Amazon summoned by Labour Ministry over complaint alleging labour law violations in layoffs
Contents News/Article Date: 22nd November 2022
Relating to which Act: The Information Technology Act 2020, Indian Contract Act 1872, The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; The Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act, 1946; The Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act 1970
Applicable to which State: All the establishments in the States and in particular the State of Karnataka where the notice was served to Amazon by Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner of Karnataka
Type: Newspaper report
Pertains to employers and employees and in particular employees of Amazon in Karnataka
Relevance of this news: Karma Management Global Consulting Solutions Pvt. Ltd is in the business of Payroll, Outsourcing and Regulatory Compliances from its inception in 2004 and since then, has brought in a lot of efficiencies and technological upgradations with experts on its roll, to ease the hassles of Payroll Processing, Temp Staffing On-boarding, Regulatory and Payroll compliances by providing customized solutions to all its elite clients.
In the earlier instance, Cognizant has experienced an attrition rate of 6 percent by the end of September in the quarter of the fiscal year 2022. The attrition rates include the employees who have been handed pink slips due to failed background checks.
In this particular instance concerning Amazon in Karnataka, Amazon India’s public policy manager has been summoned by the Labour Ministry following a complaint by the employee union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) alleging a violation of labour laws.
A copy of the notice, which has been signed by the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner in Bengaluru and summons the Amazon India representative for a discussion on Wednesday, November 23.
“You are therefore requested to attend this office with all relevant records in the matter either personally or through an authorized representative on the aforesaid date and time without fail,” the notice reads.
Karma Global does a lot of work on HR Services which includes grievance handling, layoffs, retrenchments, disputes and litigations.
Industrial dispute arises when employees and the employers fail to sort out their differences. Industrial dispute is always harmful to all persons associated with such industry as it affects all stakeholders, management, employees, economy, and society. The employers suffer losses in production, revenue, profits and even sickness of the plants; whereas the employees may suffer due to loss of wages and even jobs. Since industries are the pillars to economic growth, any dispute is detrimental to the rate of growth of the economy which ultimately affects the whole society. Therefore, Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provides machinery to resolve such disputes by following ways:
Collective Bargaining
Grievance Redressal
Arbitration
Conciliation
Adjudication
Subject: Amazon summoned by Labour Ministry over complaint alleging labour law violations in layoffs
For greater details, appended below is the complete news item
Amazon summoned by Labour Ministry over complaint alleging labour law violations in layoffs
MONEYCONTROL NEWS (NOVEMBER 22, 2022 / 09:31 PM IST)
Amazon India’s public policy manager has been summoned by the Labour Ministry following a complaint by the employee union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) alleging a violation of labour laws.
A copy of the notice, which Moneycontrol has seen, has been signed by the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner in Bengaluru and summons the Amazon India representative for a discussion on Wednesday, November 23.
“You are therefore requested to attend this office with all relevant records in the matter either personally or through an authorized representative on the aforesaid date and time without fail,” the notice reads.
A letter sent by NITES to Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav alleged that Amazon employees are being forced to quit the company, and sought an inquiry.
The letter stated that said employees have been sent details of a Voluntary Separation Program with a deadline to the employees until November 30 complete this process, and the livelihood of employees and their families is at stake.
NITES cited the Industrial Disputes Act and said an employer cannot lay off an employee without prior permission from the government. A copy of the application has to be given to the concerned workmen as well, the letter said. Additionally, the letter states that a worker who has worked for at least a year continuously cannot be retrenched unless they are also served a notice three months in advance.
In a statement, NITES President Harpreet Saluja said, “We are looking forward to justice for employees. This is a sigh of relief for Amazon India employees for time being. We are hoping that the unethical Voluntarily Separation Policy introduced by Amazon will be scrapped by the Government authorities.”
Reports stated that up to 10,000 jobs are likely to be eliminated in this round of layoffs at Amazon, and the layoffs will continue into 2023.