NEW DELHI: The Board of Air India has allowed the airline’s Chairman and Managing Director to recommend that a non-performing staff member be compulsorily sent on leave without pay for a period of up to five years.
The move comes at a time when the government is attempting to sell off the national carrier, a process which is delayed because of the outbreak of coronavirus.
Employees will be assessed for suitability, efficiency, competence, quality of performance, health of the employee, instance of non-availability of the employee for duty in the past as a result of ill health or otherwise, and redundancy
The Air India CMD can now send employees on leave without pay “for six months or for a period of two years extendable up to five years,” read an official order.
The departmental heads in the headquarters as well as regional directors are required to assess each employee “on the above mentioned factors and identify the cases where option of compulsory LWP can be exercised”, the July 14 order.
“Names of such employees need to be forwarded to the General Manager (Personnel) in headquarters for obtaining necessary approval of CMD.”
“We would not like to make any comment on the issue,” an Air India spokesperson said in response to queries regarding this matter.
Hit by travel restrictions imposed worldwide due to the Covid pandemic, aviation sector is one of the most affected sectors across the globe.
In India, most of the airlines have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, Leave Without Pay and firings of employees in order to conserve cash flow.