CorroHealth layoffs: Employees locked out again as company defies govt’s status quo direction; Kerala may seek Centre’s intervention

Kochi: The standoff between US-based healthcare solutions company CorroHealth and its Kerala employees deepened on Tuesday after the company allegedly failed to comply with the Labour Department’s demand to maintain the status quo and again denied employees entry to its Kochi office. The state government has now indicated that it may approach the Centre if Friday’s ministerial-level talks fail to resolve the dispute.

Hundreds of employees who reported for work at CorroHealth's Palarivattom office on Tuesday morning found the premises locked after the company laid off staff. Employees alleged that the company had instructed the management of the co-working facility housing its office not to allow them inside. They also claimed that even the regular security personnel were absent from the premises.

The development came a day after the Labour Commissioner Safna Nazarudeen, Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas, employee representatives and the company’s local legal representative held conciliation talks in Kochi. During the meeting, the Labour Department directed the company to maintain the status quo and allow employees access to the workplace until a high-level meeting convened by Labour Minister Bindu Krishna on Friday. However, the company’s legal representative had maintained that he was not authorised to take a decision and would communicate the government's demands to the corporate headquarters.

With employees unable to enter the office on Tuesday, Labour Department officials came to the office and recorded the attendance of those who had reported for duty. The attendance exercise will continue until Friday’s meeting.

Ernakulam District Labour Officer Minoy James said employees who reported for work would be treated as being on duty. He said that the employer is liable to provide employment once employees turn up. Assistant Labour Officers will continue marking attendance until the high-level meeting on Friday, he said.

Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas criticised the company for keeping the office shut despite Monday's discussions. Questioning why only the firm’s Kerala units had been affected, Thomas said the company’s explanation of a lack of work was unconvincing.

“If they claim there is a lack of work, laying off people only from here is not right, is it? We don’t know if a layoff limited only to this branch has some other objective. If the ministerial talks on Friday fail to yield a resolution, the state government is fully prepared to take the matter further and approach the central Labour Department,” she said.

Labour Minister Bindhu Krishna told Onmanorama that she looks forward to Friday’s meeting with the company officials. “We are trying to find a solution at the meeting, but if it fails, we will have to seek the central government’s intervention,” she said.

Speaking after Tuesday’s developments, PT Vishnu, a manager at CorroHealth who was among those laid off, said employees would continue their protest peacefully despite growing resentment.

“We are all worried over the company’s actions despite the governmental interventions. However, we will not do anything that will discredit us since Friday's meeting is already scheduled. We will come to the office and mark our attendance with the labour department,” he said.

CorroHealth terminated nearly 800 employees, around 600 in Kochi and 200 in Kozhikode, last week, triggering protests. Employees have alleged that the company subsequently credited two to three months’ salary to the affected workers and revoked their access to internal systems even as the dispute remained under conciliation before the Labour Department.

The company has reportedly justified the retrenchment by citing provisions of the new Central Labour Code. The Kerala Government, however, has maintained that the code has not yet been implemented in the state and therefore cannot be invoked to override existing labour protections.