edited by: Mohammad Haris
Last Update: February 22, 2023, 14:55 IST
The IT union says Wipro told employees in February 2022 that they would either have to pay for the training or undergo unpaid internships.
NITES says proposal to reduce salary is unethical and ‘clear violation of terms of offer letter and breach of contract’
After reports of Wipro’s onboarding delay and pay cut for freshers, nascent information technology Employees Senate (NITES), a union of IT employees, has urged the labor department to intervene in the matter and take necessary action for breach of contract and terms of the offer letter.
“The company told the employees in February 2022 that either they would have to pay for the training, which would cost Rs 30,000-40,000, or else they would undergo an unpaid internship for a period of three months and a training program called Velocity. The unpaid internship started around March-April 2022 and ended around July 2022. The joining of these employees was to be completed in August 2022, but the company kept postponing the date of joining or boarding,” NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja said in a statement. The letter to Union Minister of State for Labor and Employment Bhupendra Yadav, according to a monocontrol Report.
NITES said the offer to reduce wages is unethical and “a clear violation of the terms of the offer letter and breach of contract”.
Wipro offered Rs 3.5 lakh per annum (LPA) to students in its ‘Elite’ tier and 6.5 LPA to students in its ‘Turbo’ tier. Some elite candidates can enhance their skills through the company’s Velocity Program. However, last week, it proposed to turbo the score of candidates to take the job at 3.5 LPA, through which they can be inducted in March. If they choose not to, they will continue with their offer, but Wipro can’t tell the students when they will join.
Saluja said in the letter that the students were offered jobs between September 2021 and January 2022.
“We are concerned that this could set a dangerous precedent for other companies to follow, which could lead to exploitation of workers and reduced job security,” the letter said.
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