Voluntary Exit Pathways: Indian Employment Law On Separation Strategies

Voluntary exit pathways: Indian employment law on separation strategies

A. Introduction

Mergers and acquisitions transactions often trigger operational changes related to workforce management. Such operational changes include workforce downsizing, workforce right-sizing, termination, retrenchment, lay-offs, amongst others. Recently, Air India announced that it will introduce two separation schemes for its non-flying permanent staff ahead of its merger with Vistara. It has announced that it will offer a voluntary retirement scheme to employees with at least five years of continuous service with Air India, while the voluntary separation scheme will be offered to those who have provided services for less than five years to the airline. The employees have been given a window of one month by the airline to participate in these schemes. The complete details of both these schemes offered to the employees have not yet been revealed by Air India. In 2022, Amazon had also