Practice Areas
Our HR & Employment Law Practice caters to clients across industries and sectors. We address mandates with sensitivity, taking into account nuances specific to client requirements and any issues specific to the business or industry.
The Firm’s mandates range from negotiating employment contracts for senior-level and strategic resources as well as settlements with trade unions; strategising and assisting in implementing corporate and HR reorganisation and rationalisation; structuring incentive plans; drafting and reviewing HR manuals, and assisting clients with implementing HR policies including POSH, Equal Opportunities and Whistle Blower compliance and investigations into complaints; data privacy; regulatory compliance, and employment disputes.
Adhering to our practice model, our lawyers advise holistically and integrate with other practices across the Firm as required to address mandates.
Lawyers at our HR & Employment Law Practice work closely with our transaction Practice Groups and with the ethics, Governance, and Anti-Corruption Practice group. This holistic and coordinated approach is particularly important in the context of M&A and strategic investment transactions and where clients are caught up in employee fraud or breach of data privacy issues by employees.
We are recognised for our experience in executing sensitive mandates efficiently while maintaining the human touch necessary to address issues affecting livelihoods and working conditions that are inherent to any employment law mandate.
Indicative Experience
- Representing Dai-ichi Karkaria Limited before the labour tribunals and Bombay High Court with respect to disputes against Hind Karmgar Sanghatana.
- Representing Firstsource Solutions Limited before the labour tribunals and Bombay High Court with respect to disputes arising from claims of wrongful termination made by its former employees.
- Representing Insilico Limited before the Bombay High Court with respect to a dispute arising from claims of wrongful termination made by an employee of a business acquired by Insilico.
- Representing Alchem International Private Limited before the district court and the Punjab & Haryana High Court with respect to a dispute arising out of breach of a confidentiality agreement by an employee.
- Representing two central administrative officers before the Delhi High Court with respect to a dispute regarding their seniority in the Indian Forest Services.
- Representing the key managerial personnel of a company before a district court with respect to criminal proceedings initiated pursuant to death of a contractual employee on site.
- Representing the key managerial personnel of a company before a district court with respect to an appeal filed by the complainant against the order of the company’s Internal Complaints Committee dismissing their complaint of sexual harassment.
- Representing the Swami Divyananand Education Trust before the Supreme Court in a mandate involving questions of law, such as whether a domestic enquiry is required to be conducted for termination without cause.
- Advising Axis Asset Management Company Limited in relation to potential employee disputes.
- Advising the Centrum Group in relation to potential employee disputes.
- Advising ISS Facility Services India Private Limited with respect to matters of employment law, including issues of payment obligations arising due to various government directions issued to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and employment contracts.
- Advising Speedcast Communications (India) Private Limited with respect to employment of senior managerial personnel for India operations and reviewing their global standard template employment contract from an Indian law perspective.
- Advising Burberry India with respect to terms and conditions of their employment contracts in India.
- Advising Telenor India Private Limited with respect to various aspects of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and its implementation.
- Advising India Factoring and Finance Solutions Private Limited with respect to its human resources policies, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Scheme as well as termination of a key managerial employee.
- Advising Inventure Capital Corporation (now known as Tala) with respect to various employment issues, including employment law compliance, termination of employees, and review of human resources policies.
- Advising a multinational IT company with respect to the initiation of criminal proceedings against a former employee arising from a suicide threat.
- Advising a public listed company with respect to the appointment of a related party to the board of directors of its international subsidiary.
- Advising Relevant e-solutions Private Limited with respect to the employment law aspects on the investment by Bertelsmann and Tiger Global and the transfer of its app ‘ROPOSO’ to Glance In Mobi Pte. Limited.
- Advising Ultratech Cement Limited with respect to retirement benefits payable to key managerial personnel.
- Advising Larsen & Toubro Limited with respect to remuneration of their respective extant and former managerial personnel and the cancellation of Employee Stock Option Scheme and its contracts with key managerial personnel.
- Advising Firstsource Solutions Limited with respect to termination of employees pursuant to the closure of one of their business lines in India.
- Advising Phoenix Mills Limited with respect to remuneration of their respective extant and former managerial personnel.
- Advising General Motors with respect to the transfer of employees from General Motors Technical Centre India Private Limited to Tata Consultancy Services Limited and transfer of its employees in Talegaon as part of a proposed share sale to Great Wall Motors.
- Advising General Atlantic with respect to the employment due diligence conducted as part of its investment in Absolute Barbeque Private Limited.
- Advising Grover Zampa Vineyards Limited with respect to restructuring and streamlining employees across entities acquired by it, being Four Seasons Wines Limited and Charosa Wineries Limited.
- Advising Vedantu Innovations Private Limited during their investment into Adinio Services Private Limited with respect to employment contracts executed between the target and its promoters including preparation of addenda to the employment contracts and employee and phantom stock option plans, including preparation of the plan and the necessary regulatory filings thereto.
- Advising Girnar Software Private Limited with respect to the buyback of its employee stock options including preparation of the share purchase agreement.
- Advising Tebodin India Private Limited with respect to the enforceability of employment bonds.
- Advising Marico Limited with respect to their employee’s stock appreciation rights scheme and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, 2014.
Testimonials
Highly qualified team acting on the full range of corporate matters including M&A, foreign direct investment and joint ventures. Provides general corporate advice to major companies, financial institutions and investors on both the sale and purchase sides. Provides support to private equity and venture capital entities as well as target companies on the entire life-cycle of investment and fund issues. Handles fund formation, management buyouts, minority and controlling-stake acquisitions and a range of follow-on transactions. Notable ability in the financial services, telecommunications, logistics and energy sectors.
They are very thorough, proactive and knowledgeable.
They are a competent team, very capable.
They are customer centric and respond in detail to points raised or opinion sought. They are not ambiguous in their response.
MP Bharucha is lauded by market sources as “one of the leading lawyers in the country” who “has been on the top of his game for a long time. Active on a range of commercial disputes, he maintains a particularly high reputation as a litigator in the Mumbai market.”
Alka Bharucha “boasts a stellar reputation in corporate transactions. She is renowned for her expertise in cross-border M&A as well as her proficiency in providing advice on general corporate issues, in particular within the power, telecommunications and banking sectors.”
Hiroo Advani “is highly sought after for the breadth of his experience in arbitration issues. He often takes on cases in the energy, infrastructure and construction sectors.”
Justin M Bharucha “specialises in foreign direct investments in highly regulated sectors. He is regularly active on complex cross-border transactions, utilising his deep knowledge of inbound and outbound M&A.”
Vandana Pai “commands a strong reputation among market commentators, who praise her excellence in providing assistance with private equity transactions. Her clients are effusive with praise, with one reporting: ‘She foresees business and legal issues and is very proactive in addressing potential concerns.’
We receive top-notch partner time. They are realistic in negotiations, which results in the work being handled faster in a more congenial atmosphere.