Do women employees need a contract to meet boss after work?

14 August, 2012

The Geetika Sharma's story is an eye-opener for all women employees who have signed various contracts with their employers. Meeting the boss after work is not a crime but adding such a clause in the work agreement smacks of bad intentions on both sides.

EVERY DAY, the story of young airhostess Geetika Sharma’s suicide provides unforeseen truth of Indian working women in private businesses. An agreement signed between Geetika Sharma and her employer MDLR chairman cum former Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda (GGK) required her to report to him every day after work in the evening hours.

Airhostess accused GGK along with another executive of company Aruna Chadha of harassing her in her suicide note. The Delhi police informed the court about this agreement, which was signed by Geetika at the time of joining the MDLR. This may strengthen the case against GGK, however, it raises an important issue - why was this condition mentioned in the agreement during hiring of an employee?

“Agreed, the issue raises the eyebrows and stunned many working women. I too heard it first time in my career. It is the responsibility of human resource department of the company. How can they ask a woman employee to sign this type of agreement?” asked Diksha Seth, a practicing lawyer.

“I personally feel that women should ask this to their employers before signing the condition. What is the need to meet your boss after working hours, when employee has already completed her duty? I do not want to blame Sharma, but woman should be enough intelligent and aware of all terms and conditions of any company before joining any odd-hours jobs,” opined Mohima Narang, an HRD manager.

Chadha revealed that Sharma was made to terminate her pregnancies on various occasions. On the other hand, GGK also accused her of being hypersensitive by nature and unable to deal with the ordinary pressure. He blamed Sharma for unable to strike balance between professional and personal life.

“At the end, I am sure it will become typically a societal issue where it is very common to put blame on the girl. As Kanda is a high profile person, he may somehow try to escape by blaming her character and behaviour,” added Narang.

The company acts in India have set no such conditions for their employers. The corporations are free to formulate any acts; however the contract like meeting the boss at the end of duty may look as apprehensive and conflicting. The Federation of Company Acts must rethink about these acts which puts women employees in such a pitiable condition.