Lockdowns, curfews and the virtual ‘pause’ of business activities and consequently the ‘pause’ of income generation, with the resulting prediction of a marked decrease in future income due to the hardly vibrant global and local economic order to be faced soon. Employers being faced with the daunting and unenviable task of facing the multitude of challenges before them in all aspects of business to include the sustenance of its employment workforce.
封城、宵禁和商业活动的实际“暂停”，从而导致创收的“暂停”，并由此预测，由于全球和地方经济秩序几乎没有活力，未来的收入将很快面临明显下降。雇主们将面临着艰难而艰巨的任务，要面对企业各方面的诸多挑战，包括就业劳动力的维持。

Employment Law in Sri Lanka law is considered to be pro-employee as the case in most developing countries with emerging markets.
斯里兰卡就业法与大多数发展中国家新兴市场的情况一样，被认为是有利于雇员的法律

The fundamental principles of law being that ‘no term of employment, express or implied and already contracted for can be altered or varied in any wise so as to be less favorable to the employee, without the consent of the employee or the Commissioner of Labor’ and that ‘termination of employment is permissible only on disciplinary grounds as a ‘punishment’ unless otherwise with the express consent of the employee or Commissioner of Labor, on the payment of the legally prescribed compensation for loss of employment; similarly the situation of redundancy, retrenchment and closure ’
法律的基本原则是，“未经雇员或劳工专员的同意，不得以任何方式改变或更改任何明示或暗示的雇佣条件，使之对雇员不利”，而且“只有在雇员或劳工专员明确同意的情况下，才允许以纪律为由终止雇佣，作为一种“惩罚”，并支付法律规定的失业补偿金；同样，冗余、裁员和关闭的情况也是如此”

Thus, with no other law or provision of law allowing for furloughs, pay cuts and termination of employment due to extraordinary or unforeseen circumstances such as the predicament faced with COVID-19 pandemic, employers would necessarily be compelled to work within the parameters of the mentioned legal provisions, albeit seemingly restrictive in the current context.
因此，由于没有任何其他法律或法规规定允许因特殊或不可预见情况下的休假、减薪和终止雇佣，因此如2019新型冠状病毒大流行病所面临的困境，雇主必然不得不在上述法律规定的范围内工作，尽管在目前情况下似乎是有限制的。

The policies of the Government thus far being implemented through the many different COVID-19 task forces appear to recognise the need to afford support to employers in the continuation of business. In this context it is expected that the administration of the law by the Commissioner of Labour would be on ‘just and equitable’ principles having regards to the exceptional and compelling circumstances vis-a –vis an employer. In this context the strict enforcement of the law against an employer on the basis of a unilateral reduction of terms of employment, on account of pay cuts sought to be implemented we hope would be unlikely to be ordered by the Commissioner of Labour, provided that such action is not apparently mala-fide; a more conciliatory approach being more suitable notwithstanding that the law per se is not thus enabling.
迄今为止，政府通过许多不同的2019新型冠状病毒工作队实施的政策似乎承认有必要为雇主继续经营提供支持。在这种情况下，预计劳工事务专员将根据“公正和公平”的原则来执行法律，并考虑到对雇主的特殊和迫不得已的情况。在这种情况下，我们希望劳工专员不大可能以单方面消减雇佣条件为由，对雇主严格执行法律，只要这种行动显然不是恶意的；尽管法律本身并不允许，但更适合采取和解的方式。

The general law, as outlined above, mandates that the termination of employment on the basis of a ‘retrenchment, redundancy or closure situation’ will warrant prior consent of the employee or approval of the Commissioner of Labour and the payment of the requisite compensation. The Commissioner of Labour having no discretion or authority to waive or vary the compensation payable, with the discretion to apply the law on ‘just and equitable’ principles in allowing the termination sought for by the employer. In the premises, employers may consider in the short term adopting a ‘mixed model’ with terminations and pay cuts on a structured basis.
如上文所述，一般法律规定，因“裁员、冗余或倒闭的情况”而终止雇佣，必须事先征得雇员的同意或劳工专员的批准，并支付必要的赔偿。劳工处处长没有酌情权或权利豁免或更改应支付的补偿，但可根据“公正和公平”原则，酌情决定是否容许雇主要求终止雇佣关系。在这个前提下，雇主可以考虑在短期内采取“混合模式”，有计划地裁员和减薪。

Sri Lankan law is silent on the concept of having employees on furlough and is a practice not generally adopted. However, under the prevailing COVID-19 situation we cannot rule out the possibility that such option would not be sought by an employer and that relief will unlikely be denied.
斯里兰卡法律没有规定雇员休假的概念，也没有普遍采用这种做法。然而，在目前的2019新型冠状病毒的情况下，我们不能排除雇主不寻求这种选择的可能性，也不可能拒绝给予救济

Further, taking cognizance of the added and new challenges of employers The Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations Ministry has appointed a Special Task Force ‘to prevent the spread of Covid – 19 at workplaces’ headed by Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. Representatives of the Employers Federation and trade unions being an integral part of the Force. The Ministry has requested all workplaces to form a committee in this regards which step we would suppose is with intent to have businesses up and running as soon as possible.
此外，考虑到雇主面临的新挑战，技能发展、就业和劳工部任命了一个特别工作组，“防止2019新型冠状病毒在工作场所的蔓延”，有技能发展、就业和劳工部部长Dinesh Gunawardena领导。 雇主联合会和工会的代表是特别工作组的组成部分。该部已要求所有工作场所在这方面成立一个委员会，我们认为这一步的目的是让企业尽快启动和运营

It is hoped that the application of the law by the Commissioner would take cognizance of the extreme adverse impact that COVID-19 would have on commerce and therefore it is sought from the Commissioner to administer the law resourcefully whilst adhering to ‘just and equitable’ principles to save the already endangered businesses with a global recession all but unavoidable.
希望专员在适用该法时，能够认识到2019新型冠状病毒对商业带来的极端不利影响，因此，希望专员能够在坚持“公正和公平”原则的同时，在全球经济衰退几乎无法避免的情况下，充分运用法律，以拯救已经濒临绝境的企业。