Do you know how to hire a good labour law consultant in India? Many owners and organisations struggle to find, evaluate and hire a good labour law consultant
You dreamed of having your company and took pains to create the organisation. But then you learned that it was not just about making that product & service but so many other things. Slowly you get into the trap of managing everyday affairs and your product/service takes a backseat. While you are firefighting, one fine day a Government authority reaches your office and gives you a legal notice. You don’t have the slightest idea what is about. And there you come to know that your company has to follow some Labour Laws in India. And then the search for a good Labour Law Consultant starts.
Why should you hire a labour law consultant?
If you are planning to start a business or already have an established one, many labour laws will be applicable from day one. Depending upon the type of industry and employee count, some labour laws become applicable on later stages of business growth.
When you start a business, your entire focus is on building product or service. Depending upon your industry type and market expansion plan, you create infrastructure like factory and offices and hire employees to grow your business.
Labour laws become applicable the moment you establish your workplace (factory or office). Some other labour laws are applicable after you hire employees. And here come to your rescue a good labour law consultant. A labour law consultant can help you in carving your compliance journey and save you from the many inadvertent non-compliances, many of which carry criminal punishment in the form of penalties and imprisonment.
Where to search for a good labour law consultant?
Most labour law consultants can be searched online or through referrals of other companies already utilising their services. Many consultants have created business listings on Google Businesses, B2B portals like Just Dial or have their own websites. In smaller cities and town, you might get 2 to 3 such consultants whereas bigger metros may have a larger pool.
Difference between Labour Lawyers and Labour Law Consultants
In most part of India, you will find Advocates practising Labour Law as a specialist domain (i.e they don’t take up any other type of assignments like civil/criminal cases) or as regular practitioners in all fields of law.
And then there is a category of Labour Law specialists who may or may not be qualified Advocates but have picked up the domain knowledge and expertise of labour laws by virtue of their working experience in industries as HR Managers or Legal professionals (CA/CS/Law). They have handled all types of scenarios like Industrial Relations, Legal Compliances, Licenses & Registration, Liaisoning with Government bodies, Contractor Management, Internal & External Audits etc.
Whereas knowledge-wise, both practising Advocates and Consultants may be the same, the differentiating factor is their regular hand-holding abilities for day-to-day issues of owners and organisations.
Since Advocates are mostly busy with all types of litigations and court appearances, their ability to regularly handhold their corporate clients on small trivial issues is limited. They may not be able to take every call, respond to every email or text messages on a regular basis. Their day-times are mostly consumed in courts and evenings are dedicated to client briefs and preparations for next day. Therefore, organisations can only approach them within their available schedules.
Labour Law Consultants, on the other hand, do not have such external dependencies. They operate shoulder-to-shoulder with organisations and owners on their day-to-day queries and challenges. Most of them have dedicated offices and staff performing many outsourcing activities like Payroll, PF & ESIC Challan preparations, Liaisoning with Government bodies, drafting replies to notices and assessment orders and many more activities. Their set-up is a perfect Business Process Outsourcing centre. For most part of the day, they are always well-equipped to take on calls, emails and text messages of their clients.
How to decide and hire a good labour law consultant?
For you and your company company, time is money. You would like to make informed decisions in the fastest possible time. Also many activities under Labour Laws are time-bound due to various provisions of Acts & Rules. Therefore, timely and prompt action needs to be taken at all times. Also, if inadvertently any breach has happened, it has to be attended promptly and corrective actions should be taken.
While looking at hiring a good capable labour law consultant, you should look at the following:
- Can he/she hand-hold you on a day-to-day basis (at least in the initial set up stage or till you understand the intricacies of Labour Laws)
- Do they have the required industry experience in which you are operating
- Does the consultant have prior industry exposure at executive or managerial levels of driving compliances
- If not, are they in this business for a considerable time (say 10 years) to have gained experience of Labour Laws
- Do they have a proper onboarding process for new clients
- Do they have processes and systems in place to drive compliances
- What are the qualifications of the founders and key spocs you would be dealing with
- Do they have an accessible team structure with flexibility to approach higher-ups if need arises
- Are their existing clients impressed with their professional and transparent work ethics
- Can they provide agile and accurate information to facilitate accelerated decision-making for you
- Dont labour law consultants only known for their liaisoning abilities because adhering to compliances comes before liaisoning
- Dont hire agents/middlemen but a person with a passion for law and corporate governance
- Discuss the scope at length and take their inputs seriously
Conclusion
A business has no business to be in business if does not follow the law of the land. You & your organisation is responsible for adhering to all the applicable labour laws. It becomes more important for small businesses to start complying from day 1 since it will be very difficult to catch up in the growth stage. Also for them, to have a dedicated HR or legal resource may not be feasible at all times. So to hire a good Labour Law Consultant makes more sense. Negligence and careless approach can have cascading effects on the future of your organisation and also put the founders in awkward situations. Hire the best and monitor their services by taking feedback from your teams.
Wishing you Happy Compliances !