Traders' body urges Centre to enact work from home policy

Noting that work from home is likely to continue even after Covid-19 abates, the association has called for a legal framework listing exhaustive rules to prevent conflicts between the employer and the employees at any stage in future.

"Since it's a quite new system and as there is no law governing the work from home system, it necessitates a comprehensive and robust policy and guidelines keeping into consideration all the related factors," CAIT said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Many big corporates have adopted the work from home model to ensure safety of employees and prevent Covid from spreading. Some companies even offer work from home allowance to staff to cover the cost of electricity and equipment.

The ongoing highly-infectious variant Omicron and subsequent restrictions imposed by state governments have further stretched the continuation of work from home mode.

With the WFH mode proving to be a win-win for both employers and employees in many cases, several organisations are likely to continue with it even after the pandemic is over.

Besides saving on commuting, the WFH mode also helps better work-life balance and higher productivity.

"Laws meant specifically for workspace should cover WFH by re-defining the online space as workspace. It would be crucial to define work hours while WFH or just suggest that it is not different from what it is while WFO (work from office). It is crucial for the mental well-being of employees that work-life balance is maintained and honoured by employers as well," said Neeraj Dubey, Partner, Juris Corp.

Such a policy creation can provide an opportunity to include white collar employees within its fold and start a process of having health and safety guidelines for them as well, he added.