Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.

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Hyderabad, Telangana: Conditions for Engaging Female Employees in Night Shifts

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Sayantani Saha, Associate, and Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment – Nishith Desai Associates

The Telangana state government has issued a notification dated October 13, 2022, permitting establishments in Telangana (which includes Hyderabad City) to allow female employees to work in night shifts between 8:30 PM and 6 AM, subject to certain conditions which inter alia include: (i) obtaining consent of female employees in writing for working in night shifts; (ii) engaging female employees in night shift on a rotation basis with engagement of at least five female employees during night shift; (iii) providing free of cost transport facilities (with GPS for tracking) from the residence of the female employee to the workplace and back, complying with prescribed safety standards; (iv) ensuring prescribed safety and security measures such as the provision of shelter, restrooms, lunch rooms, night crèches, and ladies’ toilets, adequate protection from inter alia sexual harassment; and (v) posting adequate number of security guards during the night shift.

The notification prohibits engagement of female employees in night shifts during the period of 16 weeks before and after her childbirth (of which at least eight weeks shall be before the expected childbirth), and any additional period specified in a medical certificate as may be necessary for the health of the female employee or her child.

Amendment to Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Sayantani Saha, Associate, and Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment – Nishith Desai Associates

The (Indian) Ministry of Commerce has issued a notification dated December 8, 2022 (SEZ Fifth Amendment) amending the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006 (SEZ Rules), substituting the erstwhile rule 43A of the SEZ Rules. The revised rule 43A permits the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) employers to allow employees of IT/ITeS units in SEZs to work remotely from outside the SEZ facility for work from home or from any place outside the SEZ until December 31, 2023, without any minimum number requirements.

The SEZ unit permitting its employees to work remotely will need to intimate to the SEZ Development Commissioner (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 work remotely before the date of commencement of the SEZ Fifth Amendment, it will need to intimate the same to the DC through an email by January 31, 2023. The SEZ units will inter alia need to maintain in the unit the lists of employees who had been permitted to work remotely and shall submit it for verification of the DC when required.

Proposed Introduction of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Sayantani Saha, Associate, and Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment – Nishith Desai Associates

The (Indian) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has published the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 (Proposed Data Privacy Law) on November 18, 2022, for public consultation. If enacted, the Proposed Data Privacy Law will apply to processing of digital personal data in India where the personal data is (i) collected from the data principal online, and (ii) collected offline and subsequently digitized.

The Proposed Data Privacy Law is also designed to apply to processing of personal data outside India in connection with profiling, activity or offering of goods or services to data principals located within the territory of India, and accordingly, the Proposed Data Privacy Law is likely to apply to foreign entities as well. Unlike the current legal framework that provides protection to only certain kinds of sensitive personal data or information, the Proposed Data Privacy Law includes a wide definition of personal data to include any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data, with lack of clarity on the necessary level of identification. If notified, the Proposed Data Privacy Law is likely to impose additional obligations upon employers in terms of collection of personal data of employees.

Supreme Court Judgment on Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995

New Order or Decree

Authors: Sayantani Saha, Associate, and Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment – Nishith Desai Associates

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India in its recent judgment dated November 4, 2022, in The Employees Provident Fund Organisation & Anr. v. Sunil Kumar B. and Ors. (C.A. No.-008143-008144 / 2022) upheld the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 as amended through a notification dated August 22, 2014 (EPS) which inter alia provides that: (i) Maximum pensionable salary for calculating pension under EPS can be capped at INR 15,000 (approx. USD 185) for employees who were members of the EPS prior to September 1, 2014, and continue to remain so thereafter; (ii) Employees who earn monthly salary exceeding INR 15,000 and were not members of the EPS prior to September 1, 2014, will not be eligible to become members of the EPS; and (iii) Employees who were members of EPS as on September 1, 2014, and continued to remain members, can make contributions to EPS on a salary higher than INR 15,000, based on a one-time common declaration submitted by the employer and the employee.

The judgment also makes the provisions of the EPS that required employees contributing on their salaries exceeding INR 15,000 to pay additional administrative charges as ultra vires, although this portion of the judgment will become effective after six months from the date of the judgment.

State of Maharashtra (Mumbai) Introduces Bill to Decriminalize Offenses under Certain Labor Laws

Proposed Bill or Initiative

Authors: Sayantani Saha, Associate, and Vikram Shroff, Partner and Head of Employment – Nishith Desai Associates

The state of Maharashtra (covering cities like Mumbai and Pune) has introduced a bill to decriminalize offenses under certain state labor laws The bill proposes to remove the penalty of imprisonment for non-compliances with provisions of the applicable statutes and replaces it with monetary penalties. Included in this bill are the Maharashtra Industrial Relations Act, 1947, Maharashtra Labor Welfare Fund Act, 1981, Maharashtra Workmen's Minimum House Rent Allowance Act, 1983 and Maharashtra Private Security Guards (Regulation of Employment and Welfare) Act, 1981.

The bill also provides for compounding of offenses under the amended labor statutes. The bill is in pursuance of the Indian government’s attempt to enhance ease of doing business in India and similar steps have been adopted in other Indian states such as Assam and Madhya Pradesh and the proposed new labor codes in India. If enacted, the bill will provide relief to employers from the risk of imprisonment owing to default under the state labor laws proposed to be amended by the bill.