Lockdown wage disputes: interim protection continued and negotiation, conciliation and settlement were directed for employers and workers.

Interim protection against coercive action for alleged non-payment of lockdown wages was continued after the wage directions under the Disaster Management Act were withdrawn, because disputes for the period they operated still required an interim arrangement. The Court recognised that the lockdown affected both employers and employees, that establishments had differing financial capacity, and that a balance had to be struck between competing claims. It also held that industrial peace could be advanced through negotiation and conciliation before labour authorities, and directed a facilitated process for possible settlement of wage disputes for the lockdown period. No coercive action was to be taken pursuant to the 29.03.2020 notification.

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Issues: Whether interim protection should continue against coercive action based on the lockdown wage directions, and whether a facilitated process of negotiation and conciliation between employers and workers should be ordered pending adjudication of the writ petitions.

Analysis: The petitions assailed the wage directions issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, while the Union stated that the impugned directions had been withdrawn with effect from 18.05.2020. The Court noted that although the immediate obligation under the withdrawn directions had ceased, the disputes regarding wages for the period during which the directions remained in force still required a workable interim arrangement. It found that the lockdown had affected both employers and employees, that establishments differed in financial capacity, and that a balance had to be struck between competing claims. The Court also noted that industrial peace could be advanced through negotiation and conciliation through labour authorities and that the earlier order protecting employers from coercive action should continue.

Conclusion: The Court directed that no coercive action would be taken pursuant to the 29.03.2020 notification, and it ordered a facilitated process of negotiation, conciliation, and possible settlement between employers and workers regarding wages for the lockdown period, with circulation of the order by the Central Government and States.

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