May 1 is International Labour Day
Tata Steel from its inception has followed its founder Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata’s principle that business should contribute to developing all the stakeholders including the employees. Tata Steel has pioneered in introducing many firsts welfare schemes for its employees’ welfare and well-being, which were later adopted by the government of India.
Some of the early employee welfare schemes introduced by the company were the Eight Hour Working Day in 1912, Free Medical Aid in 1915, Leave with Pay in 1920, Workers’ Provident Fund Scheme in 1920, Workmen’s Accident Compensation Scheme in 1920, Maternity Benefit in 1928, Profit Sharing Bonus in 1934, Gratuity Scheme in 1937, and study leave in 1945.
In 1956, Tata Steel and Tata Workers’ Union signed an agreement which became the ‘Magna Carta’ of the working class, a historic milestone in the history of the trade union movement in India. Later, the company introduced other schemes like Pension Scheme in 1989, Medical Separation Scheme in 1990, Employees’ Family Benefit Scheme in 1995, Suraksha Scheme (for contract employees) in 2012, Family Support Scheme in 2014, and Paternity Benefit Scheme in 2019.
There are various schemes and programmes that Tata Steel implemented to support its female employees. Tejaswini, an initiative to place women as drivers of pay loaders was launched in 2003. In 2020, Tejaswini 2.0 was launched to deploy women as heavy machine operators at all mines. The ‘Women of Mettle’ programme was introduced in 2017. It’s a scholarship programme for young and passionate women. In 2018, Menstrual leave was introduced, making Tata Steel the first company to do so in the large-scale segment. The ‘Take Two’ policy was launched for female employees to provide a second career option in 2018.
In September 2019, under Women@Mines initiative, OMQ Division became the first mining division in the country to deploy women in all shifts in mines.
For flexible work arrangements, the company introduced agile working models (work from home and location agnostic roles) in 2020.
Tata Steel is committed to create a diverse, inclusive, safe, and fair workplace. In 2020, it started a drive to hire transgender persons. They have also been deployed in mining operations.
In 2020-21, Tata Steel inducted batch of 22 women who have been deployed as HEMM (Heavy Earth Moving Machinery) operators at Noamundi Iron Mines. Similar initiative was also taken up in West Bokaro Division.
In 2021, StepUp (an Internal Talent Marketplace) was introduced to provide visibility of opportunities to employees and bring them together through AI platforms.
Not only welfare of employees and their dependents, but Tata Steel is also committed to develop the human resources of the region. The relationship between Tata Steel and Tata Workers’ Union (TWU) has been cordial all through as TWU celebrated its 100 year of existence in 2019. The two have worked together on several initiatives on the HR front.
J N Tata Vocational Training Institute (JNTVTI) was set up in 2015 as an independent institute to provide world-class training and recruitment support to youths, who reside in vicinity of Tata Steel operating locations in Jharkhand and Odisha.
While talking about Jamshedpur or Tatanagar, mentionung about only of Tata Steel (old Tisco) does not look fair though it was the first & largest Tata co. started there. An almost equally big Telco (now Tata Motors), TRF, Tata Agrico, Tinplate, Tata Yodogawa amongst other Tata Cos. and IS&WP, Indian Tube Co (bothnow Tata Cos) have immensely contributed to the life and success of the Steelcity and its populous in all spheres.