May 4 : The Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has decided to close down all hotels in the country for six months. In its meeting held on Sunday (May 3), the HAN made a decision to this effect in the view of the adverse impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the country’s tourism industry.
During the meeting, it was agreed that some three thousand hotels will be shut down from Baishakh (April/May) to Ashwin (September/October) of this year.
Similarly, the decision was also made to provide 12.5 percent of the basic monthly salary to each hotel employee for the said period. According to the HAN, such employees will also be entitled to the service charges accumulated before the hotels were shut down. This is expected to facilitate them to meet their daily needs to some extent.
The HAN also issued a week-long deadline to the trade unions to agree on the provision of the said rate of the basic salary. “If the unions refuse to come to the agreement, the hotel owners will be compelled to lay off the staffers as per Section 145 of the Labour Act 2074,” it warns.
