Legal and Ethical Aspects of Outsourcing

This chapter discusses legal and ethical aspects of outsourcing of software development and/or testing. Advanced economies have many laws and regulations to protect the environment, and the health and safety of employees in the workplace. The laws and regulations of the country where the subcontractor is based may not be as stringent, and so an ethical corporate citizen must do more in that it is not sufficient for the corporation to say that it is complying fully with the laws of every country it is operating, as these laws may not be fit for purpose. Further, the corporation has ethical responsibilities for the health and safety of the subcontractor staff that are working on their projects. We discuss legal aspects of failure including lawsuits and the law of tort.