The Labor Department will launch an investigation to determine whether the recent spate of layoffs at Amazon India constitutes layoffs that violate labor laws or service conditions, according to people aware of the development.

The ministry sent a notice to Amazon India last week after receiving a complaint about mass layoffs in violation of laws passed by the Senate of Emerging Information Technology Employees (NITES), a collective of IT professionals with over 18,000 members, to labor ministers Bhupender Yadav was judged.

In response, Amazon India management had said no employees had been laid off and some employees had resigned after accepting the e-commerce company’s “voluntary separation program”.

The company had said in its internal memo to employees that those who do not opt ​​into the voluntary separation program will be fired under a “workforce optimization program” without any benefits, according to Harpreet Singh Saluja, president of NITES , alleging a violation of working conditions legislation.

Amazon has reportedly planned to lay off about 10,000 employees in corporate and technology jobs worldwide starting last week, in what would mark the largest job cuts in the company’s history. The Amazon India layoffs are seen as part of the e-commerce giant’s global cutbacks.

Amazon India has announced it will shut down its food delivery service in Bengaluru by the end of 2022 and also end its ed-tech ventures in the country. On Thursday, the company announced it would shut down Amazon Academy, an online learning platform in India for high school students.

Also read | Amazon closes grocery delivery business in India: report

HT reached out to Amazon India for comments but received no response.

“In its response (to the Department of Labor), the company said it expected to make more money from its business, but implemented a voluntary exit program for financial reasons. They said there were no forced layoffs. However, we will examine whether the resignations were voluntary and whether the terms of service, including severance pay and notice periods, were met,” said a ministry official, asking not to be identified.

The ministry will also reach out to employees who opted into the voluntary opt-out program to verify claims made by the company.

Asked whether the government could intervene in the work of a private entity, the official said the ministry has a mandate to ensure labor laws are not violated. “We will make sure workers who have been harmed are heard and their rights protected. Otherwise, we will act according to the law,” the official said.