The government has laid off all 11,406 employees of the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) as of September 1, as part of a sweeping restructuring plan, according to official documents reported by The News on Friday. The plan includes a severance package of over 25 billion rupees for all affected staff.
The package is allocated to the country’s largest state-run retail chain’s 5,229 regular employees (Rs13.18 billion), 3,323 contract employees (Rs3.6 billion), and 2,854 daily wage workers (Rs2.71 billion). An additional Rs5.75 billion has been set aside for organizational closure costs and support for the widows of deceased employees.
According to a circular, permanent staff with two years or less remaining in service will receive their gross pay for the remaining months. Employees with more than 20 years of service will be given two times their current basic pay for each completed year. Those with less than 20 years of service will receive either three times their current basic pay for each completed year or 1.25 times their running basic pay for the remaining months of service, capped at 50 months, whichever amount is higher.
Contract employees’ severance pay will be as follows: running basic pay for each remaining month for those with two or fewer years left; 30 times their running basic pay for employees with up to 16 years of service; and 35 times their running basic pay for those with more than 16 years of service.
Daily wagers will receive a flat payment calculated based on a Rs37,000 benchmark. This includes Rs37,000 for each remaining month for those with two or fewer years left; 15 times Rs37,000 (Rs555,000) for up to 10 years of service; 28 times Rs37,000 (Rs1,036,000) for those who served 10 to 15 years; and 30 times Rs37,000 (Rs1,110,000) for those who had worked for USC for more than 15 years.
The circular also states that all pending salaries, wages, and terminal dues will be paid in accordance with USC service rules. Affected employees are being separately notified and will be assisted in obtaining NOCs from relevant departments to facilitate the processing of their dues once federal funds are released.
