Are These Laptop Agreement Clauses Fair and Legal for Employees to Sign?

All senior employees in our office carry a laptop and we want to get an agreement signed. The draft copy has been prepared by our lawyer and I am confused regarding these undermentioned clauses, can you advise if this are appropriate? i.e. is it legal/ethical to ask employees to sign to these clauses.

>> BEGIN <<

1. The COMPANY shall not be liable to reimburse the Employee for any liability, claims, loss, damage, expenses of any kind or nature on the account of the following:

A. The machine being seized by any statutory authority for violation of the laws and/or any other reason incidental thereto;

B. In relation to any repairs, servicing, maintenance or adjustments thereof or for any intentional damage caused due to the negligence of the employee;

C. The COMPANY shall be under no liability with respect to the Employee's rights or position in respect to any law relating to taxation or any other such matters.

2. The Employee shall on no account cause or permit the machine to be seized under any distress or for any proceeding for attachment or otherwise, or in execution of any legal process, decree etc, and in the case of such seizure, distress etc, the employee shall get the same removed at its own cost.

3. The Employee shall be solely responsible for the proper upkeep and maintenance of the said machine and shall carry out such repairs, minor or major, and normal overhauling of the same as a man of ordinary prudence would do. The Employee will, at its own cost and expense, keep the machine protected from any harm caused to it and maintain and keep the same in good condition.

4. It shall be the responsibility of the Employee to ensure that adequate back-ups of important files are kept in other machines of the COMPANY in order to protect the project from suffering any unreasonable delay.

>>END<<

Thanks for responding.

Dear Mukul,

The clauses are required to prevent the employee from misusing the office property. In the event of misuse, the employee is responsible, and the organization is indemnified. There is no question of ethics involved in these clauses. As an HR person, we have to anticipate the avenues of misuse of office property and include clauses in the agreement. If any problems arise due to misuse, like the seizure of property by authorities, it will be HR/Admin who has to face the music. Remember...

Regards,
Bhavan

Thanks, Bhavan. I am mainly concerned about the following clauses:

3. The Employee shall be solely responsible for the proper upkeep and maintenance of the said machine and shall carry out such repairs, minor or major, and normal overhauling of the same as a person of ordinary prudence would do. The Employee will, at its own cost and expense, keep the machine protected from any harm caused to it and maintain and keep it in good condition.

4. It shall be the responsibility of the Employee to ensure that adequate backups of important files are kept on other machines of the COMPANY in order to protect the project from suffering any unreasonable delays.

Is it appropriate?

Dear Mukul,

My views on your query:

Points 1 and 3 are OK. The clause regarding back-up is very much required.

Regarding point 2 about servicing, in my organization, the laptops are covered under warranty or AMC. Any repairs/servicing are done under AMC. The AMC charges are paid by the organization as the asset is in the name of the organization, and it is given to the employee only to utilize the asset for official use. The user will refer the laptop to my IT department, which will arrange for necessary repairs/service/maintenance. I am not aware of any such arrangement in your organization, and hence the clauses can be inserted as per your organization's policy.

Regarding Mr. Yedulaprakash's feedback, I wish to give my views:

The clause regarding loss of property is included so that the employee will take adequate care of the property. In my organization, we have included a clause which states that the employee will replace the laptop at his own cost immediately in the event of loss. The company will lodge the insurance claim, and whatever insurance amount received will be returned to the employee.

I had a very bitter experience when one of my employees lost the laptop. While he replaced it at his own cost, the insurer refused to entertain the claim. The silly reason given by them is that the employee had not taken proper care. The fact is, the employee, a marketing executive, was traveling in a crowded bus and had kept the laptop by his side near the seat, and it was lost. The insurance company says that he should have kept the laptop on his lap! I fought with them and escalated the issue to their Regional head, but to no avail.

My advice is to ensure that the laptop is insured. The insurance company will provide a booklet containing clauses under which the insurance is covered. Take a copy and issue it to the user employee for their signature. You also need to understand the clauses.

My reply is lengthy, but I want to be more informative.

Regards,

BHAVAN