Employee Rights In Mergers And Acquisitions

An entity to entity merger/acquisition has manifold considerations, movement of employees and their rights being one of the most important aspects. A change in the ownership or management of a company may result in a significant change in the working conditions of employees. Transfer of employees between different locations of the new entity, change in work profiles and execution of fresh or revised employment agreement with the new entity are some of the changes that would arise as a result of a merger or an acquisition. In this post, we have tried to provide a bird's eye view of the many points and challenges to be conscious of in the process.

Status of the Employee: Workforce in India can be categorised into 2 broad categories of 'workman' and 'non-workman'. There are specific labour statutes which have to be mandatorily complied with in respect of a 'workman'.