How Can We Handle Negative Online Feedback from Ex-Employees and Consider Legal Action?

Addressing Negative Online Feedback from Ex-Employees

I would like to discuss with you our uncomfortable situation caused by a few of our ex-employees.

Recently, we fired a couple of freshers and experienced candidates due to their lack of professional attitude and poor performance in our company. We settled their salaries and all their documents. Once they received everything, they posted negative information disgracefully and created rumors about our company on internet forums intentionally. We found a few entries from a Google search; however, they posted with fake names. We only became aware of this issue when a fresher candidate refused to join us and mentioned that the company had bad reviews on the internet. We anticipate that this issue may affect us in the near future since we are a small company, and the freshers may not have the maturity to understand that someone's personal or spam-like comments cannot reflect a company's position.

Considering Legal Action and Preventive Measures

Our management is considering legal action against these individuals who spread rumors about our company and provided false information. I would like to know what possibilities exist for taking legal action against these ex-employees and how to gather evidence from those internet webpages. I would also like to understand if we can have our current employees sign agreements not to create negative feedback once they leave the company.

I am eagerly awaiting all of your valuable suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

You have fired employees due to poor performance. Some were newly joined, and some were experienced. However, before their termination, did you conduct a domestic enquiry? Did you give them a chance to defend their position? If you have not conducted the domestic enquiry, would you mind disclosing the reasons for not doing so?

A domestic enquiry would have strengthened your position. The terminated employees could have been informed that the separation from the company followed legal procedures. This may have served as a deterrent in their minds.

Whether a domestic enquiry was held or not, you may consider approaching the cyber police for spreading false and malicious information about your company. The cyber police will proceed with their own course of action.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

Termination Process and Legal Considerations

You fired a few employees, both freshers and experienced, but you did not disclose the process of firing/termination. Have you followed due process of law/principle of natural justice before the termination of these employees? If you have not followed any process set out under laws and simply terminated them, then obviously there is resentment among the ex-employees and even existing employees for such termination.

If you have followed the process, meaning thereby the issuance of a charge sheet/held a domestic inquiry and have given a chance to the employee for their defense, then it's okay and good; otherwise, you are at fault. Putting blame on the employees for bad-mouthing and spreading remorse is not the solution.

I can infer from your post that you might not have conducted any fair and impartial domestic inquiries before termination. The organization needs to come with clean hands.

Common Practices in IT & ITES Companies

Most IT & ITES companies illegally terminate employees in the name of poor performance without following due process of law, without adhering to the set principles of natural justice, and without setting any PIP for such employees as per the company's policy of code of conduct, which is a wrong and unethical practice.

Before making such decisions without adhering to the system of law, the company needs to consider that it not only involves the company in unnecessary litigation but also tarnishes the reputation and goodwill of the organization.

Legal Recourse and Consequences

You may file a complaint with the cyber cell, but the chance of any action being taken shall be negligible. Furthermore, it can also lead to opening a new arena of litigation under labor laws for the organization for illegal termination if any.

I apologize for being blunt, but it's the truth.

Hello, it is unwise to go for the legal method:

- First, it is too lengthy.
- Second, it is expensive.
- Third, it is time-consuming.

A better approach would be to create a positive image through satisfied employees and clients using various resources.

Regards, Shiv

Thank you for all your suggestions. We are conducting continuous reviews and discussions for each newcomer, providing feedback to help them fit into the industry. Moreover, we have clearly mentioned in the offer letter that the job will be terminated in case of poor performance. We are a small company, and along with working on core technology, we won't hire candidates easily and don't like to lose them just like that. We keep a close watch on the experienced candidates' performance, provide all opportunities at our best level, and always aim to grow together. I ensure that we have given enough opportunities to correct their mistakes and prove themselves.

@Dinesh Divekar: Yes, we conducted the inquiries and provided multiple opportunities to prove themselves.

@Essykkr: I am not concerned about IT and ITES-based companies as we are not in the IT/ITES sector. I seek more inputs regarding termination rather than the issue. It seems you have almost concluded that we fired our employees unethically. What do you mean by "chance of any action shall be negligible," and how does it become "lead and open a new arena of litigation under labor laws for the organization for illegal termination if any" when it is a legal termination and they are no longer employees for us?

I would like to provide more insights from my side.

- We can't take it lightly as it is a long-term problem. Those entries will be available for a while, can't be deleted, and anyone (including our clients) can refer to them even after many years.

- We have already given enough opportunities to them. If they are right, they could initiate legal action against us immediately, and we would genuinely appreciate that.

- Google easily finds those entries on the first page because it is a forum and many people can visit it.

- They have purposefully posted malicious comments with fake names on multiple platforms about our company, our MD, AO, etc.

- We believe some XYZ individuals posted these messages since they used fake names. Our main concern is to remove that content promptly and then claim for damages if any.

- We would like to obtain an agreement from our current employees to not follow such unprofessional paths.

- My personal question to everyone: Can you accept it if someone writes malicious comments about you on the internet and illegally damages your reputation?

@Meeting_Point: I agree with your point. Unfortunately, it is an online posting, available for a while, and anyone can refer to it at any time, potentially damaging our reputation. Therefore, we are in a situation where we must take the right action.

Please provide detailed information on the cyber police's course of action and how to approach them.

Another important question is whether the cyber police will take action against the content (not concerned about those irrelevant candidates) or if they will focus on the purpose of this posting, such as legal or illegal termination as some members have questioned.

Thank you for all your valuable inputs.

Let me explain, I did not conclude that you had terminated in an unethical manner. I have said it may be illegal without following the PNJ. Do you have Model Standing Order/Service Rules/Model Code of Conduct approved by the Appropriate Authority? There is a difference between unethical and illegal. One thing may be ethical for you but may not be good in law.

And why the input on termination? Because this is the root cause and repercussion of termination, which leads to this resentment and bad mouthing about your organization.

You have mentioned in your offer letter that the job will be terminated in case of poor performance. Can the offer letter supersede the provisions mentioned under the ID Act/IESO Act/S&E Act or other applicable legislations? It's a big no for those employees who are falling in the category of Workmen defined under the ID Act. That may be fine with Managers/Administrators or supervisors.

The chance of any action shall be negligible because such kind of act, omission, or behavior has not been covered under section 67 of the IT Act, which defines such offenses. But yes, surely it can fall within the meaning of defamation under section 499/500 of the Indian Penal Code as mentioned in Explanation 2 appended to this Section.

But in such cases, proving defamation is quite hard. Further, against unknown persons, police seldom take any action. You may have seen that for defamation, most cases are being filed directly to the concerned jurisdictional court.

You can file a complaint for defamation in the police station and also for removing the content from the Google site.

Regards

Handling Rumors and Disciplinary Actions

In case any employees spread rumors about your company or against any official, if proofs are available, you can take action as per the standing orders or disciplinary rules of the company by following the procedure.

If you have not provided written communication to employees who are not performing up to standard, stating that "your performance is not satisfactory, and you need to show improvement within the next few months," and have directly issued a termination letter citing performance issues, then legally, you may not have a strong standing.

If you have not given the employee a chance to improve, you have not adhered to the principle of natural justice.

If you are confident in your actions, consider opting for online ratings of your employees and ex-employees. If your policies are sound, you will receive good ratings compared to bad ones. This will help promote your brand, and negative comments will have minimal impact because you will mainly receive positive feedback. This can be considered as fighting back positively.

Approaching cyber police might damage your company's image in the job market. You may struggle to attract good talent to your company. Even if you win, it could harm your reputation. Additionally, employees may file a suit in labor courts for termination.

Regards,

Cyber Police Investigation Process

Cyber police have their own course of action if an employee has registered a fake email ID and fake name from a cyber cafe. The cybercrime branch will try to find the IP address of the PC. If the employee made a wrong entry in the cyber cafe register, showing fake ID proof, then it will not be possible to trace him. You will only be able to find the cyber cafe.

Regards