Employment Law in India


Work from Home until 31st Dec 2023: Key Information every HR and Business Leader should know

The Ministry of Commerce & Industry’s Department of Commerce has substituted rule 43A of Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006 by notifying the Special Economic Zones (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2022. The substituted rule 43A eliminates the requirement for IT/ITeS entities operating from Special Economic Zones to obtain permission from the Development Commissioner for allowing work from home to the employees. The substituted rule 43A also simplifies the regulatory requirements for implementing the WFH arrangements and doing away with the limit with respect to the proportion of employees of SEZ unit 1  who can be allowed to WFH.

The key features of new rule 43A, inter alia, includes:

  • the facility for WFH or from any place outside the SEZ may cover all the employees of the SEZ unit.
  • where the SEZ unit permits its employees to WFH or from any place outside the SEZ, it shall intimate the same to the DC through an email on or before the date on which the facility to WFH or from any place outside the SEZ is permitted.
  •  where the SEZ unit has permitted its employees to WFH or from any place outside the SEZ, before the date of commencement 7  of the SEZ Fifth Amendment and permits its employees to WFH or from any place outside the SEZ under rule 43A, it shall intimate the same to the DC through an email by January 31, 2023.
  •  the SEZ unit shall not be required to submit the lists of employees who are allowed to follow WFH or from any place outside the SEZ, but shall maintain in the unit the lists of employees who had been permitted to WFH or from any place outside the SEZ and shall be submitted for verification whenever is required by the DC.
  •  the facility to WFH or from any place outside the SEZ shall be admissible if the SEZ unit continues to operate from the premises as per its Letter of Approval.
  •  the work to be performed by the employee permitted to WFH under rule 43A shall be as per the services approved for the SEZ unit, and the work should be related to a project of the SEZ unit.
  •  the SEZ unit shall ensure export revenue of the resultant products or services to be accounted for by the SEZ unit to which the employee is tagged.