Government allows 100% work from home for SEZ’s IT unit staff till December 2024

New Delhi: In a major relief to employees of IT units in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the government on Tuesday allowed complete work from home (WFH) option to employees of IT units in a special economic zone till December 2024 by amending the SEZs rules to permit IT/ITeS units in the special economic zones to allow 100 per cent of their workforce to work from home till end of the year with some riders.

“A unit may permit its employees to work from home or from any place outside the SEZ,” the Commerce Ministry said in a notification on Tuesday.

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, the notification said.

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

The decree 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 products or services must be accounted for by the unit to which the employee is tagged.

The notification by the ministry has been issued by L Satya Srinivas, who is additional secretary in the ministry.