Indian government is reportedly looking to regulate work from home with a comprehensive framework

• The Indian government is looking to legislate a comprehensive frame for working from home.
• The framework would regulate and define the liability of the employers towards its employees working from home.
• Work from home is being seen as the norm for the future of work.

The Government of India is looking to legislate a comprehensive framework for employees that will regulate working from home. With employees in various sectors across the country currently either working from home or following hybrid work schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the structuring of the framework would regulate and define the liability of the employers towards its employees.

According to a report in ET, some of the options in consideration include determining the working hours and providing for the basic expenses that are being incurred by the employees while working from homes, such as electricity and internet bills.

A government official informed the publication about the discussions that are being done to regulate work from home in India. He said that a consultancy firm was working to determine the ‘future of work’ and how it could benefit the stakeholders.

Earlier in January this year, the government had formalised the working from home for service sectors by passing a standing order. This allowed employees and employers to mutually set working hours and other conditions before deciding to work remotely. Although, this was primarily done to sectors such as IT and ITeS that had provided working from home to their employees under special circumstances even before the pandemic.

With the new framework in consideration, the work from home would get regularised across all sectors in the country. India is looking to follow countries such as Portugal that recently made a law to protect the interests of employees working remotely, away from the office premises. If the legislation is passed, it would provide legal backing to employees working from home and add more accountability to employers.

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