Big Work From Home update! Govt allows WFH for THESE employees till December 2023

New Delhi: In what would come as a big update for employees of IT/ITeS units in SEZ, the government has allowed Work From Home facility to these employees till 31st December 2023.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has tweeted, "More Ease of Doing Business. Modi Govt. amends SEZ rules to allow Work From Home facility to employees till 31st December 2023. Move to open avenues for more jobs in the IT & ITeS sector as India taps into its young talent pool to serve the world."

More Ease of Doing Business

Modi Govt. amends SEZ rules to allow Work From Home facility to employees till 31st December 2023.

Move to open avenues for more jobs in the IT & ITeS sector as India taps into its young talent pool to serve the world. pic.twitter.com/9YiRdy6nKz

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) December 9, 2022

"A unit may permit its employees...To work from home or from any place outside the SEZ," the commerce ministry said in a notification.

As per the conditions, SEZ unit owners have to intimate the same to the Development Commissioner of the respective zones and will have to continue to operate from the premises as per their letter of approval.

Units seeking WFH in future can email an intimation on or before the date of commencement of WFH.

Employees covered in the decision include workforce who are temporarily incapacitated; those who are travelling; and those working offsite, according to the notification of the commerce ministry.

It also said that the unit will not be required to submit the list of employees who are allowed to follow WFH or from any place outside the zone, but have to maintain that list within the unit.

The unit will have to ensure that export revenue of the resultant produces or services must be accounted for by the unit to which the employee is tagged.

Laptops, desktops or other equipment can be provided to employees for work from home, it added.

Earlier, work from home was permitted for a maximum period of one year in a special economic zone unit and it could be extended to 50 per cent of the total employees.

With PTI Inputs