The Ministry of Labour and Employment has directed Karnataka’s state labour ministry to take “urgent necessary actions” to resolve the dispute over Infosys‘s recent termination of employees at its Mysuru campus, following complaints from an IT employees’ welfare association.
“The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India has directed the Karnataka state Labour Ministry to take urgent necessary actions to resolve the dispute and inform the complainant accordingly under intimation to this Ministry,” stated a letter from the Office of the Chief Labour Commissioner.
The directive comes after Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), a registered IT workers’ association, filed a formal complaint characterizing the terminations as “illegal, unethical” and in “violation of labour laws.”
Infosys maintains that fewer than 350 employees resigned through “mutual separation” after failing three attempts at an internal assessment following extensive foundational training. However, NITES alleges the number of affected employees is closer to 700.
The controversy erupted last Friday when the Bengaluru-headquartered company asked trainees to resign within three hours, requiring them to leave the Mysuru campus by 6 PM the same day. Many affected employees, who were hired as system engineers with monthly salaries below Rs 17,000, found themselves stranded without accommodation.
“It has come to our attention, through numerous complaints received from affected employees, that Infosys Ltd. has resorted to forcibly terminating recently onboarded campus recruits who had already suffered a delay of two years in their joining after being issued offer letters,” NITES wrote in its complaint.
NITES has demanded immediate investigation and reinstatement of terminated employees with compensation, warning that Infosys’s actions “set a dangerous precedent for the IT industry” that could encourage other companies to adopt similar practices if left unchecked.