BackGovt shelves social media-linked salary communication plan
‘The draft rule attempted to institutionalize such platforms and increased the threat of financial profiling’
PremiumThe Union government will not allow social media platforms such as WhatsApp to be used for salary communication of employees, correcting a mistake or oversight, amid privacy concerns and criticism that the move was institutionalizing and legitimizing such platforms in formal communication.
The anomaly will be corrected and the government will remove social media and WhatsApp from wage communication draft notification, labour secretary Apurva Chandra said.
“We will amend that portion. We value the privacy concerns of employees. The drafts will be finalized soon and you will see that social media, including WhatsApp will not be there in the final standing orders," Chandra said.
Mint first broke the story on 11 January, saying how despite growing concerns over data privacy, the Union labour ministry was keen to institutionalize social media and had proposed to make salary communication on “WhatsApp and other social media platforms" when the new labour codes are implemented. The move was seen as an attempt by the government to legitimize and institutionalize WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
“All payment including wages to the workers shall be paid by crediting in the bank account of worker on electronic mode or digital form. 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 Union labour ministry had said in the draft standing orders for the services, manufacturing and mining sectors.
Labour economists and cyber-security experts believe that using social media for salary communications will not only compromise the employee-employer confidentiality agreement, but shall also lead to financial profiling, surveillance of bank details, and data theft.
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