WFH: Centre mulls to relax work from home rules for SEZs; details to be issued by end of week

The Commerce and Industry Ministry is expected to unveil standard operating procedures that would need IT companies to provide a complete list of staff that will work from home (WFH).

ET Now Digital

Updated Aug 10, 2022, 13:48 IST

Representational image.

New Delhi: The Centre is actively considering easing the work from home (WFH) norms for special economic zones (SEZ) in an earnest attempt to resolve the differences between developers and information technology (IT) companies.

It seems that the biggest huddle is developers want more people to work out of SEZs, and the IT firms have sought a total flexibility in the model they want to adopt.

More importantly, the Commerce and Industry Ministry is likely to roll out standard operating procedures that would need IT companies to provide a complete list of staff that will work remotely.

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“The IT industry wanted a complete relaxation from rule 43(A) without any compliance and insisted on total self-declaration while the developers argued that 100 per cent work from home would mean wastage of the infrastructure developed in SEZs,” an official told ET.

As per the SEZ rules, companies have the flexibility to permit a maximum of 50 per cent of staff to work from home.

The financial daily cited the official as saying, “There were two weeks of intense negotiations between the parties and now internal discussions are on to simplify the processes.” He went on to add that details would be released by the end of this week.

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Given the large employee turnover in the sector at present, the IT firms had expressed difficulty in giving the details of specific employees.

Bipin Sapra, partner, EY India, told the publication: “The WFH arrangement in SEZs is envisaged to be a flexi working environment for all the employees and any compliances to get the benefit will vitiate the ease of doing business for this sector.”

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Last month, the Centre notified a new rule for SEZs across the country allowing the option of WFH to up to 50 per cent of employees in a unit, including contractual workers, and for a maximum period of one year.

Analysts say the Centre’s decision helped the IT companies to retain key employees who were seeking flexibility, and many large companies, including industry heavyweights such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's top software services exporter, Infosys among others have units in SEZs.

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