Karnataka labour department calls for joint meeting over Infosys' non-compete clause

BENGALURU: The Karnataka labour department has issued a notice to Infosys and the IT employees union NITES (Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate) to hold a  joint meeting on July 4 over the non-compete clause added by the IT company in its employment agreements.

It all started in April when NITES appealed to the labour ministry seeking removal of the non-compete clause from Infosys offer letters.

As per the contract, Infosys bans employees from working for the same customer in rival firms - TCS, IBM, Cognizant, Accenture and Wipro - for six months after the termination of their employment.

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Soon after the appeal, the Ministry of Labour and Employment had issued a notice to Infosys for a joint discussion regarding non-compete agreement.

Earlier, Infosys had replied saying "...the clause under discussion is fairly common and standard business practice in employment contracts, in the IT services sector in India."

Last month, the chief labour commissioner had sent letters to the labour commissioners of Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka and said for further necessary action, the matter needs to be forwarded to state governments.

Following this, the labour department of Karnataka on June 21 called both Infosys and the IT union to appear in person for a joint meeting on July 4.