Sheahan Verghese

TLA, founded in May 2009, is a full service law firm, with boutique firm capabilities, depth of understanding and domain expertise in Labour & Employment and Technology & Outsourcing. Mr. Sheahan Verghese, with over 12 years of experience, heads the Employment, Technology & Outsourcing and transactional IP practice at TLA. TLA is amongst the few firms in India with a focused and specialized vertical in employment law, with pure-play employment law clients. TLA’s employment law practice comprises extensive advice to trans-border IT and other clients, including leading players in the wireless space on their HR and employment legal infrastructure, covering all stages of the HR and employment lifecycle, from recruitment and hiring to wages, benefits and compensation (including social security and totalisation agreements and issues and employee stock incentives advice), rewards and incentives and associated tax issues to industrial and employment relations/policies to lay-offs, termination and closure. Further, lawyers at TLA also advise on key management (executive) contracts, regular employment documentation and HR policy and employment issues in cross-border M&A. TLA also has a strong labour audit and compliance practice that works in tandem with client compliance ethos and is pre-emptive. TLA assesses labour issues in terms of legal risk mapping and risk analysis and then evolves risk mitigation strategies that synergise with client business and HR environments. TLA’s lawyers also extensively advise on employment IP, IP audit and management in an employment environment, trade secrets and data protection in India, and protection of confidential information at the employee and corporate level. TLA’s labour and employment law advice is pre-emptive, proactive, most often strategic and ensures synergy between client global HR ethos, policy and strategic imperatives and Indian employment law and practice. As a consequence of TLA’s lawyers’ constant advisory interaction with cross-border clients, their knowledge and exposure to global labour regulatory environments and perspectives have grown and in turn honed the global and strategic nature of their advice. Set out below are some of TLA’s key recent transactions: 1.Providing advice to a US client on innovative reward initiatives for employees, including EAPs and vacation donation policy 2.Providing advice to several US clients on the nature and extent of the definition of ‘International Workers’ under India’s recent social security legislation and its impact on cross-border labour flow. 3.Providing advice to an Indian client on transition issues in inbound cross border M&A and integration and expat taxation and social security totalisation. 4.Providing advice to a US client on structuring its contract workforce including the requirement of break in service 5.Advising several US clients on closure of their business operations in India and effecting RIF of their employees 6.Advising a US client on review of their global HR policies, practices and employment documentation and policy and documentation changes that synergise Indian law with their HR ethos.