In the high-stakes world of modern workplaces, a silent crisis is brewing. Employee mental health has become more than just a buzzword—it's a matter of life and death. As workplace-related suicides rise, employers are...

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape of India, 7.7 million gig workers are revolutionizing employment sector, with estimated projections reaching 23.5 million by 2029. These digital pioneers, from delivery riders...

Our latest Employment Corner Bulletin addresses the most important developments in September and October 2024 in employment law and HR practices in India. This edition puts a spotlight on certain changes that are...

On January 10, 2024, the State of Karnataka brought into effect a law that now requires the employers having establishments in Karnataka to compulsorily obtain an insurance policy to cover their liabilities under the...

India is set to overhaul its data privacy regime with the coming into force of the new Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. The new Act introduces a number of key concepts and modifications which may have...

Our latest Employment Corner Bulletin addresses the most important developments between August and October 2023 in employment law and HR practices in India. This edition puts a spotlight on certain changes that are...

While foreign managers are not expected to be fully aware of Indian employment laws and all their complexities, it would be beneficial for them to be trained, both from a legal-HR and cross-cultural perspective on the...

Our latest Employment Corner Bulletin addresses the most important developments between April and June 2023 in the world of employment law and HR practices. This edition puts a spotlight on certain changes that are...

The High Court of Delhi on June 30, 2023, in the case of Dr. Sohail Malik vs. Union of India and Anr., held that in a complaint under the POSH Act where the complainant and the delinquent employee do not have the same...

In the case of Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa and Others[1], the inquiry conducted by the Internal Complaints Committee (“ICC”) constituted by the Goa University (“University”) was challenged before the...

Last month, the Supreme Court of India began hearing a batch of 20 petitions seeking the legal recognition of same-sex marriages. A five-judge constitution bench comprising the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud,...

Our latest Employment Corner Bulletin addresses the most important developments between December 2022 and February 2023 in the world of employment law and HR practices. These updates include the new SEZ rules that...

The Supreme Court recently upheld the validity of the Employees’ Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014, which had introduced certain far-reaching changes in the operation of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995. In its...

In the case of CA Nitesh Parashar versus the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ICAI and Ors. W.P.C 88/2023, an application for interim relief was dismissed. In the instant case, the petitioner is a qualified...

The Tamil Nadu Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, pursuant to Madras High Court’s directions, released a glossary of terms relating to the LGBTQIA+ community. The Madras High Court also instructed...

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on December 08, 2022, provided certain significant relaxations to ensure that units in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) can allow their employees to work from home till December 31,...

‘Attitude bonus’ is being introduced by certain employers, retail enterprises in Andhra Pradesh can now remain open all days of the year, EPFO releases an SOP for settling claims of death, the Supreme Court rules...

Women employees in Haryana can now work during night shifts, shops and establishments in Punjab can remain open on all days of the year and the EPFO has finally provided guidelines with respect to the status of...

The Karnataka High Court recently dismissed an appeal challenging the validity of the Karnataka Government’s order for increasing the retirement age of workmen from 58 to 60 years. The High Court, while dismissing the...

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on July 14, 2022, issued the Special Economic Zones (Third Amendment) Rules, 2022, introducing regulations with respect to work from home arrangements. This rule comes as a relief...

Onus of proof is always on the employee who alleges wrongful dismissal and claims back wages, to establish that the employee was not gainfully employed post the dismissal. An employee in a transferable job has no vested...

In this Employment Corner bulletin (December 2021 – February 2022), we discuss important judgments dealing with issues such as: (1) An employee can be dismissed based on the findings of disciplinary proceedings...

On February 17, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the interim stay order issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, thereby lifting the ban on the 75% reservation requirement in employment for local candidates in...

On February 2, 2022, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana ordered an interim stay on the applicability of the law that enforced a 75% reservation requirement in employment for candidates domiciled in the State of...

The Sexual Harassment (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 mandates the Internal Complaints Committee to submit its annual report to the employer as well as the district officer although the law is silent...

The Haryana Government enforced a law on January 15, 2022 requiring private sector employers to reserve 75% of jobs that offer a monthly salary of less than INR 30,000 for individuals who are domiciled in Haryana....

Does the Internal Complaints Committee have jurisdiction to investigate a sexual harassment complaint against an employee who qualifies as an 'employer' under the law? Are employers exploring innovative ESOP schemes in...

While the hybrid work model has proven to be beneficial in several ways, there remain quite a few challenges that need to be addressed for building a successful hybrid work model in India. Our colleagues Avik Biswas,...

The Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) has recently held that Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be applicable on certain employee payments/benefits. Shashi Mathews and Sowmya Kumar discuss the key highlights and...

The Haryana Government on November 6, 2021 notified a law that requires private sector employers to reserve 75% of jobs that offer a monthly salary of less than INR 30,000 (approximately USD 400) for individuals who are...

Are employers increasingly exploring the 4 day working week model? Will uniform parental leave policies become a norm in the near future? Is our anti-sexual harassment jurisprudence taking some decisive turns? Our...

The Bombay High Court recently laid down detailed guidelines to preserve anonymity in sexual harassment cases. INDUSLAW’s Vaibhav Bhardwaj, Sowmya Kumar and Disha Chakrabortty discuss these guidelines and provide...

The Government of Delhi has recently released the draft Delhi Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Rules, 2021, which seeks to align the general practice followed for registration of establishments with the law....

In the backdrop of recent state level notifications and orders from various High Courts, our colleagues Sowmya Kumar and Ivana Chatterjee take a look at the evolution of India’s COVID-19 vaccination drives and the...

The Covid-19 pandemic has witnessed the Indian employment sector effectuate several measures aimed at alleviating the hardships of various stakeholders. Our colleagues Avik Biswas, Vaibhav Bharadwaj and Disha...

INDUSLAW's Avik Biswas, Rithika Reddy and Advika Madhok provide an important update on the mandatory linking of Aadhar with Provident Fund accounts, pursuant to the notification of Section 142 of the Code on Social...

Are penalty clauses becoming popular in offer letters nowadays? Are employers increasingly thinking of offering medical coverage for infertility treatment for their women employees? Our Employment Corner bulletin for...

As the world gets increasingly accustomed to ‘work from home’ arrangements for the immediate future, our colleagues Avik Biswas and Rithika Reddy list out some crucial tips for conducting an effective remote...

A possible blueprint for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in corporate India? Our Employment Law practice group Partner, Sowmya Kumar and Senior Associate, Ivana Chatterjee provide their succinct analysis on why we need...

As the world celebrates June as the Pride Month, our Employment Law practice group members Rithika Reddy and Vaibhav Bhardwaj evaluate whether there is a new era for LGBTQIA+ rights in Indian employment law.

The Employment Law Practice Group, in its Employment Corner Bulletin, discusses the key statutory and jurisprudential updates and developments that took place in Indian Employment Law between March 1, 2021 and May 31,...

On March 02, 2021, the Governor of Haryana provided his assent to the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020. While the statute has not been notified yet, its objective is to have employers comprise 75%...

As India has started rolling out its vaccination program, INDUSLAW’s Employment Law practice group has received several queries from employers on the subject. Questions have ranged from whether employers can arrange...

The Government of Karnataka has permitted shops and commercial establishments in Karnataka employing 10 or more persons to remain open on a 24 x 7 basis on all days of the year for a period of 3 years, subject to...

With the 4 labour codes having received the assent from the President of India, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has successfully consolidated 29 central labour laws into 4 labour codes. In this article, we examine...

INDUSLAW is a multi-specialty Indian law firm with 42 partners and over 150 lawyers across four offices in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. We advise foreign and domestic clients on matters of Indian law in...

The Government of Haryana has amended the Factories Act, 1948 in respect of its applicability to the State of Haryana vide gazette notification dated July 20, 2020. Since the State of Haryana has several manufacturing...

The governor of Karnataka on July 31, 2020, promulgated the Industrial Disputes and Certain Other Laws (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 in order to facilitate and boost ease of doing business in Karnataka....

The central government as well as state governments have been, in the recent past, introducing several amendments to labor and employment statutes to ease the financial burden on employers. This has been done in view of...

The Hon’ble Supreme Court, on Friday, June 12, 2020, pronounced its order in the matter concerning the petitions filed by private companies challenging the Ministry of Home Affairs order dated March 29, 2020 which...

The government of Karnataka through a notification dated May 22, 2020 has exempted all factories registered under The Factories Act, 1948 from complying with the provisions relating to weekly and daily hours. INDUSLAW's...

With a view to provide relief to employers and increase the take-home salary for employees, both employer and employee contribution rates have been reduced from 12% to 10% for the months of May, June, and July of 2020...

As India has entered into the second phase of the lockdown in its fight against COVID-19, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has now permitted operations in some sectors and announced certain relaxations by its order...

On April 13, 2020, the Government of Karnataka's Labour Department & Department of Information and Public Relations issued an order which outlined specific directions regarding the continuation of the payment of wages...

As the world continues to make efforts to recover from the impact of COVID-19, business in India are also preparing to commence operations, soon after relaxation from the lock down is provided or the same is removed and...

While steps are being taken to address the COVID-19 situation, and hopefully, establishments and factories will return to business soon, it would be prudent that employers, while dealing with the crisis in hand, may...

As confirmed cases of COVID-19 soar across the world including India, the Central Government together with various State Governments, predictably, have issued a number of regulations to contain this global pandemic....

The delivery and administration of health care largely rests with individual states in India as health care is a state subject. In view of the fact that World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, declared the...

With the WHO declaring the Coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, and with confirmed cases in India rising daily, the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka have issued advisories and circulars for...

The law concerning gig economy has seen transformational changes in the year 2019. This article discusses the developments in the law relating to gig economy in the USA and India. This is in continuation of our earlier...

With coronavirus cases in India increasing, it is becoming important for employers to ensure, as part of their statutory obligations or otherwise, that the workplace continues to be a safe and healthy environment....

On August 28, 2019, the EPF Department issued a notice to all Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner (Zones) and Regional Provident Fund Commissioners (Regional Offices) prescribing...

On August 23, 2019, the Ministry of Labour and Employment proposed to amend the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, by way of the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions...

A "gig economy" involves a temporary contractual job that a person may take, on a project-to-project basis, for which the payment is made once the task is completed. Prevalent in various jurisdictions around the world...

The Union Cabinet, on July 3, 2019, passed the Code on Wages, 2017, which amalgamates, simplifies and rationalizes the provisions of the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act,...

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 stipulates that all entities with more than or equal to 10 employees should constitute an Internal Committee towards...

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 stipulates that all entities with more than or equal to 10 employees should constitute an Internal Committee towards...

The Government of Gujarat introduced the Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019, which came into effect on May 1, 2019. With this, the Gujarat Shops and...

Under the Employees State Insurance Act, 1946, the contribution, at a specified rate, payable to the ESI Corporation in respect of an employee comprises both the employer and employee contributions. Until recently, the...

On May 25, 2019, the Government of Karnataka issued a notification to extend the exemption from the applicability of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 for another 5 years to certain industries,...

In a significant ruling at the end of February, the Supreme Court held that special allowances are to be included in the definition of basic wages, impacting the calculation of provident fund contributions and take home...

During 2018, our lawyers shared their thoughts on a number of major legal developments impacting the Indian economy, spanning a wide arc from data usage and data protection to insolvency resolution and foreign...

One of the recent landmark amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 includes placing an obligation on employers to provide facilities. To assist employers in complying with this requirement, the Ministry of Women...

Cross border secondments and employee transfers are becoming increasingly common; however, several organizations are unaware of their implications, specifically with respect to social security laws in India. INDUSLAW's...

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 (the "Act") brought into force last year was lauded for its progressiveness and for promoting a more inclusive workforce. However, one of the key stipulations under the Act,...

Structuring your corporate workforce raises a number of regulatory matters which require careful consideration. Namita Viswanath recently discussed best practices at an Employment Law seminar before an audience of...

When dealing with executive remuneration or compensation, the trend in today's growing market is to find a fine balance between the act of rewarding executives and the growth and progress of the company

The Government of Maharashtra published the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017 (the 'New Act') earlier in September. The New Act will come into force on a...

The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (the 'Wages Act') is a Central Government legislation that governs the manner of payment of wages to certain classes of employed persons. The Wages Act, inter alia, ascribes responsibility...

The Second National Labour Commission in 2002, recommended the division of labour laws into four or five broad groups concerning wages, social security, safety, industrial relations, welfare and working conditions. In...

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (the "Act") has been recently subject to certain significant amendments. Women employees are now entitled to additional maternity leave and employers with a certain number of employees...

The Delhi High Court on February 16, 2017, in the matter of Ashok Kumar Singh v. University of Delhi & Ors pronounced on the nature of inquiry reports of internal complaints committees ("ICCs") required under the...

The Budget promises to come up with a plan to consolidate labour laws under four subjects: wages, industrial relations, social security and working conditions.Fragmentation is a big issue as there are more than 100...

The Government has amended the Provident Fund Scheme, 1952, launching the 'Employees Enrollment Campaign, 2017' (the "Campaign").

The Employees’ State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950 ("Rules") has been recently amended and the wage limit for coverage of an employee under the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 stands revised.

Companies and organizations include "restrictive covenants" in employment agreements, to protect their trade secrets, confidential information and human resources. The restrictive covenants essentially place...

Another challenge facing corporate houses in such situations is the difficulty in collecting evidence while investigating allegations of sexual harassment. "In most cases, the evidence is circumstantial in nature....

When I am alone at home I am not comfortable with them coming into my house, especially when my neighbours aren't home," she says. "It appears the safety aspect is not something that these companies thought of when...