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Yet another employee of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has moved the court challenging the termination of his job. Assistant consultant Uday Kumar has filed a petition in the High Court (for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh) and has appealed for a stay on the termination .
The IT major, which is facing allegations of preparing to terminate the services of 25,000 workers, has denied such move.
Uday Kumar said his termination was unjustified as it violated Section 25 of the Industrial Disputes Act. He contended that the firm had not served any retrenchment notice nor did it propose to pay 15 days of wages for every completed year of service under the Act.
The petitioner has also made the Telangana Government and its Commissioner of Labour as respondents, seeking relief under the Act. He asked the court to direct the State Government and Labour Department asking them to commence conciliation proceedings immediately.
TCS counterMeanwhile, the IT major has defended its action in a counter affidavit filed in the court. It contended that the petitioner was in the managerial cadre and hence not a workman (under the Industrial Disputes Act).
“Thus, the notice issued relieving him from the services is not an industrial dispute. The second respondents (the State Government, Commissioner of Labour) have no jurisdiction over the relieving of the petitioner. They can’t commence any conciliation proceedings in the matter,” it argued.
The firm said that the petitioner’s job was contractual in nature and he had been relieved from services as per the contractual terms. A writ petition under the Article 226 of the Constitution was not maintainable, it said.
Explaining to the court about the exigencies of an IT company, the firm said that projects need to be completed at a zero-error rate.
“If the skills possessed by employees in charge of projects and modules are inadequate, it could cause serious repercussions for the firm, to its customers and to the public who are the end users,” it said.
The firm reviews performances of employees twice a year and ratings are given, giving them scope to discuss and correct, if need be. Employees in managerial cadre are subjected to a further review. Those in the exit category are given a month’s ‘garden leave’ with salary to look for a new job, the company said.
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