Ministry of Commerce issues standard operating procedure (SOP) for SEZ Units to obtain permission for permitting employees to work from home or any place outside the Special Economic Zones
The Ministry of Commerce has notified Standard Operating Procedure (“SOP”) for Work From Home (“WFH”), permission for implementation of Rule 43A of the Special Economic Zones (Third Amendment) Rules, 2022 (“Amendment”).
Key Highlights:
• SEZ Units implementing WFH are required to formulate and adopt a WFH Scheme and submit applications to the relevant Development Commissioner notifying the adoption of the WFH Scheme at least 15 days in advance from the date that such WFH Scheme is intended to be put into effect at the unit. Such information may be passed on by e-mail (preferably), through the registered email id of the Unit, to the concerned Development Commissioner. The application should contain a covering note signed by the authorized signatory of the Unit mentioning the date of application, total number of employees, whether all employees are entitled to work from home scheme etc.
• For the Units already operating under the WFH option covering the existing employees, a one-time exception for 90 days is provided for submitting prescribed information.
• The Units are required to ensure that electronic assets removed are duly accounted for in appropriate records.
• Provisional permission for WFH may be availed for new employees on an immediate basis, which may be regularized through an application, preferably by email, within 15 days.
• The WFH facility may be flexibly utilized by Units among employees due to day-to-day business requirements subject to the limit of 50% or such percentage of attendance as approved by the Development Commissioner. Further, the units shall self-certify that at any point of time, the approved percentage of the employees are working physically from the premises of the unit at the SEZ.
• Units may submit a revised WFH Scheme at any time, at least 15 days in advance from the date that such WFH Scheme is intended to be put into effect.
(Note: The application for approval of the WFH scheme shall be processed and approved within 15 days, and in the event no communication is received by the Unit from the Development Commissioner within 15 days from submission of application, the WFH Scheme shall be considered to have been approved.)
