Labour court in landmark ruling says techies are also workmen

First Additional Labour Court, Presiding Officer S Nambirajan while dealing with a plea moved by a Senior Service Programmer for HCL Technologies Limited challenging his dismissal, said, “It cannot be denied that the job of an engineer in a software company involves skills and technical knowledge. Therefore, it can be easily concluded that the job of a software engineer can be termed as skilled or technical one.”

The matter relates to the dismissal of Ramesha in 2013 on the basis that his performance was unsatisfactory. He had submitted that after a year’s probation his service was confirmed and his salary was revised twice and a certificate of appreciation issued in 2011.

The Judge while rejecting the management’s contention that the petitioner’s job was supervisory in nature and therefore has been exempted from the definition of the term workman, said, “Any person doing a skilled job is a workman under the definition of that term. So I conclude that the petitioner is a workman.” 

The Judge directed the company to reinstate him with continuity of service and to pay full back-wages and all other benefits from the date of dismissal to the date of reinstatement.