Wipro Fires 300 Employees For Moonlighting

New Delhi:

Wipro Ltd has sacked nearly 300 employees for ‘moonlighting’ as the IT services firm tightens its stance against staff taking up second jobs after working hours.

Its chairman Rashad Prem Jiwho has been a vocal critic of Chandni, said the company has no place for an employee who chooses to work directly with its competitors while still on the Wipro payrolls.

Speaking at an AIMA event, he said that moonlight in its deepest form is a complete violation of integrity.

Mr. Premji said, “The fact is that today people are working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who Doing exactly that,” said Mr. Premji.

Later, when asked about the action taken against the 300 employees, he said that the services have been terminated in those specific cases of violation.

IT firms worry that employees taking on secondary jobs after regular work hours will affect productivity, lead to conflicts of interest and possible data breaches.

Mr. Premji has been a vocal critic of it and in the recent past has termed it tantamount to “fraud”.

Last month he took to Twitter to say that “There’s a lot of talk about moonshining people in the tech industry. It’s fraud — plain and simple.” His tweet sparked a strong reaction in the industry, with many IT companies increasing their protection against such practices.

Infosys, last week, put out a message to its employees, stressing that dual employment is not allowed, and warned that any violation of contract clauses would be subject to disciplinary action “which would It can also lead to elimination.”

“No two times – no moonshine!” India’s second largest IT services company Infosys said this in a strong and forceful message to employees last week.

Infosys’ internal communication titled “No Double Life” made it clear that “dual employment is not permitted…as per the employee handbook and code of conduct”.

He also referred to the relevant clause in the offer letter to drive the point home.

“Any violation of these provisions will be subject to disciplinary action which may even lead to termination of employment,” Infosys’ mail had said.

IBM India also joined the course on Chandni, calling it an unethical practice.

Sandeep Patel, IBM’s managing director for India and South Asia, argued that at the time of joining, company employees sign an agreement that they will work only for IBM. “… Regardless of what people can do in their spare time, it is not morally right to do so (moonshine),” Patel had said.

However, not everyone agreed.

Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani recently tweeted that it is important to keep changing with the times and added, “I welcome disruption in the way we work”.

On Wednesday, Mr. Premji, speaking at the AIMA (All India Management Association) National Management Convention, sought to clarify why he took a strong stand on the issue of moonlighting, saying His opinion was meant to be “more sincere than people interpreted it to be”. .

Mr Premji said he stood by his recent comments about moonlighting as a complete breach of integrity “in its deepest form”, and cited instances where 300 employees simultaneously worked at Wipro and its rivals. Found working for

Asked about action taken against employees who worked concurrently for the company as well as competitors, Mr. Premji later said at the event that his employment was terminated for “breach of integrity”. has gone

Moonlighting itself is another thing to do secretly. As part of transparency, he explained, individuals can have frank and open conversations around playing in a band or “working on a project on the weekend.”

“It’s an open conversation about which the organization and the individual can make a concrete choice, whether it works for them or it doesn’t work for them as an organization.”

Mr Premji sought to distinguish such cases from those where employees secretly worked for competitors too, saying: “Wipro and competitor XYZ have no place to work for anyone and they They would feel exactly the same if they discovered the same situation.”

Mr. Premji said, “That’s what I meant… so I stand by what I say… I think if you’re mooning in that shape and form, it’s a breach of integrity.” “

With the troubling issue now in the spotlight, some industry observers are warning that employers may consider additional security measures to protect proprietary information and operating models, especially where employees are working remotely. . Analysts have said companies may tighten immunity clauses in employment contracts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)