[Sahaj Mathur is a IV year BA. LLB Student at the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] The status of gig workers has become a cause of growing concern in recent months. Niti Aayog’s report ‘India’s Booming Gig and Platform Economy’ estimates that nearly 23.5 million workers will be engaged in the gig economy by 2029. However, the report also notes how the gig economy has become...
X v. Registrar, MP High Court: Recognising Involuntary Resignations as Constructive Dismissal
[Saurabh Mishra is an Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India and Akshat Bhushan a 3rd Year student pursuing BA LLB (Hons.) at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur] In its judgment dated 10 February 2022, the Supreme Court held that a resignation by an employee, which is found to be tendered amid an unfair and unjust work environment, is not voluntary and amounts to ‘constructive...
Shifting Sands: Determining the Onus of Proof for Gainful Employment
[Shivankar Sukul and Mudit Burad are fourth year students at National Law University Jodhpur pursuing the course of BBA-LLB (Hons.)] Section 11A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (“ID Act”) vests the court with the power to set aside the order of dismissal and direct reinstatement in cases it considers such order to be illegal. The provision also provides the discretion to the court to award...
Supreme Court on the Regularization of Temporary Employees
[Naman Keswani is a 3rd year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) student at Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur. The author would like to thank Dr. Balwinder Kaur for her valuable inputs on the post] In Union of India v. Ilmo Devi (7 October 2021), the Supreme Court reiterated the fact that a temporary or casual worker in a State-run authority cannot seek parity with the regular employees of the...
ESOPs to Non-permanent Employees: An Analysis of SEBI’s Recommendation
[Anant Budhraja is a III year student at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata] Unacademy, the ed-tech unicorn, became the first Indian company to issue Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) to gig workers, i.e., educators on their platform, in July 2021.These options, referred to as Teachers Stock Options (TSOPs), constituted a corpus of $40 million, which had directly...
Coveted Tax Relief For Covid-Care Policies: An Employers’ Perspective
[Kavya Mathur and Pragya Chandak are law graduates from National Law University, Jodhpur] The unprecedented Covid-19 health crisis has had a grim impact on all facets of life, including the disruption of business, people’s livelihoods and even the loss of life. While employers are persevering to stay afloat themselves, there is undoubtedly also an element of altruism and sincere concern for the...
UK Supreme Court Rules Uber Drivers are Workers: Its Impact on India
[Paridhi Rastogi is a 4th year B.Com., LL.B. (Hons.) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad] In a recent landmark ruling, on the 19 February 2021, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that Uber drivers are ‘workers’, and not ‘independent contractors’. The judgement in the case of Uber BV and others v. Aslam and others, marks a paradigm shift in the treatment of individuals working...
Supreme Court Decides Regarding Disciplinary Enquiry before Dismissing a Worker
[Yagya Sharma is a 4th year BA LLB (Hons.) student at the Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad] On 20 January 2021, the Supreme Court of India held in State of Uttarakhand v. Sureshwati that the dismissal of Smt. Sureshwati by her employer cannot be interfered with merely on the ground that it did not conduct a disciplinary enquiry before dismissing. However, the employer will have to...
Termination of Worker For ‘Loss of Confidence’ Does Not Amount To Retrenchment
[Madhusudan Bose and Nayantara Chauhan are Advocates at PRA Law Offices, Delhi] Indian law grants strong protection to certain types of employees (statutorily referred to as ‘workmen’, but for convenience herein as ‘workers’) against termination of their employment by employers (or ‘retrenchment’). A worker is entitled to retrenchment compensation at the rate of 15 days average pay for every year...
The Gig Is Up – Redefining Employment for Platform Workers
[Shreya Bhatnagar and Aatman Shukla are students of B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) at National Law University Delhi] Today, one of the greatest drivers of the ‘on-demand employment’ economy has been the rise of platform-based apps such as UberWorks or Urban Company, which have replaced traditional paper-applications and references for seeking employment. Such platform-based apps have eliminated the...
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