Haryana govt issues advisory; asks industry, commercial establishments not to layoff employees, deduct wages during COVID-19 lockdown

Chandigarh: The Haryana government has issued an advisory to industries and commercial establishments in the state, asking them not to terminate their work force and deduct wages during the current lockdown, enforced to check spread of Covid-19. At the outset, the advisory issued on Saturday by the state’s Industries and Commerce Department makes a mention of the “present situation facing the country because of COVID-19 outbreak which calls for greater understanding and cooperation from various segments of society”. The termination of employees from the job or reduction in wages in this scenario would further deepen the crisis and will not only weaken the financial condition of the employee, but also hamper their morale to combat their fight against this epidemic, as per the advisory. Earlier, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had asked all private industries not to sack employees for their absence during the lockdown in the state. “The prevailing circumstances may lead to instances of employees/ workers not being able to discharge their services on account of Covid-19 outbreak. [caption id=“attachment_5059831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “In the backdrop of this challenging situation, all the employers of public/private establishments are to be advised by Joint Director/Assistant Director, District industries centres and deputy/assistant labour commissioner, district labour offices to extend their cooperation by not terminating their employees, particularly casual or contractual workers from their jobs or reduce their wages,” the advisory said. It says that if any worker takes leave, he should be deemed to be on duty without any consequential deduction in wages. “Further, if the place of employment is rendered out of operation due to COVID-19, the employees of such unit will be deemed to be on duty,” it said, and pointed out that an advisory in this matter issued by Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. The officials have been directed to bring these instructions to the notice of all industrial and commercial establishments under their jurisdiction. “These officials are required to closely monitor the incidences of layoffs/retrenchment/reduction of wages of workers employed by industrial and commercial establishments in their jurisdiction. “The instances of this kind should be compiled and brought to the notice of the state government immediately for further necessary action,” as per the advisory.