Pune: NITES Condemns HCL Technologies for Unethical Changes to Bonus Policy, Salary Cut
Sumit Singh
Pune, 1st June 2023: Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), an association of IT employees, has expressed strong condemnation against HCL Technologies for implementing changes to its Engagement Performance Bonus (EPB) policy. The alterations have resulted in a reduction in employees’ salaries, contradicting the promises made by the company during recruitment.
NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja said that under the previous policy, HCL Technologies assured its employees that the EPB would be paid at a fixed rate on a monthly basis, regardless of whether employees were on the bench or actively engaged in projects. This guarantee provided a sense of stability and security to the workforce. However, the company has suddenly shifted gears and implemented a quarterly performance review process to determine EPB payouts.
“The new policy now links EPB payouts to employee ratings, which range from 80-90% for top performers to a mere 30-40% for the lowest performers. Additionally, employees who are on the bench will not receive any EPB payout at all. Consequently, these unexpected changes have caused significant financial losses for the affected employees.
NITES, representing the interests of IT employees, strongly condemns HCL Technologies for this unethical policy change, which directly contradicts the assurances made to employees during their onboarding. The organization believes that the company’s decision to reduce salaries instead of providing increments goes against fair and just employment practices.
Taking a proactive stance, NITES is in the process of filing a complaint with the Labour Ministry, urging them to intervene and take appropriate action to safeguard the interests of IT employees. The organization believes it is crucial to hold companies accountable for their actions and ensure that the rights and well-being of employees are protected.
NITES stands in solidarity with the affected employees of HCL Technologies and is committed to rectifying this unjust situation. The organization calls upon the management of HCL Technologies to reconsider their decision and reinstate the previous EPB policy, which provided fair and consistent compensation to all employees.”
The response from HCL Technologies to NITES’ condemnation and the subsequent actions taken by the Labour Ministry remain to be seen. However, it is clear that the discontent among the employees and their representative body is growing, and the outcome of this dispute will likely have wider implications for employment practices within the IT industry.
A spokesperson for HCLTech stated, “At HCLTech, we have always offered an Engagement “Performance” Bonus (EPB) as part of our total compensation package up to the E3 band. The EPB is typically 3-4 percent of total compensation, and the average payout is approximately 80 percent. Our employment contract identifies EPB as performance-linked variable pay, and this is governed by company policy. To support employees during the pandemic, the company made a policy exception and paid 100% EPB irrespective of performance. Post-pandemic, the company is reverting to the original policy. This has been communicated to our employees.”
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