Employee union urges Labour Ministry to intervene in Wipro's onboarding delays, salary cuts for freshers

Wipro’s onboarding has been delayed for several months, and the company has been doing so in phases.

The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), a union of IT employees, has written to the Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav about Wipro's onboarding delays and salary cuts for freshers. It demanded that the labour department intervene and take the necessary action for breaching the contract and violating the terms of the offer letter.

The company offered Rs 3.5 lakh per annum (LPA) to students in its 'Elite' tier and Rs 6.5 LPA to students in its 'Turbo' tier. Some Elite candidates could upskill through the company’s Velocity programme. However, last week it gave scores of Turbo candidates an offer to take up a job at Rs 3.5 LPA through which they can be onboarded in March. If they chose not to, they would continue to hold their offer but Wipro could not offer a timeline to students on when they would be onboarded.

In the letter by NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja, he said that students were offered jobs between September 2021 and January 2022.

“The company told employees in February 2022 that either they have to pay for training which will cost Rs 30,000-40,000 or else they need to undergo an unpaid internship & a training program called Velocity for a period of 3 months. The Unpaid Internship started around March - April 2022 & ended around July 2022. The joining of these employees was supposed to be completed in August 2022 but the company kept on postponing the joining or on boarding date,” the letter read.

The offer to reduce salary, NITES said, is unethical and “is a clear violation of the terms of the offer letter and a breach of contract.”

“The offer letter is a legally binding document that outlines the terms and conditions of the job offer. It is a commitment made by the company to the worker, and any changes to it should be done with the consent of both parties. In this case, the employees have not given consent for a reduction in salary, yet the company is trying to impose it upon them,” it added.

He said that students and employees rejected offers from other companies and kept their faith in Wipro, but the company has not given a rupee to these employees “who have devoted their time & strength for a year to the company”.

“We are concerned that this could set a dangerous precedent for other companies to follow, which could lead to exploitation of workers and a lack of job security,” the letter read.

Wipro’s onboarding has been delayed for several months, and the company has been doing so in phases. However, the move to offer Turbo candidates jobs that Elite candidates are eligible for too has not gone down well with these candidates, who ask why they could not be onboarded when these jobs have been made available.