Facing Unfair Job Transfers and Termination: How Can My Friends Protect Their Rights?

Dear All,

My friends are going through a critical situation in their company. Please suggest what all possible factors they can do to overcome that situation.

The situation is:

My friends are working in an IT company which is termed as ABC India Pvt. Ltd. (Sorry cannot disclose the name) which was taken over by ABC Technologies 2 years ago. Now all of a sudden, a few of the employees of ABC Pvt. Ltd. got the mail from ABC Technologies that they are transferred from Delhi to Pune Location. So kindly report to our Pune Branch by ... date. This mail they have received from AM HR of ABC Technologies.

Now there are two to three things which have to be taken into consideration:

1- The whole staff is not getting the salary on time. There are 2 months' salary pending from ABC Technology's side.

2- It was never introduced to the staff that their HR-related things will be taken care of by ABC Technology.

3- Whenever they inquired about their salary or other admin/HR related things, it was always communicated to them that for them, a new HR is being searched, so please wait.

4- In everybody's employment agreement, it was not mentioned that their job will be transferable.

Now the problem that has occurred is that they have again received the mail from ABC Technology's AM HR that they are terminated because they have neither replied to our mail nor reported to our Pune office. They ended the mail by giving a 15-day notice period which is also not mentioned in their agreement. In their agreement, it is mentioned as a 1-month notice period.

Please suggest how they can tackle this situation, as their 2-month salary is pending, no medical reimbursements have been received against the bills they have submitted, the 15-day notice period is not mentioned in their agreement, and also guide me whether this is the way HR should treat employees.

They are deciding to go to the media. Please suggest what they should do.

Waiting for the reply.

Rgds

Deepti

Hi Deepti,

After reading your query, the only advice I would give to your friend is to consult a legal practitioner ASAP. Since it's not just one person, they can approach the labor court and claim for the loss. It's indeed difficult to believe that such things can happen in life.

Regards,
Resha

Hi Resha,

Thanks for your opinion. But going to a legal practitioner means they have to pay a significant amount of money, which they cannot afford due to a lack of funds. That's why they have decided to go to the media, and the next step they are considering is mass resignation, i.e., the entire staff of Delhi will resign.

However, the question arises: Is this the right way to resolve the situation? Is there no other action we can take so that the HR of ABC Technologies withdraws their termination emails and first pays their salaries? I need more suggestions. Please help. These people do not have an employee-friendly HR. How should they be dealt with?

Regards,
Deepti

Till now, 12 people have seen my post, but only 1 person has replied. I think being an HR professional, we can help these people. Yes, they are not my employees nor yours, but at this point in time, they need somebody who can show them the right path. I found this community to be the best option, as many senior people are part of it.

I request you to please suggest what they can do.

Hi,

Submitting mass resignations is not an ideal solution in this situation as it would weaken the standpoint of the employees. Definitely, the terminated employees can take legal recourse, for which they need to consult a good labor lawyer urgently.

Meanwhile, I will try to figure out if I can suggest any leads in Delhi. I will respond back tomorrow.

Hi,

The employees can't be sacked because the terms and conditions of employment that the employee entered were with the previous employer, not the current employer who took over the ABC Corp. Then again, they themselves claim that there isn't any HR as of now to tackle their problems. That means the HR policy of the previous employer is followed, not the current employer. So kindly ask your friend to check whether anywhere your friend has agreed to relocate when he accepted the offer letter.

No, they were not told by the employers that in the future they might have to transfer to another location, nor is this mentioned in their agreement.

The concept we are understanding behind this whole incident is that ABC Technologies do not want the employees from Delhi. Instead of stating this upfront, they are creating these kinds of situations, which these employees are not tolerating. According to them, when the company was at a higher risk, only the Delhi staff worked tirelessly, even without getting paid for two months. Now that the company has recovered from the risk and all the projects are in their hands, they have decided to let go of the Delhi staff. This approach is not acceptable. As an HR professional, I personally feel that instead of creating these situations, we should make the situation clear.

Hi Deepti,

I too fully agree with Resha that in such a time, a labor advocate is required who will recommend alternate measures available to the employees. A small fee is worth spending than losing your two months' salary.

My opinion on all the points mentioned by you is as follows:

Point 1: I agree salaries have to be paid on time, and you have to draw the attention of higher authorities, not just the HR Dept.

Point 2: When a new business takes over, the new management cannot be avoided. There is a change in control. However, the new management has to communicate their guidelines/practices to the existing employees of the company taken over.

Point 3: The HR of the new company cannot avoid the responsibility as by law the Principal employer is always responsible for all acts, omissions, errors by the subsidiary employers.

Point 4: In the present time, transfer and mobility are common. However, it has to be stated as one of the terms in the appointment/subsequent letters.

I suggest the entire group or a few representatives seek an appointment with the new company's HR as well as the top management and present a memorandum stating the grievances signed by all the employees. This will serve as a document drawing the top management's attention.

A. Pinto

Hi,

I have gone through your query and also the emails of others in this particular matter.

In my opinion, your appointment letter is the basis for safeguarding your interests. You should carefully review the terms before seeking any redress. On the surface, it appears that the transfer itself is malicious, especially considering the authority signing it. From what I gather from the contents, firstly, the transferability clause needs to be evaluated as it forms the basis for such an action. Furthermore, if such a clause does not exist, none of the companies can resort to such an action except for the closure of an undertaking or an outright purchase.

The remedy at this stage seems to be that all of you should approach the Government Labour Officer in your area from the Labour Commissioner's Office and lodge a complaint of illegal termination as they have the right to intervene in such matters.

I can only provide limited suggestions as neither a copy of the appointment letter nor a letter issued by the company with content is available. In the absence of these, any advice given may be incorrect.

I hope these limited inputs will be somewhat helpful to you in pursuing the matter further.

Regards,

Bharat

Please review the corrected text below:

Pl. try this way. Management is a systematic way of carrying out activities in any field of human effort. Management needs to focus more on leadership skills, for example, establishing vision and goals, communicating the vision and goals, and guiding others to accomplish them. It also asserts that leadership must be more facilitative, participative, and empowering in how visions and goals are established and carried out. Some people assert that this really isn't a change in the management functions

Hi,

I am a labor law consultant practicing in Pune for the last 10 years. The advice given by Mr. Bharat is correct. I may add that as your company is in Delhi, the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 are applicable to all of you. We have a special enactment called M.R.T.U. and P.U.L.P. Act in Maharashtra for speedy justice in such matters. However, in Delhi, each of you can file individual complaints before the Government Labour Officer at Delhi under section 2A of the abovementioned Act. If you have formed a union, you can also approach through the union. In my opinion, your company is committing horrible 'Unfair Labor Practices' as defined under the Act. You will certainly get relief from the Government. If the matter cannot be settled by the Government, it is sent to the Industrial Court for adjudication. If you have any further queries, please feel free to ask.

S.M. Paranjape, Advocate