Work from home (WFH) is allowed for a maximum time period of one year in a special economic zone (SEZ) unit and can be extended to 50 per cent of the total number of employees, a recent notification by the Commerce Ministry said.
“The notification was issued on demand from the industry for making a provision for a country-wide uniform work from home (WFH) policy across all Special Economic Zones,” the ministry said.
As per the new rule on WFH for SEZs, employees working in IT/ITeS SEZ units, those who are temporarily incapacitated, those travelling and those working offsite can now work from home.
Under this new rule, flexibility to approve a higher number of employees (over 50 per cent) has been granted to Development Commissioner (DC) of SEZs for any bona-fide reason, provided it is recorded in writing.
Further, SEZ units, whose employees are working from home, have been provided a transition period of 90 days to seek approval.
The release noted, “SEZ units will provide equipment and secured connectivity for the purpose of WFH to perform authorised operations of the units and the permission to take out the equipment is co-terminus with the permission granted to an employee.”
A SEZ refers to a geographical region with economic laws more liberal than a country’s domestic economic laws. 378 SEZs are notified as of now, of which 265 are operational.
(With agency inputs)