E-commerce and tech giant Amazon told the Labour Ministry that the resignations under the Voluntary Separation Policy are voluntary and no excessive pressure is being put on employees, according to sources.
The Labour Ministry of India had summoned Amazon for a hearing about the company's Voluntary Separation Program plan sent out to Indian employees.
The company's representatives attended the hearing but the NITES employee association, which represents the employees, could not attend the meeting and requested a postponement.
A highly-placed source informed Business Today that the Ministry would reconvene the meeting in two to three weeks' time. Business Today reached out to Amazon for comments on the same. Soon after, the company started sending plans about the Voluntary Separation Program to some of its employees in India.
Under the Voluntary Separation Program sent to Indian employees, they were urged to voluntarily resign in lieu of certain monetary benefits.
In an internal statement, the company said that this communication is to inform you that Amazon is implementing a Voluntary Separation Program VSP, which is temporarily available to eligible employees within Amazon's AET organization. The VSP eligible employees will be able to voluntarily resign in exchange for the VSP benefits described below.
A Anjanappa, the deputy chief commissioner at the Labour Ministry, had summoned Amazon's senior public policy manager, Smitha Sharma, along with employee representatives for a hearing earlier in the week.
The notice sent to Amazon from the Labour Ministry said you are to attend this office with all relevant records in the matter, either personally or through an authorized representative on the aforesaid date and time.