Hello to all forum members, respected seniors, and friends:
I am B.Tech graduate of the year 2011. i worked in a private organization from august 2011 to february 2012, after which I decided to leave and join another private organization (Say company XXX). After the interview at XXX, I was asked to attend a salary negotiation with the GM, wherein my take-home remuneration was decided and agreed from both-ways. However, i was also notified that i would have to execute a service agreement with the company, and I would like to high light a few clauses in the agreement:
(1) That the service agreement was for a period of 2 years.
(2) That if I leave the organization within 2 years, I would have to pay compensation, and since this compensation cannot be estimated, I shall have to pay 15 times the last basic salary of each month. (Say if last monthly basic is Rs.10,000, I have to pay 15 x 10000 = Rs. 1,50,000)
(3) That if I leave after 2 years but before 4 years, no amount has to be paid by me.
(4) That if I stay for 4 years, company would reward me for say Rs. 3,00,000.
(5) Other clauses of liquidated damages were also mentioned (as usual clauses in agreements)
Now, I after serving for 1 year in XXX, i have been selected in a PSU. it is clearly mentioned in the appointment letter of the PSU that no clearance/release letter/no-demand is required from us if we have been previously employed in any private organization. N.O.C. is only required for employees who were previously working in government or semi-government organizations.
I resigned, but my resignation letter was not accepted. The authority at XXX knew that I was going for a govt. job (though not in detail), which, naturally, they never accepted sportingly. in addition, the reason for non-acceptance was also because i was in a service agreement. Therefore, I e-mailed my resignation to the GM and copied it to HR, stayed on for another week to hand-over all documents, functional responsibilities to my immediate superior and my colleagues, and thereafter I stopped attending office.
I request the seniors to clarify me on certain points:
(1) My appointment letter does not mention whether i am a regular/trainee/probationer employee. Is it correct?
(2) For the first six months, i was only paid the take home remuneration, which was decided as I have stated above. There was no breakup of salary, and there was no PF, it was like stipend during training. BUT I WAS ASSIGNED REGULAR WORK AND NO TRAINING WAS IMPARTED TO ME. Is this ok?
(3) After six months, my salary was re-structured (i.e., now there was a breakup of Basic, DA, PF, gratuity, Super-annuation, etc.). However, when i asked whether i was a confirm employee, they said I WAS NOT A CONFRIM EMPLOYEE, (However they never mentioned what i was, i.e., trainee or probationer, and if so, what was the duration of training/probation). They said that I had to apply for confirmation, which I did, and I have not been confirmed until my last day on the organization. is this ok?
(4) It is not mentioned anywhere in my agreement that they will recover 15 times my last monthly basic salary AS COST OF TRAINING. As such can I be sued in a court of law to pay the said amount, without any proper justification of the amount from their side?
(5) Few more points:
(i) Notice period was for 3 months, which i did not serve.
(ii) I have handed over all works, rounded up all ongoing jobs, handed over on-going jobs with proper explanation to colleagues of my department, all documents, etc. before leaving
(iii) As soon as i resigned, they blocked my last month salary.
(iv) Till date I have only received a letter from their HR department, stating that I have been absent in an unauthorized manner for a long time, and that i was to present myself immediately to their office, failing which they would act as per my service agreement.
I have joined and started working at the PSU. Since no information regarding previous private employers were required, i have not mentioned about XXX anywhere in the documents which i was required to fill up during joining the PSU (such as police verification roll, self-declaration, etc.)
(6) Can XXX pull me to the court of law? Will having a civil lawsuit against my name affect my career at the PSU? Can I be chargesheeted for not mentioning my previous employer, even if it is a private organization? Is this service agreement valid at all in a court of law?
I have suffered mental harassment, undue admonition, I had already resigned from the first job, and there was no alternative but to sign the agreement.
Please advice.
Regards,
R. Shankar Dhingra
