Amazon India Fires Employee Who Complained To Labor Commissioner Over Malpractice

In a case of clear discrimination and unethical practice, Amazon India has fired an employee who complained to the Labor Commissioner over unpaid overtime and other labor related issues.

This clearly sets a bad precedent among all corporates operating in India, especially those from foreign locations.

Amazon India Fires Employee For Complaining

Vijay Gopal, who is an anti-corruption crusader, and a social activist as well, worked with Amazin India at their Hyderabad facility.

Yesterday, Vijay posted a tweet stating that he has been fired from Amazon India, since he complained to mal-practices by Amazon at their Hyderabad location.

There has been no response from Amazon on this matter, even as his tweets are getting viral, and people are coming in for his support.

Why Vijay Was Fired By Amazon?

As per the tweets posted, Vijay had complained to the Labour Commissioner office in Hyderabad, regarding malpractices conducted by Amazon India.

There are two major allegations made:

• Amazon India removed 5 hours of lunch and break for all employees, from the weekly hours calculation. Hence, instead of paying for 45 hours, Amazon is only paying for 40 hours now. This means direct loss for the employes.
• Amazon is enforcing 20 hours overtime for all employees, citing Govt notifications regarding the exception to paying the overtime. 
• Since one hour of lunch and break are removed, Amazon is able to generate 45+20, that is 65 hours of productivity from each employees, while paying only for the 58 hours, and no overtime as well.

Here are the tweets which he posted:

Proud that I got terminated frm JOB at @amazon hyd, on 27thNov, fr reporting their illegal activities to Labour Commissioner, @JeffBezos @AmitAgarwal instead of rectifying yr illegal act, snubbing me seems like a solution. #shameonAmazon #jeffbezosChorHai @LabourMinistry @nytimes pic.twitter.com/EemRKfmDls

— VijayGopal (@VijayGopal_) November 30, 2020

As per Vijay, he was terminated as soon as he complained to the Telangana Labor Commissioner.

He is demanding justice, and it seems Amazon India is not interested.

Reacting to this development, Harpreet Saluja, President, Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate NITES said, “We strongly condemn the illegal termination of Vijay Gopal by Amazon India. Reaching out to Labour Commissioner Office to raise concern against employer is a legal remedy available for the employees & it’s a statutory right. The COVID-19-induced lockdown is an unprecedented event. It has rendered millions of people unemployed for an extraordinarily long period in the interest of saving lives from an uncontrollable virus. As per NITES survey due to lockdown, 22 per cent workers lost their jobs and 31 per cent have had to face partial unemployment, which means they have either had to leave other side businesses or experienced decline in their income from a single job.
In the overall analysis, employment of 54 per cent workers has been hit hard by the nationwide lockdown.
A lot many are fearing loss of job, some have already seen pay cuts and appraisals are getting delayed almost for everyone. The COVID-19 crisis and the ongoing lockdown has left employees feeling anxious and worried about their future, prompting many corporates to look for ways to keep the staff motivated. This is a time of responsibility from both State Government and employers. Corporates must show more empathy towards their staff, being transparent with business conditions and helping set clear expectations will help ease out stress of employees.”

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.