Several employees of a pathology laboratory in Sector 44 here have taken to Twitter seeking redress to their grievances after the company did not pay them salaries for March.
The employees are all from the tele-sales team of Hindustan Wellness, who are engaged in selling preventive health check-up packages. Tagging several media houses, Haryana Chief Minister and even the Prime Minister’s Office, the employees said they were unable to pay their rents and meet other urgent expenses, including medical bills, due to non-payment of salaries.
The company’s spokesperson said they were a start-up struggling financially due to the lockdown and the salaries were not refused but only deferred till June 15. “Despite the current constraints, we have not laid off even a single employee. We have also compensated majority of the staff and remaining will be paid in a staggered way over a period of next 2-3 months,” the company said.
Gurpej Singh, a tele-sales staff member, said the company had put a condition to them to attend the office in April to be paid for March. Mr. Singh said many of the employees stayed at far-off areas, including in Delhi, and could not come to work due to lockdown. “We are ready to work from home but it is not possible to arrange laptops during lockdown. Also, we earn around ₹20,000 monthly and cannot afford to buy laptops,” said Mr. Singh from Punjab. He currently stays on rent in Gurugram and is employed with the company for two years.
He said the company had “misused” the liberty of using the tag of “health services” and given them passes which were actually for doctors and paramedical staff.
Kiran Mishra, 26, an Agra resident, said she was a thyroid patient and could not sustain herself without a salary. She said her PG accommodation owner did not allow anyone to step out and therefore she could not go for work. “The company said it would start disbursing salaries in June. How will we survive for so long?,” asked Ms. Mishra.
Another employee, Uttam Roy, in his tweet, said he was the sole breadwinner of the family and could not survive without a salary. He said his salary was held without any valid reason. The employees claimed they had raised the matter with several authorities but the matter was not resolved.
