Labour dept gets 1,600 calls on pay cuts, lay-offs

GOVT YET TO SET UP DEDICATED HELPLINE

Labour dept gets 1,600 calls on pay cuts, lay-offs

Aditi.R@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 10.05.2020

The state department of labour and employment has received more than 1,600 calls from people complaining about non-payment of salaries, wage cuts and layoffs since the lockdown began. Most of the complainants work in the IT sector and private firms. Some of them have not been paid for the month of March.

Chennai topped the list with 550 complaints in the past 40 days. Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts followed behind closely.

T Kathiravan, who works as an air-conditioner technician in a private firm in the city, said he was not paid salary for the month of March and was paid less than half his pay for April. “There are five technicians working in the company. While two of them received their full salaries for the months, a colleague and I were asked to ‘adjust’,” he said. “We are still sent to customers’ houses to repair their ACs. We have to spend on the commute from our own pockets, there is no reimbursement either,” he said.

A large number of employees working in private firms and unorganised sectors were reaching out to the department to help them get their due wages. The labour department has appointed a state nodal officer to take note of all grievances from people and connect them to the officials concerned.

Unlike Karnataka, Gujarat, and Kerala, there is no common helpline dedicated exclusively to handle labour-related issues in Tamil Nadu. People have to either contact the department or any official who will then guide them to the nodal officer to take the complaint forward. The complainant’s name and contact details are kept confidential.

“Once we receive the complaint we alert our field officers to visit the firm or industry and conduct a detailed inquiry. Once that is done, we direct them to pay them the defaulted wages,” the nodal officer said. The officer added that most employers cite financial crunch as the main reason, “But we give them a few days’ time and post our intervention, the workers get their dues. We also follow up,” he said.

Activists, however, insist that the department must launch a helpline since many workers do not know how to reach out to the department. “And this time is crucial since many are struggling with their jobs and do not know how to get their grievances addressed. The labour department must come out with a more proactive plan,” said R Geetha, advisor to the Unorganised Workers Federation.

To report any disputes, complaints, contact the labour deparment at 044-24335107.