Zomato Founder Deepinder Goyal's Plan to Hire Only Supremely Fit Employees Raises Questions About Legality

Eternal Ltd. (formerly Zomato) Launches Temple, a Longevity Venture Hiring Engineers with a Unique Fitness Requirement

Deepinder Goyal, founder of Eternal Ltd., has posted a job opening for engineers to work on Temple, a company focused on improving human healthspan and understanding the biological processes of aging. The hiring process comes with a requirement for candidates to have low body fat levels, similar to those found in athletes.

According to Indian contract law, employers are not prohibited from prescribing health-related criteria for a role, as long as the criteria are clearly defined and do not discriminate based on gender, religion, or race. However, the condition to reach lower body fat levels within three months has raised concerns, as it may be seen as an open-ended probation.

Some sectors, such as aviation, hospitality, and the armed forces, have used body mass index (BMI) as a hiring parameter, where a clear correlation exists between the work profile and the need for certain physical and physiological skills. However, the correlation must not be arbitrary, as employment has to be fair with equal opportunities for all.

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India Inc. has increased its focus on employee health over the past few years, with companies introducing mandatory annual health check-ups, access to hospitals and therapists, and insurance policies that include partners and even gender surgeries. In 2024, Aditya Birla Health Insurance decided to amalgamate employee health goals into performance metrics.

Legal implications may arise if any conditions create a perceived discriminatory scenario. Anshul Prakash, partner-employment, labour & benefits at Khaitan & Co, pointed out that companies may face legal challenges if they push for more annual check-ups, even when employees are not working in hazardous conditions.

Temple received $54 million in its first round of funding from "friends and family" at a post-money valuation of about $190m. The company aims to assemble a dream team to build the ultimate wearable for elite performance athletes.