Facing Unethical Job Transfers and Pay Cuts: How Can Employees Protect Themselves?

1. GM-engineering is transferable to any department in a medicine manufacturing company. If the above is okay, can he be transferred as GM-marketing (selling medicines to local chemists)?

2. PSU employees can be assigned to any designation or functional responsibility. If the above is okay, the boss can assign a medical representative functional responsibility in a city where the company does not have an office. Therefore, the employee works from home, and daily reports sent by post are treated as attendance, not emails sent from the employee's personal email ID (as the company does not provide company email IDs due to lack of infrastructure). Any postal delays are marked as Loss of Pay (LOP), resulting in a reduction in the pay package.

I request guidance from seniors on how to deal with an unethical system as per the appointment letter. Even though the company has obtained confirmation from the High Court regarding the legality of the appointment clauses, they can be imposed at any time on any employee to satisfy personal vendettas, even if the employee's records are clear and they have never been charged in 8 years of service.

Thank you,

GhaleBS

Having worked as a manager handling job responsibilities for one year (demoted without a charge sheet or inquiry), I was later compelled by management to work as a Medical Representative, the lowest demoted post in the marketing department without any inquiry for another year. In my daily reports, I consistently requested support from the GM of Marketing and other lower staff regarding company infrastructure, but management consistently denied any assistance.

After enduring 2 years of mental and physical harassment, including salary reductions due to a lack of daily work reports received by post (emails being considered as legal documents), the breaking point came on March 15. An officer conducted a work inspection, seemingly searching for errors to use against me, even threatening to falsify reports. I refused to comply and instead left the premises, citing the lack of support and communication from management as the official reason.

Despite numerous reminders from the company since March, I have not been called back to duty. I obtained a medical certificate due to mental health issues in March, resulting in the non-receipt of my salary for that month.

In January 16, the company's HR department invoked a clause from the appointment letter stating that after 10 days of absence without senior approval, it is considered self-termination. Consequently, the company settled my dues unilaterally, paying my March 15 salary in January 16 and issuing a gratuity check today.

The company's decision to terminate my employment was made solely based on the clause in the appointment letter without conducting any inquiry, issuing a charge sheet, or providing suspension procedures (I only acknowledged receipt of the appointment letter, no legal bond was signed).

Now, with 25 years of engineering experience and 2 years in pharmaceutical marketing, I find that the job market is not recognizing my qualifications either as an engineer or an experienced marketing professional. This situation has severely impacted my career prospects for the next 8 years.

I would appreciate any advice from senior professionals on the next steps to take.

Regards,

Note: Other employees and trade staff unions have expressed willingness to support me. Despite having a clean record in the company for the last 8 years, a promotion was long overdue.

Dear friend,

By PSU, do you mean a Public Sector Undertaking? If so, then such things do not happen in a PSU. PSUs, being State (Government) Undertakings, are considered as a State in itself. Hence, such arbitrary actions by senior management are neither permitted nor done.

Clarification on Your Role

Your post is not clear. Do you mean to say that you had been working as a GM - Engineering and you were transferred as GM - Marketing? This happens. Further, it may also be possible that you were not given any assignments as GM-Marketing. This is also possible.

Responsibilities at the GM Level

One has to look for one's own responsibilities and tasks. At the level of GM, no one is asked to work or perform. No GM is told what he has to do. A person at the level of GM has to prove himself and his utility.

It is surprising that as GM-Marketing you did not come up with ideas and actions to justify your existence, responsibilities, and salary. On the contrary, you are criticizing and complaining against the assignment related to selling medicines to local chemists. The task of a marketing person is to achieve and exceed sales, whether he is a Medical Representative or GM-Marketing.

Instead of looking down at your assignment with disdain, one could have taken it seriously and proved one's worth.

The rest of your narration about attendance and tasks, leading to your termination, is not very clear.

Warm regards.

Concerns About Malicious Transfer and HR Solutions

Public sector company (Government of India undertaking) transferred me to GM-marketing without any staff or infrastructure of the company (refer to earlier post). At the GM level, the company expects me to sell medicines by meeting various doctors and chemists, with a reduction in salary based on delays in receiving daily reports by post from Assam to Bangalore (emails are intentionally not considered for attendance to reduce salary).

Is this not a malicious transfer by assigning Medical Representative functions (as a GM-marketing, infrastructure would help me contribute)?

If not, why does the company or anyone require a qualification in mechanical engineering?

Why is the company employing experienced staff in relevant fields during induction, only to later misuse them in a politics-driven environment?

Termination using an appointment letter (not a legal bond) with a clause stating that if you do not work for more than 10 days, it will be recorded as absconding without conducting an inquiry, etc. Please guide me on legal solutions from an HR perspective.

A reporting officer is threatening to demote me to a lower-grade function as an "attender," a serious violation of human rights and the right to work as an engineer.

(If this transfer is not malicious, I would argue that a High Court Judge should be transferred to a police constable, as both are paid by the government, and both are knowledgeable about law and order. In my case, I am a mechanical engineer and not trained in life-saving medicine, making me technically unfit.)

Please let me know if you need any further clarification.

Yes, I also endorse Mr. Nathrao's opinion.

You must file a case in a Court of Law against this discrimination and illegal termination. There have been many cases where the applicant has won not only all back salaries with interest, but also has received the benefit of promotions that were illegally denied.

Your case appears to be fit to seek judicial remedy.