Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is rolling back salary cuts for its employees, restoring them to pre-COVID levels with retrospective effect. The Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate is also handing over the performance bonus that been put off after its business was hit by the coronavirus-induced lockdown.
The retrospective salary restoration as well as the performance bonus has been announced for employees of RIL's hydrocarbons division, putting money in their hands during the festival season.
The oil-to-technology behemoth is also offering an advance 30% of the variable pay from the next year's pay-outs to its lakh-plus employees as a goodwill gesture for putting in extra hours at work during the COVID-19 pandemic, PTI reported citing sources.
RIL, had in April this year, slashed the salaries of its hydrocrabon division's employees by 10% to 50% with chairman Ambani forgoing all his remuneration for the financial year.
RIL had also deferred all its annual cash bonuses and performance-linked incentives that are normally paid in the first quarter.
Reliance may have done some intra-division cash transfers to roll back salary cuts in the hydrocarbon divisions, sources told the news agency.
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Reliance's hydrocarbon business was adversely impacted due to a reduction in demand for refined products and petrochemicals after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.
While Ambani forewent his entire Rs 15 crore compensation, Reliance board of directors, including executive directors, executive committee members, and senior leaders took a 30 per cent to 50 per cent cut in their compensation.
Employees with compensation of less than Rs 15 lakh did not have any reduction in compensation but those earning higher than that saw a 10 per cent reduction in fixed pay.
While the salary cuts of employees have been restored, it isn't clear if Ambani's remuneration has also been restored.