News & Updates

State

Compliance Calendar – DEC 2021

November 30, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

C-Quel Weekly Compliance & ESG Round Up Series – 22nd Nov to 27th Nov, 2021

November 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

C-Quel Weekly Compliance & ESG Round Up Series – 15th Nov to 20th Nov, 2021

November 23, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

Compliance Calendar – NOV 2021

November 13, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

HR Questions on Severance pay

November 13, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

 Is there any legislation establishing the right to severance pay upon termination of employment? How is severance pay calculated?

C-Quel Answers

The Industrial Disputes Act 1947 and, in some states, the applicable Shops and Establishments Act, provide for severance upon termination. Employees (workers in continuous service for a period of not less than one year) are entitled to the following severance pay in the event of termination of employment:

• notice pay:
• • one month’s notice or salary in lieu thereof if the employee is employed in any establishment (such as a factory) with less than 100 employees and has completed one year of continuous service. This would also apply with respect to an establishment in the service sector (with up to 100 workers); or
  • three months’ notice or salary in lieu thereof if the employee is employed in a manufacturing unit (and certain other establishments) with 100 or more employees and has worked for a continuous period of one year;
• retrenchment compensation: this is only payable to employees in the worker category who have completed one year of continuous service. It is payable at the rate of 15 days’ salary for every completed year of service or any part thereof in excess of six months;
• gratuity: every employee who has completed five years of continuous service is entitled to payment of gratuity at the rate of 15 days’ salary for every completed year of service. Statutorily, gratuity payments are capped at 2 million rupees;
• leave encashment: every employee should be paid for the leave that has accrued but that has not been availed of; and
• other benefits: employees are entitled to any other benefits (including any bonus that may be payable or payment for overtime work) as may be agreed upon between the parties or that are part of any agreement.

HR FAQ on Dual Employment

August 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

Question from HR: An employees joined our company on Dec 21, 2020, whereas his last working day with the previous organization was Jan 04, 2021. How should HR deal with this case as per compliance and compliance legal opinion?

Reply : 1) Joint declaration has to be submitted by the Present Employer & the Employee why the employee was onboarded before being released by the previous company

2)Online PF transfer case is likely to be rejected because of the clash in DOL & DOJ . This will require an offline representation to the concerned PF office, the success of which is not guaranteed

3)Under the circumstances it is better for the employee to give in writing his voluntary decision that DOJ on the PF portal and other govt registrations should be considered from 5th or 6th Jan 2021

Food Safety Compliance Update: FSSAI License/Regd. Number mandated to be mentioned in all tax invoices

July 1, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

To ensure transparency and increase overall awareness, the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India has issued an order dated 8th June, 2021, mandating all Food business operators, holding a FSSAI License or Registration to declare their 14-digit license/regd. number on all tax invoices.
Tax invoices would include cash receipts, purchase invoices, cash memos, bills etc. Only Government documents that are system generated like the GST e-way bill shall stand exempted from this requirement.
While providing adequate time, the Food Safety body has mandated all Food Business Operators to ensure strict compliance of this order from 1st October, 2021.

Click Here to Read More

Covid Relief Update: Worker Death Benefits announced by Govt. of Haryana

June 23, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Deputy Labour Commissioner (Welfare) Gurugram has directed all establishments located in Gurugram circle to utilize the financial scheme of Rs. 2,15,000/- provided under the Labour Welfare Fund for widows and dependents of deceased employees and their funeral expenses.

Existing Death Relief Scheme: The Haryana Govt. had already formulated the Mukhya Mantri Shramik Suraksha Yojna through which Rs. 5,00,000/- as cash benefits are paid to the dependants of deceased employees who die at the workplace.

Dependents of the concerned employees can avail these benefits by applying through online website : https://saralharyana.gov.in

Click Here to Read More

Fathering the Business : How One Biz Leader Made Empathy the Key Driver

June 21, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

Do you know the hottest business trend of 2021? It’s empathy! No, we are not joking. Empathy is trending as the number one reason why business will remain sustainable in 2021.The keywords Empathy in Business throw up more than 6.4 million pages in Google search and more than 2.9 million videos !! Isn’t this incredible? Millions of employees worldwide are looking at business to do more than just generate profits. So, on the eve of Father’s Day 2021, we thought of telling you the compelling story of one person who fathered a business. Mr. Sushobhan Sarkar, MD. C-Quel. More power to Business Leaders with the Father’s Heart! More Power to the Heart of Business !

ESIC Covid Welfare: Death Benefits Extended to Dependants of Deceased Beneficiaries

June 4, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

At a time when the ongoing pandemic has posed several economic difficulties before the citizens of India, the ESIC has extended their support to the family members of all Insured Persons who succumb to Covid-19 by extending the scope of ESIC benefits.

Scheme Highlight:

Dependant family members of deceased Insured Persons who have died due to Covid-19 are now entitled to receive the same benefits and in the same scale, as received by the dependents of IPs who die due to employment injury

Eligibility conditions:

1. Deceased Insured Person must have been registered on the ESIC online portal at least 3 months prior to diagnosis & subsequent death due to COVID

2. Deceased Insured Person must have been employed for and contributions for at least 78 days should have been paid or payable during a period of 1 year immediately preceding the diagnosis & subsequent death due to COVID

Upon fulfilment of the eligibility criteria, dependents to also receive a pension amounting to 90% of average daily wages of the insured person during their life

Validity of Scheme: 2 years from 24.03.2020

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Breaking EPF News : Immediate Aadhaar Linking for PF Remittance

June 2, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

EPFO has notified that with effect from June 2021 PF contributions cannot be remitted by the employer without Aadhaar seeding and verification of all employees.

Immediate actionable: Employees need to login to their UAN Portal and do the following:-

1. How to seed your Aadhar details under UAN KYC

2. Verify that their name and DOB in the PF portal should match the name and DOB in the Aadhaar/ UIDAI portal

3. In case of mismatch in PF record you can directly rectify the same on the UAN portal (see the process below)

Permitted Activities During Night Curfew & Weekend Lockdown

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The following state have listed out specific Permitted activities during the period of Night Curfew & weekend Lockdown for Factories, Shops & Establishments:

Tamil Nadu
Broadly the activities are:

1. IT/ITES Night Shift Ops permitted from Office

2. Essential maintenance needed for fire safety, machine safety and worker safety permitted during Sundays

3. Maintenance and operations of data centres and other critical IT infrastructure needed to support backend operations of medical, financial, transport and other critical services

Click here for more

Permitted Activities During Night Curfew & Weekend Lockdown

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The following state have listed out specific Permitted activities during the period of Night Curfew & weekend Lockdown for Factories, Shops & Establishments:

Karnataka
Broadly the activities are:

1. IT/ITES Night Shift Ops permitted from Office.

2. Essential maintenance needed for fire safety, machine safety and worker safety permitted during Sundays.

3. Maintenance and operations of data centres and other critical IT infrastructure needed to support backend operations of medical, financial, transport and other critical services.

Click here for more

Permitted Activities During Night Curfew & Weekend Lockdown

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The following state have listed out specific Permitted activities during the period of Night Curfew & weekend Lockdown for Factories, Shops & Establishments:

Andhra Pradesh
Broadly the activities are:

1. IT/ITES Night Shift Ops permitted from Office.

2. Essential maintenance needed for fire safety, machine safety and worker safety permitted during Sundays.

3. Maintenance and operations of data centres and other critical IT infrastructure needed to support backend operations of medical, financial, transport and other critical services.

Click here for more

Relaxation to Industries having Continuous Process & Permitted Activities

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The following state have elaborately defined the industries that would fall under the category of Continuous Process, so as to allow 24X7 operations during lockdown:

Tamil Nadu

1. Continuous Process industries to include – Petroleum Refineries, Large Steel Plants, Large Cement Plants, Chemical Industries.

2. Food & Food related process, Cold Storage, Warehouseing, E-commerce activities and other essential activities have also been permitted to operate.

Click here for more

Relaxation to Industries having Continuous Process & Permitted Activities

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The following state have elaborately defined the industries that would fall under the category of Continuous Process, so as to allow 24X7 operations during lockdown:

Karnataka

1. Continuous Process industries to include – Petroleum Refineries, Large Steel Plants, Large Cement Plants, Chemical Industries.

2. Food & Food related process, Cold Storage, Warehouseing, E-commerce activities and other essential activities have also been permitted to operate.

Click here for more

Relaxation to Industries having Continuous Process & Permitted Activities

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The following state have elaborately defined the industries that would fall under the category of Continuous Process, so as to allow 24X7 operations during lockdown:

Andhra Pradesh

1. Continuous Process industries to include – Petroleum Refineries, Large Steel Plants, Large Cement Plants, Chemical Industries

2. Food & Food related process, Cold Storage, Warehouseing, E-commerce activities and other essential activities have also been permitted to operate

Click here for more

Wave 2 Compliance Orders from State Govts for Business : Self-Certification by Factories

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Govt. of Andhra Pradesh has mandated all Factories and Industrial Units to submit self-
declarations confirming:

1. Compliance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) concerning social distancing and
other measures for containing the spread of COVID-19 as prescribed by Ministry of Home
Affairs.

2. For work beyond defined lockdown hours, Industries must submit a self-certification
indicating the employees proposed to work beyond such hours with Aadhaar/Employee ID &
photographs to the concerned District Industry Centre, the concerned Mandal Revenue
Office (MRO) and the local Police.

3. Industries to issue also issue identity cards to their employees as per the list furnished to
GM/DIC and the local authorities, based on which movement of the workers and vehicles
will be allowed beyond the curfew hours.

Click here for more

Covid Leave & Quarantine With Pay for Factory Workers

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Govt. of Telangana has mandated leave with pay for workers afflicted with COvid-19
The following instructions have been laid down:

1. Other workers who have come in contact with the infected person to be quarantined
with pay.
2. Infected person must be allowed leave with pay and must not lead to discontinuance
or termination from service.
3. Concerned Dept/Wing may be closed and reopened after thorough sanitization.

Click here for more

Wave 2 Compliance Orders from State Govts for Business : PPE Usage

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Telangana Govt. has mandated the usage of facemasks in all workspaces, public spaces and
means of transport.

Non-wearing of facemasks can attract a penal fine up to Rs. 1,000/-.

It is important for all Employers to take cognizance of this order and ensure strict monitoring of face-
mask usage and Covid-appropriate behaviour in the workplace.

Click here for more

Quality & Standards of PPE for Factories

May 29, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Gujarat Govt. has amended the Gujarat Factories Rules mandating the quality & standards of PPE equipment to be provided to workers in a Factory.

Factory Managers and Health & Safety Teams must ensure the following standards procuring and distributing PPEs in a Factory:

1. All PPE Equipment must be compliant with relevant Indian Standard or be approved by the Chief Inspector of Factories.

2. If the Indian Standard compliance or approval by Chief Inspector is not available, PPE equipment must adhere to European Standard (EN) or the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or ISO standards, till the relevant Indian Standard is available.

Click here for more

Ease of Logistics: Central Govt. constitutes Control Room for monitoring & complaints

May 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Govt. of India, in a move to provide ease of transportation and delivery of goods, manufacturing activity, delivery of essential commodities, has set up a Control Room to monitor logistics issues faced by stakeholders.

The Control Room will serve as a one-point contact to raise any grievance in regard to transportation hassles arising out of Covid restriction in States and UTs across India.

Special emphasis has been given to the following sectors:

• Manufacturing
• Transportation
• Distribution
• Wholesale
• E-commerce

Stakeholders can obtain information and raise grievances through the following contact number and e-mail id ( 8 am to 10 pm)-
Telephone: (011) 23062383, 23062975

E-mail: [email protected]

Central Govt. suggests various amendments through Apprenticeship Act concept note

May 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

With an objective to enhance apprenticeship opportunities for the youth, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreunership has introduced a Draft Concept note on the Apprentices Act, 1961, while proposing various amendments.
Following are the key takeaways in the proposed amendments:

• Inclusion of educational/ training institutions in the definition of Establishment to enlarge the scope of apprenticeship
• Expansion of apprenticeship by inclusion of virtual learning/training modes
• Allowing Part-time Apprenticeship
• Permitting Indian companies to send apprentices to offshore sites in foreign countries
• Permitting multiple training venues including training at client/supplier locations or premise of other companies within India
• Enhanced roles for Third Party Aggregators to support establishments
• Replacing the provision of contract approval by apprenticeship advisors, with provision of mere intimation of contract to the authorities
• Alignment with the new Labour Codes

Aadhaar made mandatory for benefits under Social Security Code

May 11, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

In a move to facilitate the creation of an all-India worker-database, mainly aimed at providing social security benefits to migrant workers, the Ministry of Labour has notified section 142 of the new Social Security Code, 2020 for social security benefits to workers, through mandatory linkage with Aadhar.

Section 142 of the Social Security Code, 2020 mandates the establishing of identity of an employee or an unorganised worker or any other person through Aadhaar number for seeking social security benefits and services under the Code.

As per a Labour Ministry press release, the National Database for Unorganised Workers (NDUW), a digital initiative by the Central Govt. for collection of data for migrant & unorganised workers, is in the final stages of development. Once launched, interstate migrants can register themselves on the NDUW portal to avail social security benefits through Aadhaar.

The Press note also clarifies that currently no benefits will be denied to workers for lack of Aadhaar linking.

Maharashtra notifies Industrial Courts as Appellate Authority under the POSH Act

May 11, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Industries, Energy & Labour Department, Maharashtra Govt has issued a notification appointing 20 Industrial Courts as Appellate Authority in respective districts under Sexual, Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”).

This notification was issued pursuant to the order of the Bombay High Court Division Bench in the case of Dasharath Kallappa Bhosale v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. (WP No 786 of 2021), where the Court observed that the Govt, was yet to issue a notification to designate the Appellate Authority as per the POSH Act & Rules.

The Bench was hearing a plea challenging an order passed by the Local Complaints, Pune imposing penalty on the petitioner. Aggrieved by the order, the petitioner had preferred an appeal before the Industrial Court which was rejected, on the ground of lack of jurisdiction to entertain the Appeal.

New Compliance Obligations for Employers: Migrant Workers Registration & Benefits

March 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The OSH Code, 2020 has laid out enhanced compliance obligations for employers towards migrant workers. Employers shall have to recast their contract labour compliance obligations in a major way:-.

1. Every inter-state migrant worker, who, on his own will, or has been brought by the employer, to a state other than his state of origin for the purpose of employment, shall be registered as a migrant worker.

2. The registration of migrant workers has been made mandatory under the OSH code.

3. Details such as name, occupation, address, occupation type, educational qualification, skill types and family details to be registered.
4. The registration shall be seeded with Aadhaar to maintain National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW).

5. They shall be provided with an ID card wherein their state of origin shall be mentioned.

6. An annual journey allowance shall be provided to each migrant worker if their wages is less than 18 thousand.

7. The Code is applicable to every establishment where 10 or more inter-state migrant workers are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months

Apprenticeship Act, soon to become self-governing

March 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

Major changes have been proposed in the apprenticeship act:

1. A shift from government regulation to self-governance. This is to enhance apprenticeship opportunities and to sync with labour reforms and safety measures.

2.The amendment of the act will bring flexibility in training and employment since it will allow outsourcing of apprentices to third parties.

3. This will include new sectors such as staffing companies for outsourcing.

4.Companies will be able to hire apprentices for their foreign operations as well.

5.Under the new amendment, executive authorities will be fined for failure to take apprentices.

Amendment in Corporate Social Responsibility Rules

March 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has amended the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Rules with major changes:

1. As per Companies Act 2013, all companies with a turnover of more than Rs 1,000 crore, or net worth more than Rs 500 crore, or net profit more than Rs 5 crore had to spend at least 2% of their three-year annual profit towards CSR in one financial year. Under new multi-year project, they can now spend more than 2% of expenditure in any fiscal year for up to three financial years.

2. Organizations with CSR obligation worth more than Rs 10 crore in previous three FYs needs to mandatorily hire an independent impact assessment agency for CSR projects with expenditure of over Rs 1 crore.

3. Only 5% of the annual CSR expenditure up to Rs 50 lakh can be spent on impact assessment.

4. Organisations registered to promote charitable causes and, allowed to use profits for the same without distributing profit dividends to the shareholders shall be registered with the government by April 1, 2021.
And such organisations are not authorized to conduct CSR activities on behalf of business organisations.

45 carried forward leaves in Karnataka

March 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

Under the new Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Second Amendment) Act, 2020, section 15(7), provision of annual leave with wage has been amended. As per the new amendment, the total number of days of leave that may be carried forward to a succeeding year is increased to forty-five days.
Earlier, the maximum limits of carried forward days was thirty.

PF contribution over 2.5 Lakhs will be taxable

March 12, 2021 | by C-Quel Legal Research Team

From 1st April 2021, interest incurred on PF/EPF contribution beyond Rs 2.5 lakh in one financial year will become taxable.
To calculate the income tax rate, the EPF interest earned during the year will also be added to deduce the income tax slab of a PF account holder.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has clarified, whatever is in excess to 2.5 lakhs towards PF contribution will be taxable.