Intel: Operation clean –up on
Intel India is likely to initiate further action against its employees, which could include termination of service. TOI reported on Wednesday that the company had taken stringent action, including termination of service, against nearly250 employees after an independent audit and investigation found that they had faked bills to claim various allowances.
Sources said the audits of past claims of allowances is continuing The punishment till now were based on an investigation primarily of leave travel allowance and driver’s wage allowance .Areas like house rent allowances ,in which a lot of fraudulent claims are made , and on0call compensation are still being investigated a source said.
So employees fear that fear further punishments and sacking could follow .But there’s also some evidence of management leniency emerging ,perhaps considering the huge amount of anxiety and uncertainty that the actions so far have created among employees. One employee said they7 have been told that if they give written confessions to having made fraudulent claims, they would be let off with a warning.
Meanwhile. Intel India has completely revamped its salary structures and issued a whole new set of guidelines for claiming allowances as part of a move to eliminate fraudulent claims by employees. An internal communiqué available with TOI,stat6es changes are being made in response to certain external and internal factors that cropped up in the past such as the introduction of fringe benefit tax by the centre, findings of the internal audits and the need to align with market practices.
Under the new rules, the reimbursement of medical expenses has been withdrawn and the employees would be compensated for the tax incurred by them on the medical allowances through a special cash payment by the company.
The driver’s wage allowances has now been done away with.
Claims for travel by taxi is no longer allowed in LTA. Air travel claims for LTA now requires the employee to produce a copy of the boarding pass.
Franklin B Jones vice-president of finance and enterprise services and director of supply network capability for Intel Corporation, is replacing Ketan Sampat as president of Intel India .Sampat ,after a three year tenure in India, is returning to the US .In his communiqué to Intel employees in India ,Jones said: Role modeling Intel culture will be among his top most prior4ities .He counted excellence in our business practices as foremost among the elements of Intel culture.
Fuel bills are no longer sufficient for claiming car maintenance allowance employees need to attach debit/credit card voucher4s related to the fuel bill .House maintenance benefit for company leased accommodation has been withdrawn All of this will come into effect from October4.
Meanwhile.a number of small and large companies , mostly listed entities are seen to clamping down heavily on frauds relating to reimbursement of allowances Most companies want to be in the good books of government agencies like the income tax department and finance ministry with their best practices said a tax consultant.