Can I Legally Claim Back My Pandemic Salary Cut Now That Fees Are Fully Collected?

Hi, I was working as an assistant professor in a self-financing college in Coimbatore. During the pandemic, we were not able to conduct physical classes, and everything was work from home. Many professors lost their jobs, and only a few remained on the payroll. The staff who continued working received a salary based on their performance, the number of webinars they organized, the number of hours they worked, and the number of webinars attended, for a period of 6-7 months. This amounted to 15%-50% of their monthly CTC. At that time, the students were also not required to pay their fees.

Now, after the pandemic, the college collected the entire tuition fees from the students after waiving the miscellaneous fee. They collected the fees, stating that they were paying their professors' salaries during the toughest time. All the students paid the full tuition fees (some questioned, but everyone was afraid their degree would be affected if they questioned back).

I have now resigned from my job. Can I ask for the repayment of the deducted salary? Is the management liable to pay the deducted salary for the staff now, since everything is back to normal and the college collected the full fee from the students during that time? Can I proceed legally to ask for compensation? Please help.

Understanding Self-Financed Colleges

A self-financed college is one that does not receive any financial aid from the state government where it is located. They also do not get any financial grants from the UGC, nor do they receive any benefits from the UGC. It is run and controlled by an educational agency.

Salary Recovery Challenges

As you have resigned from the job, the chance of getting back the deducted salary is doubtful. The collection of fees from students, partial disbursement of salaries to the staff, etc., are their prerogative decisions. If you pursue legal action against them, it may not yield the desired outcome.

Since you were employed by them, consider meeting personally with the Director to discuss assertively and apprise them of your position.

Legal Implications of Salary Deductions

Legally speaking, if you accepted the deductions without protesting against them, then you have accepted the revised terms of employment. Therefore, the new payment is the standard payment for that time.

In the absence of any agreement to the contrary, you are unlikely to get the money back. However, you need to take all relevant details to a lawyer and seek their opinion.