Industrial court stays transfer of Skoda-Volkswagen employees

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

The Industrial Court at Aurangabad has stayed the transfer of 21 employees of Skoda-Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd.’s Shendra MIDC plant through an ad-interim order passed on February 18 by court member S.D. Suryawanshi in Complaint (ULP) No. 7 of 2026.

The complaint, filed by Sanjay Rathod and 20 others under the MRTU and PULP Act, alleged the company malafidely transferred employees to Bengaluru and Gurugram to reduce its workforce from 423 to below 300. The employees stated the company had announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) on December 5, 2025, offering 75 days’ wages per year of service, gratuity, provident fund, leave encashment, bonus, notice pay, and Rs 50,000 extra, but only eight workers opted for it. A second VRS announced on February 12, 2026, also received no response. After no employees applied for voluntary transfer following a January 23 notice, the company issued transfer orders on February 10. The complainants alleged the transfers were pressure tactics to reduce manpower. The company sought time to file its reply. The court observed prima facie that the transfers appeared linked to workforce reduction and could be malafide. It stayed the transfer orders until the next hearing and directed the company to file its written statement.