Glaxo May Not Accept All Vrs Pleas

GlaxoSmithKline is unlikely to accept all the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) applications from its office-level employees. The scheme, which ended earlier this month, has received extensive response.

"We cannot accept all the applications as that would leave us with just about 50 employees to man the corporate office," said a senior company executive.

Out of a total of 695 employees at the Worli unit, 650 employees (of shopfloor and office) have applied for the scheme. And out of 493 of the factory staff, all, except one, applied. At the corporate office, 158 employees, out of a total of 202, have applied.

All the applications from the factory employees will be accepted, as the main reason behind the scheme was to shut the manufacturing operations in Worli, which is a high-cost centre for the multinational.

The approximate cost of the scheme is to be divided between cost for the factory employees and that for the office staff. While the cost of the scheme for the shopfloor workers should be around Rs 59.04 crore, the employee level would vary depending on the number of years of service and job description, like factory-related, administration and human resources. "The cost is likely to vary from employee to employee," the official said.

Out of those applied for the scheme, 566 employees are in the 10-25 years service bracket, and it should prove to be the most expensive bracket for payment.

While there are 74 employees who have more than 25 years of service, 55 employees were those who had less than 10 years has 55 employees.

The company has started issuing letters to the employees whose applications were accepted, with 430 letters already issued. The last working days for all these employees is likely to be October end.

The company had also offered premiums on a hospitalisation benefit scheme that will be valid for 20 years or the age of 60, whichever was earlier. The scheme also included the spouse and two dependent children for Rs 1 lakh per annum.

This clause attracted 632 employees, out of a total of 650 employees, as this scheme was valid in the first fifteen days of the VRS period.