After the disagreement with its former CEO Vishal Sikka, Infosys has relied on an iron-clad, detailed employment agreement for current CEO, Salil Parekh. Here’s how the two contracts differ, on a few points:
Compensation A key sore point between Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and Sikka was the hefty compensation that the latter was being paid. A look at Sikka’s updated agreement shows that no amounts have been mentioned. Only the terms for fixed pay, variable pay and stock compensation have been enumerated.
Employment term “The term of this agreement shall begin on April 1, 2016 (the “Effective Date”),and terminates on March 31, 2021 or such other term as decided by shareholders from time to time (the “Employment Term”).” Vishal Sikka Severance terms “The company may, in its discretion, satisfy its notice obligation under this section by providing Executive with the equivalent of 90 days of his (a) base pay, (b) an amount equal to 3 times the liquidated pay-out as defined below, and (c)other compensation and benefits that Executive would have earned during the notice period had Executive remained employed during such notice period.”
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Non-competition “The receipt of any severance benefits...will be subject to Executive executing a non-competition agreement to the extent that a non-competition agreement is enforceable under the applicable laws.”
Cause for being fired Sikka had six conditions laid out as causes for termination. Reasons included: “Executive’s material failure to abide by Company’s code of conduct or code of ethics policies resulting in demonstrable injury to the company or its reputation” and “willful misconduct or breach of fiduciary duty for personal profit by executive”.
From Marc Faber To John Schnatter, Top Bosses Who Were Sacked For Being Racially Offensive
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Recently, several top executives in global companies have had to face the music for being racially offensive.
Here are some who had to pay for their words or actions with their jobs.
(Text: Rashmi Menon)
Recently, several top executives in global companies have had to face the music for being racially offensive.
Here are some who had to pay for their words or actions with their jobs.
(Text: Rashmi ..
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The US pizza tycoon and founder of Papa John’s Pizza, was forced to step down from the company he founded, after he hurled racially offensive slurs and spoke insensitively about violence against minorities while on a conference call with a media agency. While he later apologised for his actions, investors weren’t happy with the bad publicity and asked him to step down. However, just days after he left, Schnatter told a news publication that he had made a “mistake” by stepping down and criticised the board for not doing “proper due diligence”.
(Image: Reuters)
The US pizza tycoon and founder of Papa John’s Pizza, was forced to step down from the company he founded, after he hurled racially offensive slurs and spoke insensitively about violence against min..
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A communication officer is usually adept at handling crisis and negative publicity instead of becoming the cause for it. Netflix’s chief communications officer, however, found himself in such a predicament. Friendland, who joined the company in 2011, was pulled up and fired for using racially offensive language during a meeting with colleagues. In an apology before leaving, Friedland said, “Leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example we set, and unfortunately, I fell short of that standard when I was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy.”
(Image: AP)
A communication officer is usually adept at handling crisis and negative publicity instead of becoming the cause for it. Netflix’s chief communications officer, however, found himself in such a pred..
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At the height of Paris Couture Week, Russian designer Ulyana Sergeenko and entrepreneur Miroslava Duma found themselves in a PR crisis. Sergeenko came under fire for sending a bouquet of flowers to Duma with the handwritten note, “To my n****s in Paris.” Duma shared the note on Instagram adding a heart emoji to show affection for the designer. To make matters worse, that same evening, a 2012 video of Duma started doing the rounds, in which she is seen making homophobic comments about a blogger and transgender model. Duma has since been removed from her position as a board member at The Tot, a baby fashion label.
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In the October issue of his newsletter last year, the Swiss investor, who resides in Thailand, was widely criticised for writing, “Thank God white people populated America, and not blacks. Otherwise, the US would look like Zimbabwe…” The comment cost him a seat on the board of three companies. Three other companies too booted him out, while international TV channels, who would give him air time for his expert opinion, distanced themselves.
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The chief people officer of the global ride-hailing app was asked to leave over how she dealt with racial discrimination complaints within the company. Hornsey stepped down after Reuters contacted Uber for a comment on why no investigation had been carried out regarding accusations against Hornsey. Ironically, Hornsey was the company’s spokesperson on diversity and discrimination. The complainants also stated that Hornsey made derogatory comments and racially tinted language against Bernard Coleman III, the global head of diversity and inclusion and former chief brand officer, Bozoma Saint John.
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In Parekh’s case, the numbers are clearly spelt out: be it annual salary of Rs 6,50,00,000 or a variable pay of Rs 9,75,00,000 which will be payable to the current CEO over the next few years, subject to the company meeting “milestones” as agreed upon.
Employment term “The initial term of this Agreement will be for a period of five years beginning on the effective date, provided however that this Agreement may be extended for a successive term of three years on mutually agreed terms and conditions...However the executive will retire upon reaching the age of 60, unless the Company agrees to continue to employ the executive.” While in Sikka’s agreement, there is no mention of a retirement age, in Parekh’s there is. Salil Parekh
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Severance terms While the terms of settling the notice period remain largely the same, there is the additional inclusion about garden leave. Infosys reserves the right to put Parekh on garden leave — suspension from work on full pay — during the notice period.
Non-competition The receipt of any severance benefits will be subject to Parekh not violating any of the agreed upon terms as per the contract. In the event that he does so, the severance payouts will stop with immediate effect, and he will have to return any payouts that have been disbursed previously.
One of the terms lists out the names of the major competitors that Parekh cannot work with during the restricted time period (TCS, Accenture, IBM, Cognizant, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Cap Gemini and HCL Technologies). Something that was missing from Sikka’s agreement.
Cause for being fired Parekh has 14 of these, including, “Executive’s misuse of alcohol or drugs which interferes with Executive’s performance of Executive’s duties for the company, or which is harmful to the reputation or goodwill of the company,” and his “failure or refusal to follow the reasonable and lawful instructions of the Board.”
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Ron Gutman, CEO of the startup HealthTap, was fired earlier this month for ‘toxicity’ in the workplace. Here are others who were booted for creating an unhealthy work environment. (Image: Shannon Tellis)
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Peter Chou Fired from: HTC
When Chou suddenly resigned from his position as CEO in 2015, rumours of his ‘abrasive management style’ started to make the rounds. According to former executives, Chou ‘openly berated managers and overrode their decisions, often with little discussion’. Sales, marketing, product and design teams were intentionally kept separate, and parallel teams were created, sometimes for the same task. His shoot-from-the-hip approach left managers uncertain of their positions, damaging company morale and causing HTC to rapidly drop in market value.
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Dov Charney Fired from: American Apparel
After years of weathering sexual harassment lawsuits that were denied, dismissed, settled or sent to arbitration, American Apparel founder and CEO Dov Charney was ousted by the board in 2014 over “alleged misconduct” of company funds and inappropriate behaviour with employees. An investigation revealed that he had sexual liaisons with employees and models, exchanged pornographic and explicit emails, text messages and took videos and photographs' of these encounters using company property. Prior to being ousted, Charney was also accused of trying to choke a male employee and throwing dirt at him.
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Alexei Orlov Fired from: RAPP
Following an unlawful termination lawsuit, Alexei Orlov resigned in June 2016 as the global CEO of the Omnicom direct marketing agency RAPP. Former RAPP US President Greg Andersen alleged that Orlov created a “hostile work environment” and often displayed aggressive behaviour toward subordinates within the agency. Andersen also claimed he saw Orlov call several women “fat cows” on more than one occasion and said one female employee was “too pretty” for a promotion to a higher position. This was not the first time that Orlov has faced such allegations. In 2008, he was forced to resign from WPP’s Wunderman after an internal investigation found him guilty of making racist remarks at a company event.
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