The Supreme Court will hear the public interest litigation (PIL) related to the termination IT/ITeS workers due to the coronavirus outbreak on May 15.
The PIL was filed by the National Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), a Maharashtra-based IT union.
The petition seeks to ensure employees working in private companies are protected and not illegally sacked against their rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21.
Article 14 protects employees from discrimination, Article 19 (1) (g) provides right to practice any profession or to carry, trade or business and Article 21 is the right of life and personal liberty.
Through the PIL, NITES also wants the government to take action against companies who violate Section 51 and Section 58 of the Disaster Management Act.
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Section 51 punishes anyone who does not comply with the direction given by the Centre and state governments. Section 58 is an offense committed by a company and hence liable punishment. In this case the advisory issued to not to terminate employees on March 29 by the Center and labour department.
The petition comes in the wake of termination of employees and withholding their salaries despite the advisories issued by the Centre and state governments. The petition states, “Various IT companies in the country have initiated a drive of illegal mass termination of the employees, withholding of the salaries or illegal deduction of salaries.”
“In the absence of issuance of any binding directives/directions to the private companies, thousands of employees will be susceptible to losing their jobs/incomes, which will lead to an unprecedented economic situation – a situation that the country cannot afford,” the petition added.
The PIL has also pointed out that deduction in pay announced by IT firms have affected the employees.
“It is submitted that the economic and social impact of unregulated mass terminations and delayed payment of salaries or pay cuts will be extremely severe and have a very large and serious human impact, and in contravention of the fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21, which have been held to be most essential,” it added.
Moneycontrol has seen the copy of the PIL filed. The Petition was argued by senior advocate Devadatt Kamat .
Impact on IT companies due to COVID-19
Due to the virus pandemic, industries across the world were impacted across the world. This has affected IT firms as well, who suspended wage hikes and promotions as they expect their businesses to take a hit. There have been talks to furloughs and benching of employees have already begun.
Experts estimate that close 1.5 lakh IT/ITeS employees could lose jobs due to COVID-19 impact.
In smaller IT firms such as Fareportal, more than 300 employees were been laid off. The company caters to the airlines and travel industry and its clients include major airlines and hospitality companies. In an email response to Moneycontrol, the company said that decision was made as the demand came down dramatically after the virus outbreak. A Pune-based IT firm too terminated contracts of 12 employees.
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