In a big win for the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU), industry major Wipro has been asked by a Bengaluru court to reinstate a software professional who was allegedly forced to resign by the company. The union’s vice president TKS Kutty was the lead lawyer for the said employee. In the order dated Friday, June 25, the company — Wipro Technologies— has been asked to rehire the person with full wage benefits, including the period for which he was barred from the company. The verdict was issued under the reference of section 10(1)(c)(d) of the Industrial Disputes Act. The alleged forced resignation of the employee had taken place on March 2, 2018.According to the union, he was a senior employee, and was forced to resign with no apparent reason.
The order by the 3rd Additional Labour Court said, “The forced resignation of the first party obtained under duress, coercion and without his free will and consent and accepted by the second party management is unsustainable in the law and acceptance of the resignation of the first party by the second party is illegal.”
It added, “Consequently, the second party management is directed to reinstate the first party workman to the original post with continuity of service, full back wages, arrears of pay and such other dues, benefits, etc. from the date of termination till the date of reinstatement for which he is very much entitled to, within a period of 30 days from the date of publication of this award.”
TNM had earlier reported how KITU has been vocal about alleged anti-worker behaviour of IT companies, including behemoths like Cognizant and Accenture. The union has also engaged with the state Labour Department in order to support the cause of workers. In wake of widespread sacking of employees after the onset of the pandemic, the union had also opened a help desk to address the concerns of affected employees.