BHEL, BSNL, Coal India warn staff of pay cuts: Report

Several public sector units (PSUs) have warned employees of a pay cut as the units are facing a severe cash crunch, according to a report by Business Standard.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has moved to impose a penalty recoverable from staff salary in proportion to non-achievement of targets, further rattling the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The Telecom Department has asked the beleaguered telecom company to explain the reason for shooting off threatening letters to its employees.

In the past, upon recommendations of the audit committee, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) — Coal India’s largest subsidiary that alone accounts for around 25% of Coal India’s annual production — had moved a resolution to cut salaries of the senior staff by 25% as the company could not meet its financial targets and failed in production parameters.

However, the SECL board rejected the proposal, as they thought it to be too harsh. “The move sent the message that things cannot be taken for granted henceforth, and employees had to deliver on their performance parameters,” a senior Coal India official told the newspaper.

SECL, which in the last fiscal year surpassed 150 million tonne (mt) production mark, had then earned praises from its parent company but during April-August this year, its production fell by 14.3% at 53.48 million tonne as compared to the similar timeframe of 2018 while sales fell by 9.8% at 59.35 mt.

In the case of BSNL, a senior official said, “We have asked the company to explain how can they suo moto decide to cut salaries of their employees. It is against the labour laws.”

“On reviewing the achievement for the month of August 2019, it has been found that many sub-divisions have not achieved their committed targets. Hence penalty in the form of recovery from salary in proportion to non-achievement of targets is hereby imposed," an official of BSNL’s Gurgaon branch said in a letter to the staff members.

The deductions are to be exercised in the salary of the current month and will be rolled back if the concerned officials achieve the pending as well as current month targets in September itself. It is learnt that these letters are being circulated by branch offices across the country to field officers who were unable to achieve their landline and broadband sale targets.

In a letter to the employees of its 30-odd divisions and offices, the human resource department of BHEL said cash outflow on various accounts need to be regulated to survive a situation of stressed cash flow and decided to discontinue the encashment of earned leaves for all its employees.

"Cash outflow on various accounts are regulated to survive in the current situation and cash availability is prioritised for meeting working capital requirements of purchasing raw materials, manufacturing operations and project execution. Under these compelling circumstances, it has been decided to suspend 'in-service' encashment of earned leave," said the letter dated September 6, 2019.

It further said the current financial condition of the company demands restricted cash outflow to certain sections and accounts. The cash crunch is primarily owing to payment delays from several private power producers.