Financial Express 22 Feb. 08 New Delhi Front Page
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to quash the proceedings in a trial court against former Hewlett Packard GlobalSoft managing director Som Mittal. Som, now president of National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), has been held liable for not providing security to a woman employee of HP, who was raped and murdered in 2005 by a cab driver on her way back from work at night.
“The judgement sends a strong signal on corporate social responsibility, though the penalty is only Rs 1,000 in the event of a criminal liability,” says Sanjay Hedge, standing council for the State of Karnataka. A statement from HP, however, insists, “The Supreme Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. It has only directed Mr Mittal to urge all the contentions as available under law.”
Mittal had challenged the dismissal of his petition against the case, registered by the state government, by the Karnataka High Court.
The case has ignited a debate on the safety of BPO employees working in night shifts. Close to half of the over seven lakh employees in the BPO sector are women. There is also a related issue of how far a company management be held responsible for issues like this, which are an obvious failure of law and order.
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, MD, Kinetic Motor Company, believes that while the head of the company can’t be held responsible for the safety of all employees at all times, the company in this case should be made to compensate in some way to the family and the cab driver given exemplary punishment so that the industry becomes more sympathetic to women’s issues. “The BPO industry in particular is in a unique situation because of the unearthly work hours, which exposes women to higher risks,” she says.
The case has ignited a debate on the safety of BPO employees working in night shifts. Close to half of the over seven lakh employees in the BPO sector are women. There is also a related issue of how far a company management be held responsible for issues like this, which are an obvious failure of law and order.
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, MD, Kinetic Motor Company, believes that while the head of the company can’t be held responsible for the safety of all employees at all times, the company in this case should be made to compensate in some way to the family and the cab driver given exemplary punishment so that the industry becomes more sympathetic to women’s issues. “The BPO industry in particular is in a unique situation because of the unearthly work hours, which exposes women to higher risks,” she says.
Outsourcing industry majors, however, feel that their industry is being singled out and the government and Companies across sectors need to work jointly to evolve a broad set of guidelines for tighter security measures. “It’s also a law and order situation and security has to be a joint effort with the state government,” says Pramod Bhasin, president and CEO, Genpact.
Law requires Companies to provide adequate security and transportation to workers during night shift. Most BPO majors today ensure that women don’t travel alone in cabs and do reference check on drivers and some have also deployed GPS systems to track their cars.
“The issue is much larger,” says Poonam Barua of Forum for Women & Leadership
With Thanks from the Financial Express
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