third paragraph of the guideline issued on Sunday, said that all other orders issued under Section 10(2)(I) of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005—except those issued in the latest guideline—“shall cease to have effect from 18.05.2020.”

The March 29 order also said there would be action taken against house owners who evicted migrants or students during the lockdown. The part of the order on wages was challenged by some firms in the Supreme Court in early this month. Both MHA and the labour ministry refused to comment on the issue.

“All employers, be it in the industry or in the shops and commercial establishments, shall make payment of wages of their workers, at their workplaces, on the due date, without any deduction, for the period their establishments are under closure during the lockdown,” said the March 29 order .

In the latest guideline, the government has issued specific orders on standard operating procedures for movement of stranded people; working from home; and the opening of offices. But there is no mention of its previous order, asking employers to pay salaries.

On May 8, Indian industry bodies asked for suspension of many labour laws and to treat the ongoing lockdown period as lay-off (a furlough) and payment of wages to workers during this period as “expenses under CSR funds”. The Industrial Disputes Act of 1947 terms a lay off as the inability of a factory to operate normally on account of shortage of raw material or power or a natural calamity. It stipulates compensation for such lay-offs at 50% of the “basic and dearness allowance that would have been payable”. And it adds that if the furlough extends beyond 45 days no additional compensation need be paid.