India Labor Codes: Implementation Update and Employer Considerations

Atul is a partner with Trilegal and has helped establish its labour and employment law practice. He brings 20 years of experience in this field and regularly works with international and domestic employers across varied sectors on their most complex HR-Legal issues. His practice covers both advisory and contentious work in the HR-Legal space, and his first-hand experience in handling several employment disputes in India gives him the ability to offer real-life and practical guidance and risk mitigation strategies.

Atul is based in Bangalore but as part of a full-service law firm, he advises clients throughout the country. He has been consistently ranked as a Tier-1 practitioner and a Thought Leader by independent research organizations such as Legal 500, Chambers and Partners and Who’s Who Legal/Lexology over many years.

Michelle Swinden is the Executive Director, Asia-Pacific for CHRO Association, serving as the Association’s contact point for member companies in the Asia Pacific region. Michelle is based in Sydney, Australia.

Michelle has more than 25 years of human resources experience in a regional Asia Pacific and global capacity. Prior to joining HR Policy Global, Michelle worked for the IBM Corporation for more than 30 years. She has extensive experience in the management of Employee and Labour Relations in the Asia environment, as well as a deep understanding of the impact of global labour relations on multinational organisations. During her long career with IBM, Michelle held a variety of roles including Compensation and Benefits Manager for IBM Australia, Diversity and Inclusion Leader, Manager of Employee Concerns & Complex Employee Relations cases for Asia Pacific, and HR Executive for Employee and Labour Relations in Asia Pacific.

Michelle has a special interest in building and delivering enablement and information, allowing HR practitioners across all regions and functions of Human Resources to develop an understanding of the importance of effective employee and labour management. In addition, Michelle actively encourages companies to network and share their experiences, bringing an increased understanding of the challenges and solutions to building strong employee relations environments.

Michelle holds an Honours Degree in Psychology from the University of New England, Australia, and a Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management from Deakin University, Australia. She is a CAHRI Member of the Australia Human Resources Institute.

Dr. Augustus G S Azariah (Augie) has a very interesting career, having started work in Tech Sales, Consulting & Training while the IT industry was gaining root in India.

With about 3 decades of experience in the Human Resources function, he’s currently with Kyndryl (an IBM spinoff as the Regional HR Director for the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa regions).

He has gained deep understanding of the constantly changing business & is regarded as a subject matter expert & thought leader in People Strategy. He has led public policy initiatives in simplifying the Labor Laws and was instrumental in significantly contributing to the Unified Labor Code, a white paper on simplifying Labor Laws that was presented to the government in 2008 and aimed at attracting foreign investments in India and increasing employment opportunities. This is one of the building blocks for the new Labor Codes in India.

He has held various leadership roles in IBM India Human Resources in the areas of Business HR, Staffing, Leadership Development, Succession Planning, Mergers, Divestments & Acquisitions, and he is an active proponent of the Future of Work and the Digital Transformation of HR.

He serves on various boards & committees as

• Advisor for skills, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, Min of IT/BT, GOK
• Management Committee member of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry & Commerce BCIC & Mentor to the Expert Committee for HR & Women’s Empowerment & Leadership
• Chairman for South India, HR Committee for ASSOCHAM
• Member, NASSCOM: National Association of Software & Services Companies
• Member, Board of Studies, Nitte Meenakshi School of Management
• HR Committee Member, AMCHAM, American Chambers of Commerce
• ISTD – Indian Society for Training & Development, et al.

He was recently invited to the UN Conference on Human Rights at Geneva to provide an India perspective on Human Rights and AI.

Recently, he was recognized as Asia’s Most Innovative Tech HR Leader by HRM Asia & The Times of India. He was also awarded the “Thought Leadership” award by the African Asian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. There are numerous accolades, as well as an honorary doctorate bestowed upon him for his contribution to the HR function and the Future of Work.

He is a startup mentor as well as a strong supporter of social entrepreneurship that focuses or supports the advancement of women. He also runs a Trust called “Looking Above” that focuses on women’s employability and STEM education for girls.

He likes to spend time traveling with his family and is also a middle-distance runner and loves to watch movies and listen to music when he has the time.