Finally some positive news from the buying community!
The Asmara Group, one of the most respected names in global apparel sourcing domain, having more than 1,000 employees across 13 countries, has decided to refund the amount of salary deducted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The employees of Asmara received an e-mail in this regard, which said that the Asmara Board has decided to refund whatever amount was deducted.
Nearly all the employees of the company will get this refund by February 2021.
There was around 30 per cent deduction in April for the 6 months, when COVID-19 was at its peak.
The management has also thanked its employees for their support to the company during the difficult times.
“Employees are very happy with this decision of the company and are feeling highly motivated. There can’t be a better New Year gift for us,” said an employee of the company –on the condition of anonymity – who got a handsome amount as refund.
In mid-April, Team Apparel Resources had reported that the Asmara Group announced a salary cut of 30 per cent for all colleagues at the Country Manager level and above.
For the rest, a salary cut of 20 per cent (excluding non-staff; no changes for them) had been proposed. This deduction was applicable for a period of 6 months, starting from April to September 2020.
Asmara employs more than 200 staff members in its offices in Gurugram, Bengaluru, Tirupur and Chennai.
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It is pertinent to mention here that last year during April to September or even for more months, majority of Indian buying offices, as well as garment factories, had salary cut of even 50 per cent.
Notably, very few of them have refunded the amount to their employees or have any plans of refunding the same in the future.