Defending its decision to send its employees on leave without pay (LWP) in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, national carrier Air India on Friday said that the policy is a “win-win situation” for the airline as well as its staffers.
The airline stated that the while the scheme gives “freedom” to its employees to engage themselves with another employer for a stipulated period, the airline also gets to save its cash flow.
“The LWP scheme is a win-win situation for the management as well as the employees as it provides flexibility to employees and simultaneously reduces the wage bill for the company. Covid-19 outbreak has severely impacted the airline sector, and currently, the airline operations of the company are a small fraction of the operations that used to take place before pandemic,” said a senior official from the airline.
The airline’s clarification comes after the national carrier was flooded with letters of criticism from employees across all sections.
Air India said that in a challenging financial situation, it is taking recourse to several initiatives to ensure that its operations continue.
The LWP scheme, which was introduced on Tuesday, enables employees to avail the benefits of proceeding on leave without pay on voluntary basis, said the airline.
{{/usCountry}}The LWP scheme, which was introduced on Tuesday, enables employees to avail the benefits of proceeding on leave without pay on voluntary basis, said the airline.
{{/usCountry}}“It has been introduced for grant of leave without pay and allowances for permanent employees for a period of six months/two years, which is extendable upto five years,” the airline said.
Air India said its employees had previously, too, availed the LWP scheme in September 1998, June and August 2009. However, unlike on the previous occasions, this time the airline management can pass an order requiring employees to go on compulsory leave for a period of six months to two years, that is extendable upto five years.
“In the wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, there may be employees who are unable to attend their office duties in person on account of personal reasons. The LWP scheme enables employees to take a break from their office responsibility for a defined period of time with the approval of the management, while retaining their employment with the company. They will continue to avail facilities such as passage, medical and housing at specified rates,” an airline spokesperson said.
However, a senior employee of the airline, disagreeing with the management, said, “LWP scheme is to save money for the company and not a weapon to settle scores with employees. This scheme will affect the livelihood of many. Why doesn’t the airline make every employee take LWP for a few days every month? This way the burden can be shared. The motive of the top management is to save their own salaries by snatching money from the lower-level employees.”
The airline, however, assured to use the scheme sparingly and with complete fairness, and said that the names of employees for the LWP scheme will be decided after assessing their performances.
As on April, Air India had over 14,000 employees, including 1,800 pilots and around 4,000 cabin crew.