Work from home salary COVID 19 - Team lead did not arrange for her system to work from home

Hello, I have an interesting case of an employee who was on leave when the lockdown was announced. After returning from leave on March 23rd, she does not have a laptop or system to work from home. Her team lead did not arrange for her to have a system to work from home, which is a mistake on his part. As a result, she is currently unable to work, even though she is willing. Since she lacks the necessary equipment to work remotely, the question arises whether she should still receive her April month salary or if it should be considered as leave without pay.

Dear Kalpana, It is the employer's responsibility to ensure that employees are well-equipped. For the execution of their duties, if certain assets or tools are required, then it is the management's responsibility to provide them. Failure to do so is not the fault of the employee.

The connection between this incident and the disbursement of the salary is unclear. Consider a scenario where an employee reported for duty, but the company could not provide a laptop because her laptop was unserviceable, and there was no standby laptop. Should her salary be deducted for the idle hours she spent while on duty? Certainly not.

In factories, workers may remain idle due to machine breakdowns or the unavailability of raw materials. Should the workers' salary be forfeited because they did not produce any output? Certainly not!

Blaming someone for one's mistakes is inappropriate. However, disciplinary action could be taken against the team lead for failing to arrange the laptop. Even in taking disciplinary action, caution is advised. First, ascertain whether the team lead was authorized to allocate the laptop to her or how long it would have taken to obtain approval from the appropriate authority. Only if the team leader's culpability is clearly established should disciplinary action be initiated. Furthermore, do not attempt to recover the lost salary of the female employee from the team leader.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

The present period is one of unprecedented crises for the nation.

WFH is an authorized option in such situations of crisis.

Question of treating the month of April as leave without pay would be highly irregular and contrary to government directives.

Counter Question on Management's Responsibility

With due respect, I have a counter question. What is your take as an HR professional when you clearly see that either the team lead or even you showed complete inaction in facilitating and providing her with a laptop at home? Obviously, you cannot punish her for the management's lapse. You need to pay her full salary for the non-worked period. It is not known, but she will deserve it more if she had also asked for the laptop and you failed to provide one. I hope you have now arranged for a laptop and other relevant tools to avoid facing the same situation.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR and Employee Relations Consultant