The Supreme Court Friday asked the government not to take any coercive action till next week against the companies and employers who are unable to pay full wages to their employees during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There may be small companies which are not earning and therefore unable to pay, the top court observed.
A bench of Justices L N Rao, S K Kaul and B R Gavai, hearing multiple petitions on the issue through the video conferencing, observed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) circular of March 29, directing companies to make payment of full wages to workers, was an omnibus order and there was a larger question involved which needs to be answered.
The top court issued notice on a plea of Hand Tools Manufactures Association, comprising of MSMEs seeking quashing the order asking private establishments to pay full wages to their workers during the ongoing lockdown.
The bench said there may be small industries, which are affected due to the lockdown as they can sustain for say 15 odd days but not more and if they cannot earn, how are they going to pay their workers. It added that if the government does not help these small companies, then they will not be able to pay to their workers. The bench said there shall be no coercive action against any of these companies for failing to pay full wages to its employees till next week.