How Liable Are You For Female Employees?

Recently, the High Court dismissed Som Mittal's appeal in the case of the
rape and murder of an HP BPO employee. This has acted as an eye-opener to many
partners. Partners need to safeguard themselves from being liable for untoward
incidents with their women employees

One minute you're in the safe confines of your home. The next, you're being
hauled to court, and for what? For an issue regarding a women employee, someone
who you may not even know by name or face.

The recent Mittal case has come as a rude reminder to most employers that
they are liable for the security of their women employees. Solution providers
too need to start thinking about these issues, especially if they are looking at
growing their businesses and hiring more people along the way. And while women
make up a smaller percentage of most workforces, it is still imperative that
their interest be kept in mind. All the more so, since a lot of SPs are getting
into BPO and KPO services as well.

Though most feel that much of what goes on outside of their purview is not
their responsi­bility, the reality is in stark contrast to this.

Comply with laws

Partners need to take measures to ensure that they follow all the state laws
regarding employing of women workers. But before that they need to acquaint
themselves with the various laws laid down for employees, male and female alike.

Throwing light on this issue, Pawan Duggal, Lawyer, Supreme Court shared that
it is imperative to comply with the state laws because criminal and civil
prosecution is possible and realistic. “In the case of Mittal, the Supreme Court
refused to set aside Karnataka High Court's order to quash the FIR against
Mittal,” he said.

The police registered the case on the grounds that there was a ban on women
working at night, unless they are provided transportation and security.

Duggal, who is also Founder President, Cyberlaw Asia, an organization
committed to the passing of Cyberlaws in the Asian continent added that every
state has its set of laws regarding women employees and it's imperative that
employers be familiar with them.

Where the buck stops

Channel partners are divided in the opinion about Mittal's responsibility in
the unfortunate incident involving the rape and murder of Murthy. While some
think that it is only fair that he be pulled up and take the responsibility,
others feel that it is gross injustice.

Girish Madhavan of Chennai-based employees has close to 210 people in his
organization, of which around 23 are women employees. According to him, too many
people believe that they can get out of uncomfortable situations, so in this
case it is only fair that Mittal be held responsible. Duggal noted that
employers need to be careful. “Anyone running the affairs of the company is to
be held respon­sible. After all a company is only a legal entity and you can't
punish it, so you have to punish the top management,” said Duggal.

Sudhir Kothari of Kolkata-based Embee Software had a different take on the
matter. He believed that an employer is not responsible for issues outside their
purview. “In Mittal's case, the reporting manager of the deceased girl should be
held responsible and not the top management,” said Kothari.

Measures one can take

Till now, such issues were not an area of concern for partners. This is
because most the channel business models are such that they do not need to
employ people for night shifts.

But the case of partners who believe that having processes in place for women
employees is a non-issue, can be compared to that of an ostrich with its head in
the ground. As businesses grow, one cannot rule out the possibilities of SPs
starting BPOs and adopting different business models that require night shifts.

In such cases, as Kothari pointed out, it is always wise to educate the
employees. Atul Hemani of Mumbai-based Omnitech Infosolutions shared that one of
the measures they take in their company, which has about 725 employees, out of
which around 40 percent are women, is to hold awareness programs. “These
programs address fundamental issues such as to ensure one does not walk around
alone on lonely streets, logistics/transportation, who to contact in case of
emergency, etc,” said Hemani.

Bimal Raj of Mumbai-based Allied Digital Services said that while the Mittal
case definitely was an eye-opener regarding the extent to which an employer is
responsible for his employees, the dynamics of their business was different and
in view of that they take different measures.

“Our dynamics are different because we have domestic businesses in which the
working hours are around 9:30am to 5:30pm. But I do believe that the whole
logistics for women employees needs to be re-looked at and adequate measures
need to be taken since it is a corporate responsibility to ensure safety of
women employees,” shared Raj.

One step that most partners have taken is to ensure that women employees
leave the office at a reasonable time, say before 7:00pm. Others like Kothari
have also ensured that internally, the women employee are not subject to
violation, even going to the extent of making it an HR policy.

Elaborating on the same, Devendra Taneja of PC Solutions said, “Whenever a
case of any kind of harassment comes to notice, it is heard and resolved on
priority by giving first time strict warning and second time by advice to
leave/job termination. Such actions are internally communicated, which has acted
as strong deterrent.” PC Solutions has 40 female employees in different
activities.

The flip side

There is only so much that one can do to safeguard themselves from bearing
the liability of their employees. But the flip side is that while today we speak
of breaking the glass barrier and gender biases, we also need rules that show
that women are weaker. Is this in any way going to dissuade partners from
employing women?

Apparently, this may be an option with a few partners. According to Madhavan,
women just cannot be men. Hence, if he ever considers night shifts he would only
employ men. “In Quadsel, we are like family. I wouldn't want any member of my
family hurt,” he pointed out.

Throwing light on the legal side of the issue, Duggal explained that if the
law man­dates employers to do something, they must do it, else they are playing
with fire. “If an offence can be attributed to a company, the company needs to
ensure they document activities of their employees so they can show they have
exercised all efforts to avoid the incident,” he said.

For partners who have not yet thought about safety of their women employees,
it is a good time to start and put processes in place and frame policies. You
never know when it might be your turn to face the music.

Ruth Samson

ruths@cybermedia.co.in