Govt relaxes norms for firms to operate during lockdown
In what may come as a relief to industry, the government has watered down a host of stringent workplace norms in its recent order extending the national lockdown for the next two weeks.
At the same time, it has made it mandatory for employers to send employees showing symptoms of Covid-19 to a medical facility and ensure workers download the official contract-tracing mobile application. To start with, the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have removed a clause by which medical insurance for all workers was made mandatory.
The previous MHA order, which had permitted economic activities from April 20, had a provision mandating employers to give medical insurance to its workforce. The employers had complained of a cost burden to the government and had sought its help to pass on medical insurance to workers through government schemes.
In another major relief, for all the permitted economic activities, except for construction in urban areas, establishments will no longer have to make arrangements for the stay of workers at the work-place. Workers can travel in their own vehicles or take public transport to work. “Arrangements for transport facilities shall be ensured with social distancing, wherever personal or public transport is not feasible,” the new guidelines said.
However, employers will have to “earmark” quarantine areas “for isolating employees showing symptoms till they are safely moved” to a nearby med
ical facility. It will become the responsibility of companies to send workers showing any symptom of Covid-19 to a medical facility “immediately”.
Employers will also be responsible for ensuring that all its workers download and install the government’s official contact-tracing mobile application, known as the Aarogya Setu. “It shall be the responsibility of the head of the respective organisations to ensure 100 per cent coverage of this
(mobile) application among the employees,” the order said.
The previous guidelines had made it compulsory for employers to arrange a “dedicated transport” for workers, following which they were required to be kept within or near the work premises.
Experts had pointed out the necessary arrangements for transportation and dormitory would shot up the cost for firms and would not be feasible for smaller factories.