HYDERABAD: Though the Labour department has been receiving individual complaints on illegal lay-offs for several years, it is only now that the disgruntled employees are approaching the government officials in groups backed by IT employee associations.
IT employees are slowly coming out in bringing their dissent to labour authorities through section 2A of Industrial Disputes Act (IDA), which assures employees of an industrial dispute when an employer retrenches an employee. Officials on the other hand feel IT lay-offs are being blown out of proportion now.
Techies from across the country, including those in city, are fearing pink slips under the pretext of under-performance. Many employees raise concern over this new trend where employees are made to resign or given an option to be terminated.
“Performance evaluators intentionally underrate us in order to either terminate or stop our promotion. They seek to stagnate us at the same job positions for a long time until we quit by ourselves,” said a software employee on condition of anonymity.
Companies on the other hand are conducting recruitment drives, a process which many feel is normal. However, activists feel techies are deprived of even basic rights. Tech companies conduct performance appraisals. But, the recent trend doesn’t seem to strengthen that claim.
Senior-level personnel should be job creators
“If an employee is underrated and then terminated, he would not get a job anywhere. Instead, they themselves opt to resign from the company which assures them of a work experience certificate,” said Sundeep Kumar Makthala, global president, Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA). Employees at the top level having a pay package of `15-20 lakh should be job creators instead of working to secure their positions, he further added.
Meanwhile, support groups fighting for the cause see a different plight. “Companies are torturing people on different levels and it is the government who should intervene as we are a major tax contributor,” said Rajan Gandhi, vice president, Forum for IT employees (FITE).