Facing Pressure to Sign Bonds and Handle Equipment Theft: How Should I Navigate This Career Dilemma?

Dear all,

I joined the company as a fresher (Engineer) in the 2008 batch. I didn't receive any offer letter from this company; I just signed a simple paper. I worked there for 1 month and received my first payment (via cheque). The company then mentioned signing a bond for 2 years (2 lakh Rs.) along with submitting the original degree certificate. I would have signed the bond as I was a fresher and didn't have any experience. However, the pay was not good either, only 6400/- in hand, believe me! They didn't even pay on time.

So, when I received another offer with a similar salary (9000/- in hand) without a bond, I accepted it and absconded from the company. The new company also didn't provide me with an offer letter before joining. I was working in Mumbai, and the company's office is in Ahmedabad. My job involved handling a few expensive equipments (fieldwork). Unfortunately, those equipments, i.e., my KIT bag, got stolen. I filed an FIR for the same at the nearest police station. I sent a copy to the client company and another copy to my parent company, whose office is in Ahmedabad (as the KIT includes some equipments owned by the client and some by the parent company).

Instead of supporting me, my company held me responsible for the theft. The client company supported me, but my parent company informed me that they would compensate the loss incurred to the company by reducing my salary. They also asked me to courier the original degree certificate to them and to stay on the current project for 2 years. I eventually absconded from there as well.

Please do reply, for which I will be thankful to you. 😊

Hi,

You say you are a fresher (engineer), then how did you get into fieldwork? Anyways, try to get the issue sorted. There's no point in running like this as you have already done this earlier. Always try to make things clear, or else they will put you in trouble. Until and unless you feel that you are safe and your job is secured, don't ever provide your original documents and sign a bond. If you are not happy with anything or have any issues, get them cleared.

Wish you ALL THE BEST.

Did you submit any of your personal details before absconding? Didn't they try to reach out to you? Anyways, I really pity what happened to you! I feel it's of no use running away from your responsibilities; rather, face it and try to find a way out! Since you can't do this every time, this could put a black mark on your resume and career too!

Yes, I did submit my details on the day of joining. They didn't try to reach me. Some have been working there for 9 months and have yet to receive an offer letter! That's why I thought it's better to abscond than to submit originals.

First Job: You could have boldly told them that you require a job with better pay if you need to consider signing the bond. That would have been a smart move.

Second job: You say you have not received any offer letter - you could have boldly told them you have filed an FIR and would request the company to coordinate with you.

Because if you abscond... if by any chance you meet their officials in the future, they will provide a very bad comment/feedback on you. It can tarnish your image. You never know - it might happen at the moment you least expected.

And you are wondering what to do with the next job and what to tell them. As a recruiter, I would think twice before hiring you. Because you are fresh talent - so experience is not an issue, you will still require training. But on the attitude side, integrity, and ability to face issues... you really seem to score low. Though you are true to yourself, you should have given the company time and fought back to prove it. Any company policy would demand the employee to make up for the loss because it's ultimately the employee's fault.

I think if you had waited for the investigation to be over, things would have turned out to be good.

Anyhow - I am not able to think of what you should tell your next employer... lies after lies only make things worse for you. But there is one thing I MUST tell you - Face any obstacle that comes in front of you - the more you run away, the closer you get to another obstacle that would be more like a double difficulty.

You are out of college to face challenges. You will come across these every day. Have strong determination to move forward. Come what may - but you need to create that individuality within yourself.

Thank you very much for your reply and suggestions. I didn't lie to the second company about what happened at my previous job. Now the thing is, I managed to clear the technical interview, but I hesitate to answer, "why did you leave your previous job?" :( I don't want to lie. Please guide me on what should be the reply from an HR point of view?