7) Reducing Legal Backlash in Offshore Operations

Computer Weekly held a press release and announced the launch of A Manager's Guide to IT Law. The release expressed that the book, available from the BCS, concluded 5 important tips to assist organizations to void many of the common defects to IT outsourcing. These are found below.

1. Build up an official e-mail as well as internet policy, dispatch it to all employees and ensure recipients to agree with the terms as well as conditions. It is to justify disciplinary practice when someone breaks the policy.
2. Make sure the organization knows about the novel health as well as security regulations on computer use. For example, members should sit correctly and there should be channels for wheelchairs. Enable this information to reach all employees.
3. Make sure that employees using computers can be provided with free eye examinations periodically; cover the cost of basic glasses or contact lenses when necessary.
4. Ensure that the footer on all e-mails contains all the information related to the organization, including the title of the firm, the registered corporation number as well as the address of the registered office.
5. In the situation that the organization monitors staff e-mails, tell them the reason. To ensure that directors are clear about when they are able to and not to read staff e-mails.

The book promises to be helpful in understanding the influence of legal backlashes on outsourced operations (at least for UK-based businesses). The release itself says that it uses simple English to discuss issues including: instructing a consultant, outsourcing, employment problems, intellectual property, data protection, joint ventures and escrow.

The case studies contained in the book are interesting. The book did not mention the word “offshore” and the coverage of the laws might be limited to outsourcing within the mother company's area, or what is also called “in shoring”.

The fact is that the countries that do offshore projects are still developing, and in the same time, are also developing their IP and labor laws. A common cause of conflict is the short of synchronicity between the IP and labor laws that influence a project's host country (where freelance consultants, consultancy firms, etc. are based) and country of area (where the entrepreneurs, their main business branches, etc. are based).

You do not need to be surprised when the country of origin has more sophisticated and comprehensive laws in the area of work ethic and management practices, and that these laws even aim to be enforced offshore.

Because Microsoft is in a country that has solid anti-discriminatory laws, it has suffered a backlash.

A law preventing businesses in the US from citing age restrictions might exist, but the fact is: India and many other off shoring countries do not have such laws. Business managers offshore would argue that a swift turnover of younger staff makes for more competitive talents. It may even be that governments actually give up anti-discriminatory laws with the purpose of making their foundations more attractive to investors.

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