Working from Home but Out of Town: What to Do When Called Back to the Office?

If an employee is working from home but is out of the city, and the employer asks them to join immediately, what is the procedure? What can they do?

Join, because employees working from home as a temporary arrangement should not leave the place they are stationed without prior and proper permission from their employer. Obeying management's reasonable advice, instructions, or orders is the employee's duty as per the employment contract.

Kritarth Team,
26.5.2020

Hi CD, you haven't indicated where your office is located and whether the use of a vehicle for commuting has been allowed. Depending on the local conditions, you have to take action.

WFH was done due to Covid. Now, lockdown is eased in many places.

If the place where the employee is staying is open and the office is opened, then the employee must report to work at the office, taking precautions like wearing a mask and using hand sanitizers, etc.

An employee is supposed to work from his usual residential address as in the official record, and he cannot leave the station without prior permission. The employer has every right to ask its employees to join duty.

Please follow government guidelines for enforcing joining by the employee. Do not blindly ask him to join without checking the following:

1) Zone he/she is coming from.
2) Out-of-city transit (requires quarantine).
3) Availability of transport (he shouldn't fall sick coming to your company, or else you may end up paying damages).
4) Whether your company/office is in containment.

Please see the guidelines by the health ministry.

Get the E-pass from the concerned department. Be in quarantine for 14 days, reporting to the Health department. Take the swab test. Get into work.

Employee Needs to Resume Office In-Person Whenever Asked

There are two ways to see it: if an employee is paid fully or partially for working from home, they need to operate from their base location so that whenever needed, they can be in the office. In case they want to travel, they need to take prior approval from their employer in writing so that the employer can plan to call them back based on business needs. It will take a minimum of 15-16 days to onboard someone back if they have already traveled (based on rules and zones though). If you are paid even in the current situation, you should appreciate the efforts of your employer too. The company will only sustain if all employees work together.

When the Government Allows Office Work

When the government allows and confirms that some percentage of employees can work from the office, it may include you, me, or anyone; hence, be ready for traveling to your office with all precautions. Definitely, the employer is also responsible for 100% safety inside the premises. They should decide wisely who should come and who should not based on different precautionary measures.

If Salaries Are Not Paid

In the second case, if the employer is not paying salaries due to the situation and there is no confirmed plan, inform your employer that you are traveling out of the city considering the current situation. The employer should not stop anyone in this case. When the employer wants to open the office, they should give 15-20 days prior notice to everyone. This is part of planning always. The employer shouldn't call anyone and ask them to come today itself. This is inhumane and carries a big risk.

If the employee and employer both work together, then only we will have a win-win situation. Certainly, employers need to make decisions wisely considering everyone's health and safety first, and business second. If the employer is concerned about people, people will take care of the business automatically.

Regards,
Dipesh Prabhakar

Team Lead - HR

Procedure for Employees Out of Office Location

In my opinion, if you are not in the current office location, you need to get an e-pass from the concerned department. Also, if your locality (where you are currently at) is a contaminated zone, you should inform your employer.

As the employee is out of the city and there are more COVID-19 positive cases in India, the employer should ask the employee's opinion on whether it will be possible for them to join immediately. Only if the employee agrees to join without any undue influence, they can start working from the office. However, if the employee feels that in the current situation it is not safe for them to travel from their place (a contaminated zone), then the employer must be okay with that and must be concerned about the safety of the employee.