TARGET ARCHAIC LAWS, NOT INDIVIDUALS, SAY IT COMPANIES

Deepshika Monga & PP Thimmaya, New Delhi/Bangalore
The Economic Times

Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata or Kumar Mangalam Birla should start consulting their lawyers. The next time some mishap takes place in their branch office in a remote location, they may have to face criminal proceedings. That's been the industry's reaction to the Supreme Court's decision upholding initiation of prosecution proceedings against Nasscom president and former HP GlobalSoft managing director Som Mittal in the case of rape and murder of a BPO employee.

The IT-BPO industry, in particular, is questioning the extent to which a CEO can be held liable. Industry players are advocating a relook at the laws, arguing it's not just an IT-BPO industry issue.

Quatrro Solutions MD Raman Roy says, "The Karnataka labour department looked at HP's processes and said that everything is fine and the same department filed a case against Som Mittal. It happened because the law requires it.

The laws were made when there were 10-people organisations. We have to initiate a debate on how good these laws are and relook at criminal liability, responsibility and negligence." The law which Mittal has fallen foul is an archaic piece of legislation called the Karnataka Shops and establishment Act 1961 which prohibits employment of women on night shifts in the establishments which it covers.

According to officials in the Karnataka Labour Department, the act was amended in 2003 to facilitate working of women employees during night shift - 8 pm to 6 am only for the IT/ITeS industry, subject to certain conditions. All IT companies which came under this purview had to provide the complete details to the local labour commissioner and there are certain conditions to be met with regard to women employees and one of them include free transportation facilities for women with adequate security. It was on this count that HP Globalsoft and its CEO is being prosecuted. Source say there is no such precedent in Karnataka.

According to the law, explains Supreme Court lawyer Pavan Duggal, if there is contravention by a company, the person "running the company" is held liable. The management has two exit routes: either claim to have no knowledge of the contravention or submit that it took place despite exercise of due diligence. "The law is currently vague and it needs to specify what 'knowledge' means as well as parameters of due diligence. Since the IT industry has different requirements, the laws need to be sensitive to it or it will hamper the growth of the industry," Duggal added.

Infosys Technologies' director HR, T V Mohandas Pai, says the current laws need to be amended so that all security issues are designated to a particular individual and a CEO should not be held responsible for all the issues of the company. This could also set a precedent as there was a similar incident involving Wipro BPO in Pune. The Indian IT industry is estimated to employ 2 million people by the end of FY08 against 1.6 million in FY07. It is estimated that women constitute around 30-35 percent of the total employees.

"We are very diligent about these issues. Under no circumstances we have a woman employee alone in a cab. Women are never the last to be dropped," says HR head of a leading IT firm. Industry players also feel that while security is an important issue, IT-BPO companies are targeted more often than others.

"The BPO industry has become a fair game for targeting. A lot of mishaps involving construction and transport workers happen but they don't get highlighted so much. In manufacturing, it's the immediate supervisor or the foreman who's questioned when something goes wrong, not the CEO. We must have a uniform law across sectors," said Cognizant vice-chairman and Nasscom chairman Lakshmi Narayanan.

Others point out that security is not just a company's concern but a larger issue. "We need to relook at the issue of liability. What's the police's responsibility? In case of a working woman, you can hold the company liable. Who is responsible for the security of a woman who's not working?" questioned an industry expert, on the condition of anonymity.

Adds Zensar Technologies CEO Ganesh Natarajan, "Security of employees is a prime concern not just for IT but every industry. There needs to be a code of best practices as we move to a 24/7 work environment which also recognises the limitation to what everyone can do. No single entity can be held responsible for security. It has to be a combined effort of the company, the transport agency and the government."

As India has become the global centre for IT offshoring and outsourcing, Indian IT companies also have to increasingly outsource a lot many of their functions like - transport, catering, facilities management among others. At the same time, employee welfare is the top most priority for all the companies be it the workplace atmosphere or providing benefits which go beyond the normal compensation.

HR heads say companies ensure there is no negligence on their part but unforeseen instances were sometimes beyond the control of processes. Because of its very prosperous image, the industry has also made IT professionals as soft targets for kidnapping. Besides, these companies are adding thousands of heads every year and the top five companies employ over 50,000 each.