Maruti Suzuki Stops Hiring Contract Workers

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. says it will no longer employ contract workers provided by outside firms after a manager was killed and 100 others injured in a riot at one of its factories in India last year, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Chairman R.C. Bhargava tells the newspaper that Maruti is now screening and hiring temporary workers directly. That way, he says, the company can better control the kind of people it employs.

Bhargava declined to disclose what proportion of its 9,500-member workforce is temporary, but analysts say the ratio roughly averages 50%.

Those workers are paid about 11,500 rupees ($210) per month compared with 12,500 rupees ($230) for permanent employees, who also receive healthcare and other benefits, the Journal says. They also typically get a raise to 21,000-22,000 rupees ($385-$405) per month after three years. Temporary workers don't receive benefits or raises.

Bhargava notes that temporary employees will now receive their full wages instead of only the portion passed on to them by the contract firm.