2/06/2017
PUNE: Former employees of IT firms including Cognizant, Tech
Mahindra and Wipro in Pune on Thursday filed separate petitions with
the Maharashtra Commissioner of Labour against their former employers saying
that their services have been terminated illegally.
The petitions were filed through the Forum of IT Employees (FITE), a
Chennai-headquartered body, which, over the last few weeks has filed similar
petitions in Chennai and Hyderabad. So far, about 25 people have filed petitions
in Pune.
Similar petitions were filed by FITE in Bengaluru against Wipro and Tech Mahindra,
said FITE. In an emailed statement, Tech Mahindra said: "We continue to
implement strategies to meet the changing demands of business in the current
global economic environment.
As a performance-driven organisation, we assess employee
performance on a regular basis and take necessary actions." Wipro hadn't
responded to emails. Meanwhile, the Additional Commissioner of Labour Nikhil
Walke met with the Cognizant management and employees and urged them to be more
transparent with the employees.
"It was a positive meeting," Elavarasan Raja, an
FITE representative in Pune, said. A Cognizant spokesperson said: "We
reiterated that Cognizant has not conducted any layoffs and changes
resulting from the company's performance review process are consistent with the
standard practice that has been followed by the IT industry for many years. We
continue to enhance our capabilities and hire for roles across all our practice
areas in the company."
A common complaint was that there had been no written
communication regarding the layoffs from the organisations, with employees
alleging that they've been asked to put in their papers verbally. A Tech
Mahindra employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity said that the HR team
was calling people up on the phone and asking them to resign, or else their
services would be terminated. They alleged that there was no correlation with
the annual performance rankings as even mid-level performers had been asked to
resign.
Raja said that FITE has been receiving over 500 calls a day
from IT employees across the country with similar stories, both from people who
had been laid off, and those who feared this was going to happen in their
organisation. Former employees of both Wipro and Cognizant said that any
requests to be put on a performance improvement plan (PIP) had been declined.
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