![SC directs Government to withdraw order for companies to pay full wages during lockdown SC directs Government to withdraw order for companies to pay full wages during lockdown](https://varindia.com/storage/news/uploads/2018/02/5ec3d8f3007d8.jpg)
The government has withdrawn the order which directs companies and commercial units to pay full wages to worker even they are not in operation as there is a lockdown across the country due to COVID-19.
The lockdown has been imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19, which has already entered its fourth phase.
The government's move is expected to bring relief to a large number of industries and companies which were unable to pay full wages to their employees.
While issuing guidelines for the lockdown's fourth phase, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla's order on Sunday said, "Whereas, save as otherwise provided in the guidelines annexed to this order, all orders issued by National Executive Committee (NEC) under Section 10(2)(1) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, shall cease to have effect from 18.05.2020."
The guidelines of fourth phase of lockdown mentioned six sets of standard operating protocols, mostly related to movement of people, which will continue to remain in force. But it did not include the March 29 order issued by the Union Home Secretary that directed all employers to pay wages to workers on due date without any deduction even if the commercial unit was closed during the lockdown period.
The March 29 order had said: ‘All employers, be it in the industry or in shops and commercial establishments, shall make payment of wages of their workers, at their workplaces, on the due date, without any deduction, for the period their establishments are under closure during the lockdown.’
On May 15, the Supreme Court has asked the central government to refrain from taking any coercive action for a week against companies and employers who are unable to pay full wages to their employees during the nationwide lockdown.
There may be small companies which are not earning and therefore unable to pay, the top court had observed.
A bench of justices L N Rao, S K Kaul and B R Gavai, hearing multiple petitions on the issue through video conferencing, observed that the Ministry of Home Affairs’ circular of March 29, directing companies to make payment of full wages to workers, was an omnibus order and there was a larger question involved which needs to be answered.
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