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Will Tamil Nadu come to the rescue of Cognizant’s 6000?

  • A part of the workforce in Chennai is planning to fight back Cognizant's decision to lay off a large workforce.
  • Forum of IT employees (FITE) and New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF) are filing a petition with the Tamil Nadu government against the alleged unjustified termination.
Cognizant employees approach Tamil Nadu government

Though many companies are sacking employees due to a number of reasons but the IT sector in Chennai is claiming that Cognizant is engaging in unfair practices to reduce their workforce. 

A part of the workforce in Chennai is planning to fight back and are seeking legal options against the company. According to a Business Standard report, the Forum of IT employees (FITE) and New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF) are filing a petition with the Tamil Nadu government against the alleged unjustified termination of the Cognizant employees. 

A petition by FITE has been filed at the labour department of Tamil Nadu and they also sent their representations to various assistant labour commissioners seeking the state government’s immediate intervention in this matter involving ‘illegal termination’.

General secretary of the FITE, Vinodh AJ, stated that the forum is planning to formally file for conciliation with the company before going to labour courts, the Economic Times quoted him as saying. 

Though the employees are claiming that they are fighting against retrenchment but Cognizant president, Rajeev Mehta denied such claims; the ET quoted him as saying. According to the Business Standard report, the company even denied ‘lay off’ and called it ‘let off’ due to the employees' failure to meet the performance requirements. The company reportedly said that they conduct performance reviews of employees and this process leads to a couple of changes including ‘transitioning out’ of some employees. 

FITE has earlier succeeded in getting a stay from Madras high court on the sacking of TCS employees. Back then the court asked the state government to ascertain whether employees of IT companies fall within the purview of the Industrial Disputes Act. A few months later, the state labour secretary wrote to New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF) saying that its employees can form unions and that no company falls outside the purview of the act. 

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