Tech Mahindra taken to labour court over layoff

Bengaluru, Aug. 10: Forum for IT Employees (FITE) on Thursday said as many as 11 disputes over IT layoffs done by Tech Mahindra had been moved to the labour court after Maharashtra labour authorities failed to mediate between the contending parties.

The affected employees have filed petitions under section 2A of the Industrial Disputes Act, FITE coordinator Elavarasan Raja told PTI.

According to section 2A of the Act, any dismissal of an individual workman is to deemed to be an industrial dispute.

Responding to the development, TechM said, “We dont comment on matters which are sub-judice.”

Last month, the groups’ chairman Anand Mahindra had tendered apology over the manner in which an employee of TechM was asked to quit.

He apologised after an audio clip went viral, which purportedly involved a conversation of an HR executive of the company asking an employee to put in his papers by next morning, as part of corporate decision.

TechM ranks fifth in the tally of Indian IT firms by revenues. At the end of December 2016, the company had over 1.17 lakh staff.

There have also been reports of mass layoffs by various companies even though the industry has consistently denied the allegations.

The companies have termed layoffs as part of normal business decisions, but many believe that these are directed more towards controlling costs.

US-based Cognizant had also rolled out a voluntary separation programme for directors, associate VPs and senior VPs, offering them 6-9 months of salary.

There have also been reports of mass layoffs by various companies even though the industry has consistently denied the allegations. The firms have termed it as normal decisions