For years, Punjab’s Home Guard “volunteers” have worked like full-time staff—wearing uniforms, taking orders, and showing up in crises—while being paid honoraria and denied the dignity of regular employment. Six days ago, the Punjab & Haryana High Court tore into this fiction, saying the state cannot keep people on “volunteer” paper while extracting continuous, quasi-permanent service. The bench directed Punjab to frame a clear regularisation policy and to regularise the petitioner within six months—warning of automatic regularisation if the government drags its feet. The court even ordered ₹5 lakh to one worker who reached retirement without regularisation, framing the issue as justice, not charity.
@TimesOfIndia
Behind those lines is a very Indian story of service without status. Many Home Guards say they missed family events and took risks during floods, elections, or riots—yet had no provident fund, leave bank, or assured wage during lean months. HR leaders in public utilities and PSUs will recognise the emotional undertow: the longer you normalise “temporary,” the more betrayed people feel. This case may embolden thousands across states who wear uniforms but lack a payslip that counts. For administrators, it’s a cultural reckoning: if someone walks, talks, and works like an employee for years, the label “volunteer” becomes an ethical wound you can’t hide with a badge.
Compliance isn’t just policy drafting now—it’s audit-ready action. Expect litigation waves if files sit idle. Departments must map tenure, attendance, duty rosters, and service histories to identify cohorts for phased regularisation, compute social-security arrears, and reset disciplinary and leave rules. HR should immediately ring-fence funds and create transparent criteria (years served, uninterrupted duty, role criticality). This verdict will echo into contractor ecosystems too: disguising permanent work as casual or honorary is an unfair labour practice waiting to be struck down. The safest path is to formalise reality—and document it well.
What’s one fair, simple criterion you’d use to decide who gets regularised first?
How can HR convert long-term “volunteers” into employees without destabilising budgets?
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5@TimesOfIndia
Behind those lines is a very Indian story of service without status. Many Home Guards say they missed family events and took risks during floods, elections, or riots—yet had no provident fund, leave bank, or assured wage during lean months. HR leaders in public utilities and PSUs will recognise the emotional undertow: the longer you normalise “temporary,” the more betrayed people feel. This case may embolden thousands across states who wear uniforms but lack a payslip that counts. For administrators, it’s a cultural reckoning: if someone walks, talks, and works like an employee for years, the label “volunteer” becomes an ethical wound you can’t hide with a badge.
Compliance isn’t just policy drafting now—it’s audit-ready action. Expect litigation waves if files sit idle. Departments must map tenure, attendance, duty rosters, and service histories to identify cohorts for phased regularisation, compute social-security arrears, and reset disciplinary and leave rules. HR should immediately ring-fence funds and create transparent criteria (years served, uninterrupted duty, role criticality). This verdict will echo into contractor ecosystems too: disguising permanent work as casual or honorary is an unfair labour practice waiting to be struck down. The safest path is to formalise reality—and document it well.
What’s one fair, simple criterion you’d use to decide who gets regularised first?
How can HR convert long-term “volunteers” into employees without destabilising budgets?
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