India: Employment and HR

In the competitive economy, businesses generally go to great lengths to protect their intellectual property, clients and specialised internal processes.

While many countries modernised and merged their labour laws over the past few decades, India continued operating under an old and scattered framework of 29 Central labour Acts.

In Hamsaanandini Nanduri v Union of India, the Supreme Court examined whether adoptive mothers could be denied maternity benefit merely because the adopted child was older than three months. The challenge was first mounted against the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (“the Act”), but after the Code on Social Security, 2020 (“the Code”) came into force on November 21, 2025, the Court treated the Code as the operative provision.

India's DPDP Rules 2025 operationalize the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, creating a balanced framework for privacy and data use. Notified on November 14, 2025, after extensive consultations, these rules emphasised citizens' rights alongside business compliance.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (the "POSH Act") represents a landmark initiative enacted to fill a legislative vacuum in safeguarding dignity and rights of persons in professional workplaces. The objective of the POSH Act is two-fold, providing redressal to women who are subject to harassment, and preventing and prohibiting harassment in the workplace.

In the earlier parts of this series, we delved into the "Why" (how proper processes protect employers and ensure fairness for employees) and the "How" (crafting court-proof charge sheets).

Disputes relating to compassionate appointments and pensionary benefits frequently arise when multiple family members claim entitlement after the death of an employee.

In The Management of Tata Engineering & Locomotive Company Ltd. (now Tata Motors Ltd.) v. Sumitra Devi & Ors., the Jharkhand High Court reaffirmed that Labour Courts possess...

In this episode of the Legal Podcast Bite powered by IndiaLaw LLP, host Ishika Soni discusses a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India, clarifying the limits of post-retirement disciplinary proceedings...

In employment relationships, resignation is often perceived as a simple unilateral act, reduced to a letter placed on an employer's desk. Indian jurisprudence, however, treats resignation as a legally...

Public and private sector contracts in India often end up in disputes not because contractors underperform, but because projects are delayed, disrupted, or changed mid-stream...

The judgment of the Hon'ble Delhi High Court in Abhijit Mishra v. Wipro Limited [CS(OS) 31/2021], delivered on 14 July 2025, deals with the interplay between contractual termination rights in private employment and the tort of civil defamation.