Altima's ProContact dismisses 60 employees

In a complaint recorded at the Ministry of Labour, seven employees of ProContact have stated that they were verbally informed of the termination of their contract on the afternoon of February 21. The human resource manager Dheeraj Heeraman and a representative of the company, Jérome Thoma, alleged that the client had left the country and was not in a position to keep its employees.

The employees will receive their letter of termination within seven days. Heeraman added that the employees will receive only their basic salaries.

He could not guarantee whether the employees would receive their productivity bonus and their lump sums.

Meanwhile, the employees who have worked for at least four years at ProContact have recorded a complaint against their employer at the Rose Hill police station and are requesting the police to put an objection to the departure on the French client, Jocelyn.

A spokesperson of the ministry said measures were underway and the human resource manager was expected at the ministry on Wednesday afternoon to shed light on the matter.

Some employees have alleged it was a dubious move made by the company “as they offered to take us back but as junior employees under a new contract and without our current benefits.”

When contacted by the ministry, Heeramen said, “I am doing my best to ease the burden of the employees.”

The employees have announced they will join the workfare programme to be guaranteed a source of revenue until they get a new job. The employees had been working on a shift system, one batch from 12 to 6 pm, and a second from 6 pm till midnight. ProContact is part of the Altima group which is one of the biggest BPO companies in Mauritius.