Are Indian Labour Laws Enough to Protect Telecom Employees from Unfair Work Pressure?

I wish to understand the provisions and clauses in Indian Labour Laws that protect Indian employees working in India from being treated irrationally or illogically. The work pressure in Telecom is increasing every year, and employees are forced to work extra hours without being given leaves, which eventually lapse by the year-end. The work culture dictates obedience to managers; otherwise, employees receive negative ratings in the Performance Management System (PMS). The work practices are not PMS-oriented; instead, they are manager-oriented, and working on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is not considered an option.

Yours are the woes of the fading or diminishing influence of labor unions. After the economic liberalization that the then Prime Minister Mr. PV Narasimha Rao unleashed in 1991, businesses started growing by leaps and bounds. A lot of foreign companies entered India, and Indian workers started receiving salaries that were unthinkable in the preceding generation. However, alongside this growth, an unhealthy development took place with rampant violations of labor laws. Since business houses provided revenue in the form of direct or indirect taxes, the labor department began ignoring the excesses of the employers. Working for 10-12 hours became the norm. Employers began enticing employees with the promise of future promotions and astronomical salaries. Allured by this promise, employees started working for 16-18 hours on their own. In the guise of "commitment towards the organization," questions regarding the efficacy of these long working hours were deeply buried.

The problems you are facing are also due to the lack of a culture of assertiveness in India. Indian workers are expected to be submissive, and standing up for one's rights is considered haughty. Overall, obedience is expected, but this obedience takes a toll on the critical thinking necessary for individual personality development.

The workplace challenges you have mentioned cannot be handled single-handedly. For this, you need to have a collective voice. This can only happen if you form a labor union. However, the problem lies in the fact that the younger generation is averse to forming labor unions. They have a strong distaste for labor unions, and as a result, you and your colleagues silently suffer. While suffering has been ongoing for time immemorial, it is hard to estimate how much longer this will continue.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Understanding Overtime in New Age Industries

Learned senior Mr. Dinesh has explained well the prevailing culture in new-age industries like IT and telecom. Depending on whether your establishment is a factory or a commercial establishment, a factory worker or an employee is eligible for overtime for working beyond 48 hours a week at double the rate of ordinary wages. However, it is simplistic to expect management to accept your claim of working beyond 48 hours a week with the help of some document or biometric recording and then pay overtime. This has cost implications for the organization.

Firstly, work pressure is a subjective feeling. One employee may enjoy work pressure, while another may resent it. Overtime cannot be paid based on what an employee feels about work.

Secondly, a question arises as to how to measure what quantum of work can be done in 8 hours a day or 48 hours a week. While one employee can complete a particular quantum of work in 8 hours, another may take ten hours to do the same. There should be quantifiable and objective methods to measure work and time.

Thirdly, it is not the employee who can decide to stay late and then claim overtime, as overtime tends to become a regular means of additional income if such a practice is allowed. That's why overtime is discouraged by the industry. These are the issues that surround the overtime issue.

Regards, B. Saikumar

HR & Labour Law Advisor

Navi Mumbai

The Shift from Personnel Management to Human Capital Strategies

When we say that the personnel management of the past has no significance today and that we are now in the period of human capital strategies, we forget to see the other side of the coin—discontentment. When we claim ours is an employee-friendly organization that values work-life balance, we overlook the fact that we do not truly care about our employees. The employees, in turn, remain silent because they fear their Performance Management System (PMS) rating will decrease, and if they take a stand against the management, they will be blacklisted by associations of employers like NASSCOM.

Misconceptions About Trade Unions

Additionally, there seems to be a misconception that trade unions are only for manufacturing workers and not for employees in the IT or Telecom sector, where the pay is perceived to be high. However, many employees are paid even less than the statutory minimum wage rates without adhering to the Payment of Wages Act. Individual bargaining, rather than collective bargaining, plays a significant role in new-generation industries, which is a primary cause of employee discontentment.

The Importance of Trade Unions

Forming a trade union is not a wrong decision, and employers should acknowledge that employees turn to such platforms for collective bargaining due to dissatisfaction. Therefore, if you feel that the management is unjust, you need to speak up, and forming or joining a trade union provides a better avenue than addressing issues individually.

Advocating for Reasonable Working Hours

Limiting working hours to 8 or 9 hours is crucial for maintaining our health and should be considered a basic right. It is important to advocate for this.

Regards, Madhu.T.K

It is okay that we have certain KRAs, and it is on the basis of these KRAs that we structure the PMS objectives. But the objectives should be SMART, and if not, the entire PMS will become useless. Therefore, if the targets are not achievable, do not fix those targets. It should not be to create an image for HR but to see whether employees get any benefit. Remember that we have offered only CTC to them and not Benefit to Company or BTC.

Madhu.T.K

The Challenges of Performance Management Systems (PMS)

Thanks to all for sparing time and sharing your valuable insights on this subject. My past experiences with ITES and Telecom companies have shown that PMS is a tool, not a method, to inculcate any sense of performance measurement. In today's fast-moving environment, where revenue growth is challenged every quarter, annual PMS as a tool or method becomes a joke. Since organizations can't do away with it, it has become a playground. PMS has become like a carrot—do this to get a score, or else receive negative ratings. The workload is so immense that there is always a pile of work pending and stinking, and when this comes to light, the focus on PMS is highlighted again. I believe some people don't have what it takes to move organizations, departments, or functions towards results and success, and hence they misuse PMS and the annual assessment method.

Impact on Work-Life Balance

Long extended work hours, as a routine, can't be accepted while personal and family life goes completely unnoticed.

Empowering Employees

I continue to wish to understand if there is a way to at least empower ourselves (employees), if not through unions. Yoga and similar practices are ways to accept work pressure, digest it, and release it.

After all, most large enterprises have to obey laws.

Regards,

Chetan Agrawal

Employee Rights in Telecom Industry
1. Can a telecom company refuse to relieve an employee under the clause of discretion to let go of an employee just because they coerced the employee to sign the appointment letter bearing this term at the time of joining, thereby taking away any opportunity of employment with any other organization?

2. Can a telecom company refuse to encash earned leaves after resignation while calculating the full and final settlement?

3. Can a telecom company refuse to grant medical leave post-resignation by threatening to increase the notice duration by an equivalent number of days?

No company in any industry can have clauses against any law in force in employment contracts. In Sandhya Organic Chemicals P Ltd Vs United Phosphorus Ltd, it was held that a covenant extended beyond termination of employment is void. This is a violation of section 27 of the Contract Act.

No company can refuse to encash the unearned leaves at the time of discharge or leaving due to any reason.

Notice period is one of the service conditions of employment. That cannot be changed solely at the interest of an employer. Therefore, the question of increasing the notice period does not arise at all when an employee submits his resignation. Threatening is outside the purview of discussion as well. Therefore, the refusal of an allowance, which is again a service condition, is simply illegal.