The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has condemned the ‘unilateral and arbitrary’ decision of the State government to exempt the Information Technology sector from the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, for five years.
The Standing Orders, applicable to industries across all sectors, seeks to protect employees from ‘arbitrary’ decisions in issues pertaining to service conditions, appointment, dismissal and suspension of employees, among others.
In a memorandum to the Commissioner of Labour, the union said the IT sector has been exempted from the Act for over 20 years now. “Despite the fact that the IT industry has failed to comply with the conditional exemption granted in 2014, the exemption has been continued without any consideration for the impunity with which the conditions have been flouted by the IT industry,” states M.D. Harigovind, General Secretary of the union, in the memorandum.
In 2014, the sector was granted exemption with the stipulation that a Grievance Redressal Committee with equal number of employees and employer representatives empowered to handle grievances of employees be formed. “Only 48 companies out of 1,800 bothered to respond to notices sent by the Labour Department regarding the compliance with these conditions. This shows the impunity with which the IT industry is operating,” says AITUC.
The union has said the sector follows a ‘hire and fire’ policy, leaving workers to fend for themselves. “The application of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act to the IT Industry will be a step towards the eradication of these regressive practices,” the union demanded.
NASSCOM welcomes exemption from standing order
NASSCOM has welcomed the State government’s move to exempt certain players from the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
“We welcome such a move as this exemption will facilitate the ease of doing business and continuity to the business environment in Karnataka, that has crafted the state as the home to the IT-BPM industry,” said Ashish Aggarwal, Senior Director and Head, Public Policy, NASSCOM.
The Government of Karnataka has been commendable in driving efforts to catalyse the IT-BPM industry’s development and growth in India and the IT department of the state has been phenomenally supportive, he said in a release.