IT labor rights group files complaint against HCL, claiming it's clawing back bonuses

Pune-based IT labor rights nonprofit Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has filed an official government complaint against HCL Technologies, India's third largest IT company, alleging the business has instituted a policy to claw back bonuses from resigning employees. The Register obtained a copy of NITES' …

[jdb3]

You can always tell when a company is breaking the law - they specifically say "we follow all local laws" when asked about an issue. That translates into "we break every law we can get away with, until we get caught. Then we follow it long enough to escape prosecution".

This may just be a bit of an exaggeration... But that is sure the way I read quotes like "responsible corporate citizen known for its 'employee first' policies." From what I usually have seen, that's a good way of putting "employees are the first ones we let go when we want to get another solid gold car"

For a company that had 10B revenue, that's a crappy way to reward employees. However, I suppose they are no longer employees when they leave, so technically they can say the above with a straight face.

[MiguelC]

"1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

A "lakh" just means "one hundred thousand" in the Indian numbering system, so it should be "1.7 lakhs Indian Rupees (US$2,300)"

[An ominous cow herd]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

Why the downvotes?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh

[katrinab]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

A "grand" is "one thousand" in British English, but we don't say "2 grand pounds", we say "2 grand".

[GruntyMcPugh]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

OK, we say that, but is that how it's said there?

[John Robson]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

Is it? I've never heard it used outside the context of currency.

You wouldn't say a dozen without specifying the currency, or a gross. But a fiver/tenner is an explicitly currency, as is a grand or a monkey.

[John Robson]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

Three downvotes and not a single counter example?

From limited research grand in terms of a currency indicator was coined in the US, not the UK, as $1000, and was then imported back to the UK, keeping the numerical value - apparently it was used outside the context of currency in the 40's and 50's... but I don't recall ever hearing it (grand as an indicator of a number) outside the context of currency.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

You are quite wrong.

Just the other day my team used it when discussing the quantity of a particular product that had been shipped.

[John Robson]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

A grand quantity of product is generally just "a lot", and is archaic at best.

The quality might have been grand - but that's an alternative definition

[Dr_N]

Re: "1.7 lakhs (US$2,300)"

I'll let the use/misuse of lakh slide.

But "labor" ?! Unforgivable.

[ronkee]

The announcement was make in an email starting with "we are happy to announce..."

Shows bad faith right from the start.

[man_iii]

Whose bad?

Indian employees are notorious for over shooting their mouth and putting foot in their mouth as well and sometimes simultaneously.

Some companies do pay conditional bonuses where employee takes the bonus but signs a 2year minimum employment bond. That requires said employee to stay and be productive for 2 years at the company. Breaking it by either poor performance or quitting tends to break the bonus contract.

Employers are notorious for squeezing the most productive employees and essentially forcing good ones to flee to other companies. A company dies when none of the good employees can take a vacation and not enough terrible employees get fired or replaced.

There so many broken things in india and indian economy. Dont expect things to get magically better anytime soon.

[Cliffwilliams44]

Re: Whose bad?

India, unfortunately, is a culture of exploitation! At least it has been since the Raj. No matter how they try and cover it up the cast system is alive an well. I'm sure that filters into workplace management practices.

[Anonymous Coward]

Employees first my a**e

As a UK citizen employed in the UK, my experience of HCL was that they were barely competent at anything to do with HR, payment of salaries, travel arrangements, you name it. While employed by them I was sent to Poland for a few days and my return flight was cancelled. The HCL travel department proved themselves utterly unable to arrange accommodation and another flight at short notice. I had to do the whole thing myself. Also they thought nothing of removing all but a few hundred pounds of my salary one month, due to some "tax change," the details of which I also had to determine myself.