The Labour Court, Chennai has directed the management of Ashok Leyland to pay a compensation of ₹4 lakh to a worker who was terminated for alleged misconduct at its Foundry Division.
According to Court proceedings, R. Rajkumar was fired by the management on June 16, 2016, on charges of misconduct, for allegedly tampering with the computerised attendance database & falsely entering his presence on 3 days in the month of Sept 2015, & for claiming wages falsely by tampering with the said record on various dates i.e. 17 days for the period ranging from 01.03.2013 to 22.09.2015. He was issued with a charge sheet & a disciplinary proceeding was contemplated & a report was also received, on the basis of which Rajkumar was dismissed from service.
Against this, R. Rajkumar moved the Labour Court seeking to set aside his dismissal & direct the company to reinstate him with continuity of service & to pay back wages & other benefits.
The Court said it isn't inclined to accept the contention of the worker about the existence of motive for the management to pressure the workers to send them under the voluntary retirement scheme. The circumstances under which the management lost confidence are also clearly established, & therefore the contention of the company that the worker can't be directed to be reinstated in the same place is acceptable, the court added.
It also awarded the compensation taking into consideration the nearly 23 years of service of the worker & his last drawn wages being ₹40,812 & the absence of proof of any other misconduct against him. The compensation is in lieu of the relief of reinstatement with back wages & other benefits sought for by the petitioner in the petition, it said.
The Labour Court also said the management has to pay the compensation within thirty days from date of publication of its award (June 15), failing which it would be liable to pay interest at 8 per cent per annum on the terminal benefits.
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