THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Despite the fact that the state government has served notice on representatives of Byju’s Think and Learn (P) Ltd to appear at the district labour commissioner office to hold talks for forcing more than 170 employees of the Thiruvananthapuram centre to resign, the company issued a statement on Friday stating that it plans to expand in Kerala and refuted reports that it is ceasing operations in the state.
According to the statement, the company will be strengthening its presence in the state going forward. For the relocation, we are providing employees with extended family health insurance benefits and out placement services led by some of the industry’s best recruitment specialists, and are fast-tracking full-and-final settlement on demand.
All these employees will also be offered an assured path to return to Byju’s in case they are unable to find a job in the next 12 months. Our human resources teams are in constant touch with everyone involved and are doing everything necessary to resolve their problems.
The company also requested that this not be construed as unfair dismissal. Byju’s also remains committed to its investments in Kerala. The company will add three more offices in the state in this financial year, taking the total number to 14 and increasing the total headcount to 3,600, the statement said.
Recently, the company had sent e-mails to the affected employees offering relevant relocation opportunities to them. The company also offered the entire team in Thiruvananthapuram to relocate to Bengaluru.
The demands raised by the affected employees include the following: the payment of the salary for October on November 1; a one-time settlement of salary for the upcoming three months, from November 2022 to January 31, 2023; encashment of all earned leaves; and full settlement of variable pay (as applicable to each employee). The company has been functioning in the Carnival building in Technopark since 2018.
Prathidwani, an association for the welfare of IT employees in Technopark, stated that they see the company’s expansion in Kerala as a welcome move. “We support the company if it is decided to expand operations in Kerala and not to quit the state. But we remain firm on the demands of the employees who were sacked recently. That will be raised in the meeting with the Labour department and the company representatives on Monday,” said A R Raneesh, president, Prathidwani.