The Maharashtra government’s labour ministry has sent a notice to Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) after complaints flooded in regarding the “forced transfer” of hundreds of employees without enough notice.
The complaint regarding the transfers was filed by the IT employees union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). The complaint alleges that TCS transferred around 2000 employees to different cities.
The TCS employees were transferred to different branches of the company in another city without being given enough time for proper relocation or consultation, causing them hardship, NITES said in the report.
NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja said in the letter to the labour department that TCS threatened employees with disciplinary action if they failed to comply with the transfer. The union said that they had received 300 complaints from TCS employees after the alleged forced transfer.
As reported by TOI, the email sent out to TCS employees read, “This is in reference to your transfer order to TCS Mumbai followed by a transfer email directing to you report to said brand in 14 days and complete the transfer process. However, it has been noted that you have failed to report to the transferred brand till date. Hence, the company is initiating a stoppage of your salary.”
TCS stops pay for 900 employees
Under fire for forcing employees to transfer to another brand in just 14 days, TCS has reportedly stopped the salaries of 900 employees for failing to comply with the company policies, reported NITES.
“The company has unethically stopped salary of employees who are opposing these forced transfers. NITES strongly condemns the illegal tactics of TCS forcing employees either to accept the forced transfers or resign from the job,” NITES said, as quoted by Financial Express.
Some employees were only given ₹6,000 for the month of December, while others had their salaries stopped altogether, reported FE. TCS reportedly blocked the access of these employees to their official attendance and time sheet portal.
Meanwhile, the labour department of Maharashtra has asked TCS to present its stance on the matter in a joint meeting on January 18.
