The Labour Commissioner's office of Pune has sent a notice to Amazon over layoffs and the policy of Voluntary Separation Program.

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According to the notice issued and accessed by CNBC-TV18.com The Labour Department has acted on a complaint by the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). Amazon’s management has been asked to be present on 17th January for the discussion.

“....it is hereby informed that a joint meeting has to be held in front of the undersigned in his hall on 17/01/2023 at 03:00 PM regarding the lay-off of workers in your establishment/factory.” read the notice.

Documents and records as well as power of attorney should be presented by management and trade union representatives.

In November 2022 the e-commerce giant Amazon, which allegedly laid off thousands of employees across global locations, including India, said that it hasn't sacked any employees and all these resignations were voluntary as part of a 'Voluntary Separation Program (VSP)'.

The company’s representatives provided this reply when they appeared before the deputy chief labour commissioner of the Union Labour Ministry in Bengaluru. Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) filed a petition to the Union Labour Ministry, seeking government’s intervention in the layoffs, calling the layoffs and whole VSP policy unethical.

As per the document received by CNBC-TV18.com Amazon employees were sent a mail on November 16 to opt for the Voluntary Separation Policy. The document further stated that application Forms to participate in the VSP must be submitted by the employees via smart forms between November 16, 2022, and no later than 6:30 am India Standard Time on November 30, 2022.

The VSP is available to Amazon L1 to L7 employees in Amazon’s AET organization. In a statement, NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja said that Amazon has clearly violated the existing provisions of Indian labour laws, which aim at protecting the worker’s right. The voluntary separation policy implemented was never submitted to the Labour Ministry for review which is a violation of existing Labour laws.

Saluja added that Amazon employees were "unethically forced to opt for Voluntary Separation Policy and were laid-off illegally".

“The law of the land is above Amazon policies. As per the provisions of Industrial Disputes Act the employer cannot, without prior permission from the appropriate government, lay off any employee,” Saluja told CNBC-TV18.

The employees who are impacted by the decision told CNBC-TV18.com in November 2022, that the problem is about having no clarity on how the Voluntary Separation Program will work.

Also read: Amazon India to lay off 1% workforce, over 1000 employees to be impacted

“I have no idea should I opt for VSP? Will i be selected under the policy? What will happen if I don’t opt? Will I be asked to leave when the layoff happens or will I get to serve my notice period? There is no clarity, HR doesn't respond and we are being forced to opt for VSP amidst other fears,” said an employee who has been working in the Hyderabad office as an entry level manager in the AWS division of Amazon.

The company's chief executive officer, Andy Jassy, said last week that 18,000 positions would be eliminated across the organisation as part of the VSP. From January 18, affected employees will be notified.

Also read: Amazon claims that no forceful layoffs, all resignations were voluntary

(Edited by : C H Unnikrishnan)