Chennai: As many as 576 companies including top corporate and IT firms in Chennai and Kancheepuram have had cases slapped them under the Representation of People Act for denying leave to their employees on polling day, May 16, which was declared a public holiday.
The deputy collectors and labour department inspectors conducted checks on that day and 90 per cent of the companies upon inspection closed down their operations. However, there were a few major IT firms which were reluctant to close. They hinted that they were working as per US and UK schedules and that the matter was taken to the chief electoral officer s-eeking his intervention, said a senior official with labour department.
When contacted chief electoral officer Rajesh Lakhoni admitted that a few top firms on the IT corridor who were found evading the order on poll day. “Only after a stern warning were the morning shifts for their employees called off.”
