Accused of Running a Side Business: How Would You Handle Workplace Allegations?

Parallel Business Allegations in the Workplace

Person A and Person B are friends and work in the same company. Person A does some work for his other friend, C, who has his own company. Person B assists with printing and courier services, which is a home business run by Person B's wife. Person B receives payment through Person A. The company claims that Person A and Person B are running parallel businesses based on Gmail communications and WhatsApp chats between A, B, and C.

Role of Person C in the Allegations

Person C regularly provides business to Person B's wife for printing and data entry work, making payments into her account. The auditor of Person B's company reviews his wife's account and concludes that Person B is running a parallel business in her name.

The company is terminating both employees A and B for doing business with person C and favoring person B's wife. Is that fair?

Dear member,

Your post provides details of commercial activities by the employees beyond their normal duties. However, you have not mentioned whether those activities created a conflict of interest. If the commercial activities had no bearing whatsoever on the business of the company, then I don't think that the company would have terminated employees A and B.

You have written: "The company states Person A and Person B are running a parallel business considering the Gmail communication and WhatsApp chat of A, B, or C."

But how could the company authorities or auditors access Gmail communication or WhatsApp chat among A, B, and C? Such activities are done surreptitiously, and utmost care is taken to avoid blowing up these matters.

Before terminating the services, did the company conduct a domestic inquiry? Were the employees given a chance to defend their case? Did the company suffer losses due to clandestine commercial activities by A and B? If yes, did the inquiry officer acquire incontrovertible evidence?

There are many questions associated with your post. Please clarify.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Termination Process and Legal Considerations

The termination process is used to eliminate an employee found guilty of misconduct or violations of set rules. An auditor's report can be a reason for termination, but it should fall under misconduct, and the employer must establish that the employee is guilty of the charges framed. Termination cannot happen as an immediate action by leveling bogus charges; such actions are considered unfair and illegal.

Is Termination Legal or Illegal?

You decide for yourself now.

First of all, the poster 'Silkthread' didn't pose any questions to us asking for a solution. How did an auditor find this out and start "investigating" their email accounts? It seems amiss. It simply looks like a case study.

In small establishments, such favors towards side businesses of employees are often seen. Such activities, like xeroxing and printing jobs done outside, seem petty unless business information is shared externally. Recently, big corporates have notified some employees using the advantages of WFH to do jobs for others, termed 'moonlighting,' and issued warning mails. As a result, many have been called back to report to office premises, canceling the 'WFH' model.

Probably in this case, A, B, C, and the wife are all indulging in a 'domestic office' setup for extra income. Having come to know of this nexus, the employer has to examine what exactly is going on between them, which could be detrimental to their own business interests due to their colluding secretly or openly, and then plan a strategy to tackle it.