THE EMPLOYMENT BOND IS NOT ENOUGH

Employment bond is used by companies as a deterrent against looking for greener pastures. Legally, speaking company term it as the expenses incurred by them on their employees for their “training and grooming” but is it worth it? I would like to cite my example. The moment I disclosed the fact to my HR that I have got call from a B-school (which I was not very keen to join, till then I was waiting for XIMB’s call), my HR manager asked me straight way to resign,pay 50K as the bond amount and termed me as a “Liability for the company”, until that very moment I was “an asset” to the company, I declined to do so stating that I need time to revisit my decision in reality I was buying time for XIMB’s call. In the mean time I contacted some of my seniors in the company and asked “Do I really need to pay the bond amount?” I must admit there was mixed reaction even one of my senior who was my RMG (resource management group) said “keeping your work experience (7 months) in mind I would suggest you to simply resign and refuse to pay the bond amount. The only thing company can do is declare you absconding after a period of 2 months or so and till then you would remain on the company’s payroll”. What an irony? The same tactics was adopted by one of my colleague who eventually was paid for 2 months even after resigning and finally was called for negotiations to solve the matter amicably. I was on a crossroad, finally bowing down to my integrity I paid Rs.50000 and exited the company gracefully.

If this is the situation in a private sector multinational company it is somebody’s guess what would be the situation in a public sector company. Employment bond is for those for whom integrity is tantamount, otherwise it is a farce.