Is Infosys still in denial mode regarding the non-compete issue? Why they are avoiding to meet the Labour Commissioner and IT Employee Union?
Why Infosys hasn’t met the IT Employee Union, despite two notices being served by the Labour Ministry?
Lots of questions, but very few answers.
Infosys Fails To Meet IT Employees Union
As per the notice served by the Labour Ministry over non-compete clause, Infosys officials were expected to meet the Labour Commissioner and representatives from NITES, the IT Employee Union at Delhi.
But on May 17th, the final date of the meeting, no official from Infosys was present, clearly defying the orders by Labour Ministry.
NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja, who was present at the meeting said, “The meeting held at Shram Shakti Bhawan New Delhi, was physically attended by Labour Ministry officials & NITES President Harpreet Singh Saluja. Infosys again remained absent from the hearing. NITES have submitted supporting evidences against Infosys to the authorities for further action. We have apprised Hon’ble Labour Ministry that the non compete agreement is illegal & the Indian Contract law and Supreme court judgements are clear regarding the same. Next hearing date given is 26th May 2022. We are awaiting official notice from Ministry and will share for reference as soon as we receive. Along with Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate NITES, Lakhs of IT and ITES employees are looking forward towards Hon’ble Labour Minister Shri Bhupender Yadav ji and Labour Ministry for prompt action and orders to remove non-compete agreement from employment letters of employees for safeguarding their constitutional rights.”
As mentioned by NITES, the next date for meeting is May 26th, wherein Infosys officials are expected to meet NITES and Labour Commissioner.
Why Infosys Is Not Meeting Labour Commissioner?
The first meeting between NITES and the Labour Commissioner was expected to happen on April 28th, 2022, which Infosys missed.
After this, a second notice was sent, which mentioned May 17th as the date of the meeting, which was again missed.
After Infosys imposed a strict non-compete clause, which stops ex-employees from working for their 5 major competitors: TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, IBM and Accenture, if they have worked for the same client in the last one year, several employees approached NITES.
After receiving the complaints, NITES sent a letter to the Labour Ministry, and Infosys was asked to meet them to resolve the issue.
But now, Infosys has skipped two meetings, thereby further delaying a resolution.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.