Indian steel major Tata Steel has sacked 35 employees for breaching its code of conduct, days after TCS dismissed six people in the bribes-for-jobs scandal, according to news reports. Last year, Tata Steel received 875 complaints, of which 158 were related to whistleblower complaints, 48 about safety and 669 for human resources or behaviour, as per reports. The complaints were made at Tata Steel standalone and its subsidiaries in India and internationally.
At the Tata Steel’s annual general meeting (AGM), Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said, “Out of these complaints, we have taken action against 38 people who have been dismissed from the company: 3 due to sexual harassment, 35 due to other unacceptable practices bordering on ethical issues.”
Chandrasekaran said a combination of factors would see an increase in the reporting of complaints, “which is a good thing”. “As a company, we are a global benchmark so we will continue to push a culture where we will uphold the highest values and will have a zero-tolerance policy.”
A few senior executives in TCS were accepting bribes for years from staffing agencies for giving jobs to their candidates. This has led to sacking of four officials from its resource management group (RMG) and banning three staffing companies. An executive quoted in the report said that in the past three years, TCS hired 300,000 people, including contractors. They added that the employees involved in the scam may have earned at least Rs 100 crore through commissions.
Tata Steel has made significant acquisitions in the past few years. “We are amalgamating three or four companies—whether it is Bhushan (Steel), Usha Martin, NINL (Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd). All of these companies are getting integrated.” It was reported last week that at the AGM of TCS, Chandrasekaran said six employees and six business associates (recruitment firms) of the IT services firm had been banned.
At the Tata Steel AGM, he said safety is a priority. The comments came on the back of a steam leak at Tata Steel’s Meramandali power plant in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district last month injured workers.
“Every industrial company has a higher level of risk due to safety because they work in factory set-up with machineries involved, movement of goods involved and they also employ a large number of contractors. So we have taken a number of steps,” Chandrasekaran added.