On June 12, 2020, the Supreme Court of India, in the case of Ficus Pax Private Limited v. Union Of India, ruled on the legality of the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) notification on March 29, which directed employers to “make payment of wages of their workers, at their work place, on the due date, without any deduction, for the period their establishments are under closure during the lockdown”.
The judges pronounced that those “private establishment, industries, employers, who are willing to enter into negotiation and settlement with the workers/employees regarding payment of wages for 50 days or for any other period as applicable in any particular State during which their industrial establishment was closed down due to lockdown, may initiate a process of negotiation with their employees organization and enter into a settlement with them”.
In cases where this could not be realised, “labour authorities who are entrusted with the obligation under different statutes”—such as the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947—would be required to facilitate negotiations, conciliation and settlement.
But, despite its intention to balance the financial ruin faced by employers due to COVID-19 with the desperate need to ensure payment of wages to migrant labourers and employees during the lockdown period, the judgment is likely to prove inadequate in alleviating the economic distress being faced by lower and middle income households.
Read the full article on Bar & Bench.