TCS representatives, KITU office-bearers attend conciliatory meeting

Following the Karnataka IT/ITeS Employees Union filing an industrial dispute case against IT services company Tata Consultancy Services in the context of allegations of forced resignations by the company, a conciliatory meeting was held today between the parties by the Karnataka Labour Department.

It has been learnt that another detailed meeting would be held on September 8.

Boban Varghese Thomas, general manager-HR, and Mahesh G.K., assistant manager at TCS, attended the meeting in which Suhas Adiga, general secretary-KITU, VJK Nair, president-KITU, and Sooraj Nidiyanga, secretary-KITU, participated.

Sources close to the matter told The Hindu that both parties presented their sides at the meeting, which was held at the additional labour commissioner’s office.

Case against company

KITU representatives had recently filed an industrial dispute case against TCS following allegations of forced resignations. On July 27, the company also announced that it would release 2% of its global workforce, which comes to around 12,000 employees.

Following the complaint by the union, the Labour Department sent a notice to TCS.

According to the Industrial Disputes Act, companies employing more than 100 workers are required to obtain prior approval from the government before carrying out any layoffs or retrenchments. Such retrenchments are permitted only for specific reasons and under conditions clearly defined in the Act. 

The union claims to have received several complaints from TCS employees, particularly those on the bench, who were reportedly being forced by the management to resign after introducing a new ‘bench policy.’ The new policy limits an employee’s duration on the bench to 35 days annually.