WhatsApp, Social Media Won’t Be Part Of Salary Communications: Labour Ministry

Indian Ministry of Labour and Employment recently brought in several changes to the Labour Code. One among them was allowing platforms like WhatsApp to be used for salary communication. Looks like that won't be happening anytime soon, as the Ministry has decided to stop using social media platforms or WhatsApp for the purpose.

Ministry Removes WhatsApp For Salary Communication

Looking back, the Labour Ministry proposed using WhatsApp and other social media for salary communication. "Intimation to the payment made to a worker shall be sent to him through short messaging service (SMS) or e-mail or social media communication, such as WhatsApp or by issuing a slip," the Labour Ministry had said in the draft standing orders.

However, following privacy concerns, the ministry has decided to scrap the idea. The report comes from Mint, which cites labour secretary Apurva Chandra who said the government will remove social media and WhatsApp from wage communication draft notification.

The Indian government is concerned about WhatsApp sharing data with parent-company Facebook, especially when the matter is sensitive like employee wages. "We will amend that portion. We value the privacy concerns of employees," the Mint quotes Chandra. "The drafts will be finalized soon and you will see that social media, including WhatsApp, will not be there in the final standing order."

WhatsApp Privacy Concern

WhatsApp seems to be the prime concern here, especially after it brought in a mandatory privacy update. When WhatsApp introduced the new privacy policy, it also forced users to comply with it or they would lose their account. The privacy policy update has been pushed for a few months now, but the concern remains.

In particular to the salary communication, the ministry posted the draft orders in the public domain for comments. From the looks of it, the comments raised concerns and fear about WhatsApp and other social media platforms accessing financial and social security details of workers.

Using social media or messaging platforms like WhatsApp for salary communication has several risks. It could compromise the employee-employer confidentiality agreement, financial profiling, scanning of bank details, data theft, and so on. The ministry said the draft will be finalized and made part of the Industrial Relation (IR) Code Act after a month.