COVID Leave Dilemma: Should We Deduct Leave for Employees Working from Home?

Hello Everyone, we are a Mumbai-based company (IT & BPO), and currently, everyone is working from home since December 2021. Two of our employees tested positive for COVID-19 in the first week of January 2022 and took 5 working days of leave. Both have shared their RT-PCR reports and have isolated themselves at home.

Our management wishes to consider these leaves as deductions from their earned leave balance. If they do not have enough leave balance, it will result in loss of pay.

Many companies are providing special leaves for COVID patients. Could you please guide us on what to do? Is there any mention or documentation from the government that private companies should also consider these leaves as paid leaves?

Thank you.

Granting of COVID-19 Special Leaves

I feel the management has to make a decision. I am aware that on 17/1/22, the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New Delhi, issued a circular regarding the treatment/regularization of leave during COVID-19 (third wave).

I am attaching a copy of the circular. Private companies can frame an appropriate COVID-19 leave policy based on this.

Applicability of Government Notices for Leave and Payment

The notice provided by Mr. RK Nair is applicable for government departments and not for private organizations.

The government has not issued a new circular on leave and payment for COVID treatment in the current wave. In the previous lockdown, the Maharashtra Government had issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, which stated that companies must provide unlimited sick leave and cover the full cost of treatment for all employees affected by COVID if they were asked or allowed to come to work instead of working from home. For employees working from home, the company would only be responsible for leave and treatment if a direct link between the work and the infection is established.

Following the same principle, since your employees are working from home and the infection occurred after they started working from home, the company is not obligated to provide sick leave or cover the cost of treatment under the rules. However, they can choose to take an employee-friendly approach and assist the employee, but this is not a legal requirement.

If the employees are under ESIC, then ESIC will cover the leave days and the treatment.