Apparently, MHA ( Ministry of Home Affairs ) wants
employers to continue paying wages to employees during the period that their
factories / offices are forced to stay “ closed “ during the lockdown
Some companies have filed a petition in the Supreme
Court challenging this order of MHA ( - also similar order of the Maharashtra
Government )
Supreme Court has given to Central Government , two
weeks’ time to reply , even as a
Parliamentary Committee has submitted its own report saying that the employers
are not liable to pay wages during lockdown
For detailed reports , read :
Ø [COVID-19
Lockdown] Mumbai & Delhi unorganised workers unions intervene in plea
before Supreme Court against order on payment of full wages
=========================================================
I hope Supreme Court takes cognizance of the following
facts while pronouncing its judgement :
Ø This
lockdown may get extended in various parts of the country, for different
periods
Ø
Ø With
each passing day, the intensity of Corona is changing in these different parts
Ø
Ø What
is a GREEN zone today, becomes a RED
zone tomorrow
Ø
Ø When
the spread gets arrested , RED
zones become GREEN zones
Ø
Ø When
one infected person is identified, whole locality becomes a CONTAINMENT area,
prohibiting any establishment to remain OPEN
Ø
Ø For
each TYPE of ESTABLISHMENT , different State Governments are issuing ( and on
daily basis ), widely
varying RULES for periods of the day during which an establishment can stay
OPEN ( including specifying ODD-EVEN rules for days or ODD-EVEN rules for SHOP
NUMBERS )
Ø
Ø Different
establishments are governed by different laws ( Factory Act / Shop and
Establishment Act / Payment of Wages Act / Contract Labour – abolition and
regulation – Act etc ) . Does MHA order contradict any of these ?
Ø
Ø Isn’t
“ Labour / Employment “ , a State Subject ?
Ø
Ø Some
years back, we had sever natural disasters such as :
# Earthquake in Kutch
# Tsunami on TamilNadu coast
# Hurricane on Odisha coast
During those disasters,
thousands of Establishments remained closed for weeks together and lakhs of
people were left jobless / stranded
At those times, did MHA
issue similar order for payment of wages ?
Ø In
case of many SERVICE SECTOR establishments, between 50% to 70 % of the employees
are working from home ( WFH ) and getting paid. Can a company deny paying wages
to the balance who have no internet / video conferencing facilities at home ? –
also for those establishment which are NOT permitted by MeITY to extend their
private VPN to homes of employees ?
Ø
Ø Already
, many
companies have ordered SALARY CUTS for their employees. Is this permissible
under MHA order ?
Ø
Ø Many
companies got their employees to apply for “ LEAVE ON
LOSS of PAY “ ( - or else , get a termination
letter ? ). Does MHA order apply in such cases ?
Ø
Ø If
strictly enforced , could MHA order lead to :
# Companies ( especially MSME ) turning SICK /
UN-VIABLE , forcing them to apply
for
CLOSURES or RETRENCHMENTS , under appropriate laws ?
# Shying away those American –Japanese –
Korean companies which are thinking
to
shift their manufacturing from China to India ?
# Companies not taking back millions of MIGRANT
WORKERS from UP – Bihar –
West
Bengal , who are trying to go back to their villages now but may return to
Mumbai – Delhi – Chennai – Surat etc., after a
few months ?
# State governments enacting / enforcing ,
laws laying down “ Employment of
Locals “ ?
# More and more companies hiring people on “
Consultancy / Retainer-ship ? basis
for a
few months duration at a time , where there is no “ Employer – Employee “
nexus
( Daily Wage workers ? )
# More and more companies offering VRS to get
rid of older ( more salaried )
employees and learn to manage by paying
low stipends to apprentices , who are
more
productive ?
# Could MHA order motivate employers to go in
for more Robotation
?
Ø As
of today,some 30 million Americans who have lost their jobs during past 6
weeks, are getting UN-EMPLOYMENT BENEFIT cheques every week , from the US
government
Ability of the American
companies to “ hire and fire “ at will , ensures that they are not burdened
with WAGE BILL when businesses are down. This provision , also motivates them (
without fear ), to re-appoint erstwhile employees in a big way when demand
picks up / lockdown is lifted / relaxed
In India , we have no such
SOCIAL SECURITY for those who become jobless
Again, quite possibly, in
our case , we could well have 200 million jobless ! – or part-time / seasonally
employed – or self-employed for 2 hours a day ( domestic servants ? )
We have no reliable figure
– nor any reliable METHOD to determine how many are rally un-employed
For this reason, we are
unlikely to witness anytime soon, system like the American
But, on a temporary basis
, why cannot Government consider :
For Corporate, 25 % of salaries/wages paid during July – Aug – Sept , to be borne
Only
to those Corporate , which implement by end-May , Mobile based Attendance
From BAD to MAD [ 01 June 2016 ]
MAD goes to Mandi [ 02 Jan 2020 ]
=========================================================
Dear Shri Amitbhai
Shah
( Home Ministry ),
Even as Dr HarshVardhanji ( Health Minister ) is
sparing no efforts to contain the Corona spread, I urge you to :
Ø Reconsider
the MHA order re payment of wages
Ø
Ø Consider
my suggestion re Govt subsidizing 25 % of wages paid during July-Aug-Sept
Ø
Ø Convert
this threat into an opportunity to revolutionize the system for compilation of EMPLOYED
–SELF EMPLOYED – JOBLESS statistics , by motivating employers to implement From BAD to MAD , not by any law but by offering irresistible
BENEFITS to companies which implement this
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
hcp@RecruitGuru.com
/ 01 May 2020