WFH has put working women under ‘triple burden’:

Work from home during the Covid pandemic has its benefits but it has also put working women under a “triple burden”, says President Ram Nath Kovind.

In a letter to young Indians published in the Manorama Yearbook 2022, he says women already have the double burden of paid work and “unpaid work”, that is, domestic responsibilities.

“On top of that, as children attend school from home, their learning has to be supplemented by the parents, and that task usually falls on the mother,” Mr. Kovind writes in the letter, titled “Arise, The Future Beckons”. “The new stress on family time should be welcome for male employees, so that they can share some of the responsibilities of their partners. In any case, studies show that hard work in itself can be even counterproductive and as the number of hours spent on work goes up, productivity comes down in some instances,” he writes.

New startups, IT/ITES companies exempted from Haryana local employment act

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday said that the new startups and new IT/ITES companies will be exempted for two years under the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, which mandates 75% job reservation for locals.

Short-term (45 days) work will also be exempted from this Act, the deputy informed while addressing media in Chandigarh.

Dushyant said that in addition to sowing of crops, embroidery, the primary works related to fruits, vegetables, tea leaves, coffee, fish, animals etc. also taken up under the ‘Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act are exempted. Exemptions have also been given to domestic servants and those industries for which skilled workers are not available