COVID-19 – Additional Employment Issues arising from Nationwide Lockdown

With the confirmed COVID-19 cases and death toll on the rise, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) ordered a 21-day nationwide lockdown from 25 March 2020 to 14 April 2020. In the order, the MHA has issued guidelines, which the State governments are expected to implement strictly. The MHA guidelines inter alia require ‘commercial and private establishments’ to be closed during the lockdown.

Due to the lockdown, the economy has been brought to an almost complete halt, and domestic and international movement has been heavily restricted. Amidst this disruption, corporates are having to deal with significant issues relating to business continuity and compliance, employees are concerned about job security, and there are increased concerns over privacy and mass surveillance.

We had released a newsletter (on 17 March 2020) covering employment issues related to COVID-19, and recently also came out with updates on the relaxations provided by SEBI, the measures announced by the Finance Minister to address business disruptions, and the extension on limitation period granted by the Supreme Court for filings in all courts/tribunals.

In this update, we focus on key issues related to employment law which have gathered greater significance since 17 March 2020.

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