WHAT ARE THE LEGAL RIGHTS OF AN EMPLOYER?

Under the employment laws, the rights of employers and employees are safeguarded, and it applies to public, private, and non-organized sectors. Employers and employees have certain rights and legal obligations towards each other during the course of employment.

An employee's rights are directly proportional to the employer's duties, and the employer's rights are directly proportional to the duties of an employee. Any violation to uphold these rights and duties can result in a legal dispute between employers and employees. Since an employee is more prone to exploitation, his rights get more attention as compared to the employer's rights. However, employers are also entitled to certain rights in India.

Every employer in India, including the top employers in India, has been bestowed with certain rights. To understand those rights, one should know what is the employer's right? and how the rights of the employer can be protected? Employment rights emanate from various employment laws—for instance, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, or Shops and Establishments Act, 1947. The legal rights of an employer are comprehensively explained as follows.

1) Right to recruit and terminate

In India, the employer has all the rights to recruit the most proficient and eligible employee for their company. An employer's rights include his discretion to select the appropriate candidate that fits the job, and he may choose the employee based on his qualifications, knowledge, and experience. An employer cannot recruit candidates based on their caste, religion, gender or age, networks but only their proficiency. The employer also has absolute rights to terminate an employee who underperforms, shows inappropriate conduct with colleagues or seniors, violates the company's policies, etc.

The employer has to abide by all the legal procedures to terminate an employee legally in India and protect the company from any future legal disputes. The employer is also entitled to suspend, dismiss, or transfer any employee if the employer believes that an employee cannot acclimatize in an office because, for some reason, he has discretionary power to transfer that employee to other departments of the same office or a different branch. The employer can suspend an employee if there's a complaint filed against that employee and an investigation is underway. It is again the discretion of the employer to take the final decision.

2) Right to confidentiality and non-disclosure

The employer must protect his client's personal information and other trade secrets. An employer can get a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) signed by his employees for this very purpose as the client's personal information and other trade secrets are accessible to employees in the organization. The employees have the duty to ensure the client's sensitive information and the company's trade secrets are protected, and no information is leaked to a third party. The duty of an employee to keep company secrets confidential operates beyond the course of employment and continues even after he has left the job.

An employer can make his employee contractually bound by the NDA even after his services had discontinued the organization for a period specifically mentioned in the agreement, which the employer and employee sign. For instance, if an employee works in a food chain restaurant that makes a specific kind of cuisine, the employee is legally obligated not to disclose the recipe of the cuisine even after he stops working for the restaurant.

The employer has the right to protect his organization's Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) against any kind of infringement by the employee. An employee also has to sign a Non-compete and Non-Solicit Agreement, drafted by an employment lawyer, which specifies that the employee is legally obligated to not use the company's IPR without prior permission or license and cannot solicit the company's client to enter into a trade contract.

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3) Right to draft and implement policies

The employment laws confer the employer the right to draft and implement a work/ HR policy as per the company's requirements. An employer can establish a code of conduct for employees, working hours, salary policy, leave policy, conditions for termination, prerequisites for resignation, harassment policy, grievance redressal policy, etc. The HR policies of the company can be drafted after consulting the employment Advocates.

Each and every employee has a legal obligation to abide by the provisions specified in the company's policy. The employer is entitled to suspend or even terminate the employment of an employee who fails to conform to the provisions of the policy. The policies drafted by the employer must be in accordance with the employment and labor laws.

Apart from standard HR policies regarding salary, sexual harassment, leaves, etc., the employers can decide the method of execution of work, working hours of the company. He may also have the authority to decide wages and remuneration of the employees at different levels and ranks, their promotion, and appraisal strategy. If the policy made by the employer is ambiguous, unfair, unlawful, or discriminatory based on gender, caste, or religion or the policies of the employer can be legally challenged. However, if the policies drafted and implemented are fair and reasonable, the employer's discretion cannot be questioned.

4) Right to be notified on leave by employees

The employer must be notified beforehand if an employee intends to take a leave from work. The employer has the right to approve or reject the leave application on the reasonableness of the leave. An employer can repudiate granting leave if an employee is frequently absent, performs his duties inadequately, or takes leaves without substantial reasons.

The employer also has the right to deduct an employee's salary for unpaid leave and even terminate his employment if the employee remains indefinitely absent from the office without prior notification. He can initiate legal action with the assistance of labor or employment advocates against an employee who infringes the employer's rights. The case can be filed in civil or labor Court.

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5) Right to receive notice of resignation

The employer has the right to receive prior notice before an employee resigns. The employee must serve a notice period before resigning so that the employer gets adequate time to recruit his replacement. The notice period usually prolongs from 1 week to 1 month, depending upon the company's HR policy. Suppose the employee resigns without prior notice before he quits and refuses to serve the notice period. In that case, the employer can send a legal notice to the employee. The employer has a legal right to receive notice of resignation, and the employee has a legal obligation to fulfill it.

Nevertheless, if the employment agreement does not specify any notice period to be served by the employee, then the employee is not legally bound to serve the notice period. Furthermore, in certain employment agreements regarding the serving notice period, the employee can pay monetary compensation in lieu of serving a notice period. The employer is also entitled to withhold the employee's salary if the employee had quit before giving any prior notice or serving the notice period. In this manner, the employer is entitled to the rights mentioned above.

Author: Shweta Singh