Legal Protections: How Can We Challenge Unlawful Mass Layoffs in the IT Industry?

Friends,

Which labor act provides the provision to legally question the illegal mass terminations or layoffs in the IT industry?

Regards,
Parimala

Termination as Punishment or as per Terms & Conditions

Termination as punishment or termination as per the terms and conditions of appointment can be questioned by the employee under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Understanding Your Status as a Workman

You have to ensure that you are a workman as per Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Layoff Considerations

Layoff for what reason? Whether lay-off compensation has been paid? These can be questioned under the Industrial Disputes Act. Is it a hypothetical question or a specific question? Being an employee in the IT sector, you should provide all relevant details pertaining to the query.

TCS Retrenchment and Legal Implications

In fact, last year when TCS resorted to mass retrenchment, a lady employee approached the Madras High Court. After hearing her case, the Madras High Court made an observation that if TCS does not resolve this issue, they will be forced to give a judgment which would affect the entire IT industry. TCS immediately took back the employee after withdrawing the retrenchment order and handled the issue internally by stopping retrenchment. Instead, they gave time to a whole lot of employees to find alternate jobs.

Incidentally, the lady employee was pregnant, and TCS, as a face-saving exercise, stated that they did not know she was pregnant and hence are taking her back. Employees had also created an FB page to make TCS understand the unethical way they were resorting to. A few employees even circulated audio clippings of the interactions they had with HR during the retrenchment and circulated them through social media and FB. Srinath Sairam is right when he says that if you are deemed to be a worker, then the ID act applies. The same observation was made by the Madras High Court stating qualification as an engineer does not matter and what matters is the role of the employee.

Hope you guys take your employer on just as TCS employees did.

So far as I understand, the majority of employees in the IT industry do not qualify to be workmen under Section 2(s) of the Industrial Disputes Act. Hence, these employees can challenge their retrenchment in the Civil Courts, as labor legislation may not be of any help.

Mass retrenchment actions in the industry may compel the employees of the IT industry to form an association/union to protect themselves.