HYDERABAD: Close to a week after an estimated 250 employees of Verizon Data Services India (VDSI) were handed over pink slips, the Telangana State Labour, Employment Training and Factories department accepted 10 more petitions from sacked techies on Monday. The techies approached the department challenging their resignation process.
The petitions filed on Monday takes the total number of petitions filed with the labour department to 14, only from VDSI, since last week when the company started its job Role Rationalisation process. “Retrenched techies of VDSI are coming out of the shock of termination,” Praveen Chandrahas of Forum for IT Professionals (ForIT) observed, adding that they would be soon approaching the State Human Rights Commission.
Writ petition, the latest hope for techies?
The growing number of retrenched techies approaching the labour department for justice point out that the IT companies are not complying to the law of the land. The outcome of this non-compliance is resulting in ‘forced’ resignations..“In spite of giving stern instructions I do not understand why the companies are acting like this,” replied R Chandrashekar, Joint Commissioner, Ranga Reddy Zone, Department of Labour over the phone on the recent Verizon layoffs issue.
Further, he added, “We told in reconciliation meetings that companies should follow the “law of the land,” but it is not.” With regard to writ petitions already filed by previously retrenched employees, he said the HC would be soon giving out its guidelines on the lay offs. It may be noted that six retrenched IT employees of Tech Mahindra had recently filed writ petitions with the HC, which it is yet to hear.
The cases of retrenchment where companies fail to inform its employees through a “one month’s notice” in writing before termination is initiated, is broadly laid down in Section 47 (1) of the Telangana Shops And Establishments Act, 1988.