Employee Bond Breaking: Legal Consequences and Training Disputes Resolution Insights

Hi,

I recently joined a company with a service bond of 2 years. If I break the bond, I have to pay an amount of 2 lakh. Actually, I'm not happy with my job since they didn't even provide us good training at all. They just made us sit on the production floor next to other employees.

My job is the night shift, and on top of that, they make us work three extra hours every day without paying even a single rupee extra. My health was not good, and I wanted to leave on time, but they didn't allow me. I was in the hospital for the next three days because of that.

In my bond, they said six months of training, but in reality, all I received was three pens and one notebook. Please assist; I want to break this bond.

You can break the bond; nothing is going to happen. They can only recover the actual amount spent on your training to acquire skills, etc., as per a court order. Even it's also a lengthy process.

---
I corrected the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in the user's input. I also ensured proper paragraph formatting with a single line break between paragraphs.

Dear All,

We find a lot of posts on Bond Breaking. It is not as easy as one thinks to break a bond. There are serious consequences that will happen without our knowledge.

Having done certain research on the case law of Bond Breaking, we find that it is more favorable to the Employer. This is because of the legal route adopted by the Employers for the enforcement of the Bond. Employers go through the process of Arbitration and get an award many times ex parte, i.e., in the employee's absence. The advantage for Employers is that Employees are reluctant to part with their address, and the Employer goes for service of notice on the old address and gets the verdict from the Arbitrator in their favor. The scope of the appellate process against such awards is very limited, and the award by the Arbitrator is confirmed. The instances of Employees resisting such claims are minimal. Once the Employer gets the verdict, the time for enforcement is 12 years.

Therefore, it is better to plead with your employer to relieve you from the obligations of the Bond by sending an "escalation letter" to the Higher up than your HR Head, say if it is an MNC, to the HQ. It may sometimes work. In case this also does not work out, you can send a "frustration Letter" for the record. In case there is a legal case, this letter may help. For getting the letters, you need to seek legal help based on your specific facts.

The other option exposed by case law on enforcement on negative covenants is where the Employer is forced to terminate the Employee instead of the employee resigning. This option needs to be exercised and dealt with great care as you might have other issues cropping up. If there is termination, then the Bond cannot be enforced.

Also, creating an Employees Forum with an All India Network to provide Legal Assistance at a nominal cost to defend Bond cases on the Employees' side can be a solution. This can match the legal strength of the Employees.

With Regards,

Advocates & Notaries & Legal Consultants [HR]

Email: rajanassociates@eth.net

9025792684 - 9025792634