Boss peeping in to your pvt life? File a suit

AHMEDABAD: “Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend?” “When do you plan to have a baby?” Questions like these in a job interview do not often raise eyebrows in India, although in the US they would certainly land the employer in courts on charges of infringing the employee’s privacy.

However, the effect of globalisation of the Indian economy, advent of multinational giants and the rise of the IT and BPO industry have started to show. If Coca-Cola is concerned about wire frauds by its employees in Atlanta, a US bank would be equally concerned about misuse of information by an employee at its Indian call centre.

Today, many multinational firms would not share vital personal information about employees even internally, leave alone dare to ask about planning babies.

Shuva Mandal of Fox Mandal, a law firm, has dealt with a few privacy cases in BPOs. He says, “Employee-employer disputes relating to privacy are on the rise. Both are becoming conscious of their rights, even while companies are not defining privacy well.”

A study conducted by researchers at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, found that HR managers had contrasting opinions on the issue of whether the company should pass on information about an employee to a person who sought the information as his or her relative was to getting married to this employee.

While some said they would share information, many HR managers flatly refused, something which would not have been the case a few years ago as such queries are common in the Indian society.

“One of the problems in India is that privacy is not defined. For instance, if a few argue that sharing details with prospective in-law is not advisable, others say not sharing the information may eventually harm the personal interest of the employee,” says Biju Varkkey, assistant professor for personal and industrial relations at IIM-A, who co-authored the report ‘Employee Privacy at Workplaces: Some Pertinent Issues’.

Mr Varkkey also argues that while companies may feel that installing surveillance systems add to productivity, it may rebound as the employee thinks his employer does not trust him.

Though HR managers have started discussing this issue at forums already, opinion still remains divided. “I would tell the employee that his prospective in-laws called us for information and pass on the query to his boss.

There is no harm in this. But tracking emails, calls, etc...it’s a strict no-no for us,” says YV Verma, director and head of HR at LG India.

While information on monthly sales and dealer margins, are wilfully shared between competitors in the consumer electronic industry, companies become stringent when it comes to R&D.

“But why should a company track emails and phone calls at all. It is a pure form of invasion into his privacy,” says corporate lawyer Pallavi Shroff, who believes that the numbers of disputes are on the rise.

IIM-A’s Varkkey points out that several HR practices such as recruitment, employee discipline management, exit interviews, performance appraisal are potential areas where employee vulnerability can be misused.

At the same time, employers are concerned about data security, says E Balaji, COO of Ma Foi Management Consultants. “So privacy agreements should be laid down well. After all, both have to live the day,” he adds.