Covid 19 : What are the legalities or statutory compliance with respect to contract manpower deployment?

hr.krishnakumar
Dear Sirs, There are some querries due to Covid-19 outbreak. As of now we are unable to deploy total manpower due to manning is restricted to limited manpower in a single shift 'G' Shift. What are the legalities or statutory compliance with respect to contract manpower deployment?
What about the payment of wages / PF ESI Returns on non-deployed manpower. What is the best direction to the employer in this matter?
Can the employer skip the wages for the month of April-2020 of contract labour on the basis of "No Work - No Pay".
Kindly clarify the above.
Madhu.T.K
The government direction is to pay full salaries to all including casual workers and contract workers. The government has taken this step using their right under Disaster Management Act. Challenging this direction, private employers have filed suit in the Supreme Court. Their argument is that how can government direct private employers to pay full salary to workers who have not worked when there are provisions under law to pay half of wages under a lay off arrangement. The matter is pending before the ape court. Therefore, many employers have not paid the amounts or paid some 30% to 50%. It is advisable to wait for the court's order to take a final call on this.
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