International
United Kingdom
UK companies building teams in India — whether a delivery centre, an engineering function or a shared services operation — need the India side built correctly from the first hire.
What makes the UK market different
UK employers tend to arrive with better instincts on employment documentation than their US counterparts, because UK practice is itself contract-driven. The difficulty is that the specific provisions do not carry across — Indian statutory benefits, notice, termination and salary structuring all work differently, and a well-drafted UK contract is still a UK contract.
The most common gap I see with UK companies is retention rather than compliance. A team is hired successfully, and then loses its strongest people in year two, because compensation was benchmarked once at hire and the Indian market moved considerably faster than the annual review cycle. UK reward practice assumes a market that moves at UK speed.
Data protection is a second recurring theme. UK companies are accustomed to UK GDPR and reasonably assume their existing framework covers the India operation. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act imposes its own obligations on employee and candidate data, and HR is usually where the largest volume of it sits.
A third is management distance. UK leadership managing an India team through a single local manager typically has poor visibility of performance distribution, engagement and retention risk, and finds out about problems when someone senior resigns.
My scope is Indian employment practice. UK employment law needs UK advisers.
What I do for UK employers
- Employment contracts drafted for Indian law rather than adapted from a UK template
- Salary structuring and statutory registration from the first hire
- DPDP Act review of employee and candidate data held in India
- Compensation benchmarking reviewed more than annually, against the Indian market
- Retention strategy for the India team's critical and high-potential people
- Performance management that gives UK leadership genuine visibility
- Fractional CHRO retainer covering the India operation
Most relevant here
India Entry — HR & Employment Setup
For overseas companies hiring their first employees in India. Entity-side HR, contracts, payroll structure and compliance, advised online.
DPDP Act Compliance for HR Data
Employee and candidate data is personal data. Most HR functions are not set up for that.
Fractional CHRO
CHRO-grade judgement on a part-time retainer, for companies that need the thinking without the salary.
Performance Management Systems
Goal setting, appraisal and PIP designed as a cycle that actually completes.
HR in UK — common questions
Does UK GDPR cover our Indian employees' data?
Not on its own. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act imposes separate obligations in respect of data processed in India, including employee and candidate data. A UK GDPR framework is a reasonable starting point and is not a substitute for assessing the India position.
Why did we lose our best India hires in year two?
Almost always compensation drift plus invisible progression. The Indian market for good engineers moves faster than an annual UK-cycle review, so a package that was competitive at hire is behind within a year — and if there is no visible next step either, the strongest people are the first to leave because they have the most options.
Elsewhere
International