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Haryana Local Employment Law Update

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment, and Sayantani Saha, Associate – Nishith Desai Associates

The Haryana State Employment Local Candidates Act, 2020, came into effect on January 15, 2022. The law mandates employers in the state of Haryana to employ at least 75% Haryana state domiciled local candidates in vacancies with gross salary of up to INR 30,000 (approx. USD 400) per month. The vacancies need to be registered on a notified government portal, within three months of commencement of the law.

The law will remain in effect for 10 years from the date of its commencement and inability to comply with the law may lead to penalty ranging between INR 10,000 (approx. USD 140) to INR 200,000 (approx. USD 2700). The constitutionality of the law is currently being litigated before the Punjab & Haryana High Court, which had earlier stayed the operation of the law in view of such litigation. However, the stay direction was overturned in an appeal before the Supreme Court of India.

Amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Law

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment, and Sayantani Saha, Associate – Nishith Desai Associates

The Maharashtra state government notified an amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Conditions of Service and Regulation of Employment) Act, 2017 (MSEA) on March 17, 2022. As a result of the amendment, it is mandatory for all establishments in the state to display their names on the name board in Marathi (the official state language) in a prescribed manner. It also clarifies that except for a limited requirement to notify certain details to the labor authorities, the other provisions of the MSEA will not be applicable to commercial establishments in Maharashtra state with less than 10 employees. Further, the amendment does away with the requirement for employers at commercial establishments in Maharashtra state to include details of the employees’ Aadhar card number in the identity card to be issued by employers.

Implementation of Labor Codes Delayed

Proposed Bill or Initiative

Authors: Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment, and Sayantani Saha, Associate – Nishith Desai Associates

The implementation of the four newly enacted labor codes, being the Code on Wages, 2019, Code on Social Security, 2020, Industrial Relations Code, 2020, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, have been further delayed. As per a press release issued by the (Indian) Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE) on March 21, 2022, 27 states / union territories (UTs) have pre-published draft rules under Code on Wages, 2019, 23 states / UTs under Industrial Relations Code, 2020, 21 states / UTs under Code on Social Security, 2020, and 18 states / UTs under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. The MoLE is currently in the consultation process with stakeholders, prior to implementation of the labor codes, having held at least nine tripartite consultations with trade unions and employers’ associations until date.

Increased Instances of Moonlighting in India

Trend

Authors: Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment, and Sayantani Saha, Associate – Nishith Desai Associates

With increase in remote working practices and lack of centralized database to monitor, there has been an increase in moonlighting cases amongst employees in India. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, employers were forced to adopt remote working and hybrid working practices to ensure social distancing among their employees, and such remote working arrangements continue at large especially among employers in the technology and outsourcing sectors. Remote working has led to a lower direct supervision of employees, who find is easier to work on multiple jobs or take on some other assignments while being employed.

Moonlighting leads to a high risk of data privacy and confidentiality breach, besides risk of intellectual property rights breaches. Employers are currently navigating options to ensure higher degree of background scrutiny of onboarding employees and monitoring of existing employees, to identify cases of moonlighting.

Employers Prepare for Return to Office

Trend

Authors: Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment, and Sayantani Saha, Associate – Nishith Desai Associates

The (Indian) Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), through its letters to Indian state and union territory (UT) administrators dated March 22, 2022, has declared that there will not be a renewal of the federal level notification on guidelines for containment of COVID-19 post March 31, 2022. However, Indian states are free to impose their own restrictions.

As a result, some of the Indian states, including states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Telangana, have withdrawn or expired their previous notifications imposing restrictions on private establishments in their state that mandated practices for containment of COVID-19 pandemic. With relaxation of COVID related restrictions, employers are cautiously preparing to have their employees return to office. Recommendation on continuing observation of COVID-19 appropriate behavior, inter alia on using face mask and hand hygiene, is however likely to continue to guide the national response to COVID pandemic.