Reliance Industries rolls back salary cuts, announces performance bonus
According to an ET report, Reliance Industries is rolling back salary cuts and offering the performance bonus which had been deferred to those employed in its hydrocarbon business. And in a first for the business house, the hydrocarbon segment will also offer an advance 30% of the variable pay from next year’s pay-outs to its lakh-plus employees as a goodwill gesture for working during the pandemic, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Those working in the Reliance telecom segment – Reliance Jio – have already received 100% of their variable payouts. However, RIL hasn’t yet decided on the hikes.
“The company has reversed the 10% reduction in fixed pay that was effected in April 2020 for those with total annual pay of over Rs 15 lakh. This reversal is with retrospective effect from April 1, 2020,” said the person.
The hydrocarbon business is the largest and defining business of RIL and includes exploration and production, petrochemical, and refining, amongst others.
The salary rollbacks are set to happen six months after the company announced that its top management will forgo 30-50% of their compensation. Those above a salary bracket of Rs 15 lakh and above faced a 10% reduction in fixed pay while employees earning below that saw no pay cuts.
Now, the company has decided to reverse the payouts even for the senior management.
“RIL’s hydrocarbon business will also give 30% of the variable pay as an advance against future variable pay-outs,” he added. The deferred bonuses are likely to come in with the October payroll.
According to people aware, this decision to roll back was taken as a goodwill gesture for those who worked during the lockdown period and beyond. The business has also recruited 30,000 between April to September.
The energy business had taken a severe beating because of COVID-19. Revenue from the petrochemicals business for the first quarter of this fiscal, declined 33% on an annual basis to Rs 25,192 crore, primarily due to lower price realisations due to the Covid-19 disruptions in local and regional markets. The segment’s Ebitda declined 49.7% year on year to Rs 4,430 crore.
Some in India Inc are already restoring salaries and many have announced hikes and bonuses as well. Indian internet companies like Grofers, Zomato, UpGrad, and Ixigo have begun rolling back the salary cuts effected during the lockdown.
Recently, software majors Infosys NSE 0.55 % and Tata Consultancy Services said they will roll out hikes as they forecast growth in the coming quarters.
