Can a Company Threaten Blacklisting and Be Inflexible with Joining Dates? Seeking Advice on My Brother's Dilemma

My brother joined a company in October and was promised a specific role during the hiring process. However, upon joining, he was assigned a completely different position with limited growth and learning opportunities. Despite raising his concerns to the relevant individuals, he was informed that he must work in the assigned role for 18 months once the client's ID has been created, with no possibility of project shifting.

Subsequently, he applied to another company and received an offer. Upon resigning on January 16th, his current company threatened to blacklist him with NASSCOM. He is willing to repay the relocation amount as per the offer letter. Despite multiple discussions with his Line Manager, Project Manager, and HR, they agreed to accept his resignation on January 26th, setting his last working day as March 26th. However, they continue to threaten him with blacklisting, causing him significant mental distress.

In the meantime, the new company provided an offer letter specifying a joining date of March 21st. Initially accepting this date after resigning on the 16th, the new company now refuses to extend the joining date beyond March 26th, bluntly stating, "Either join on March 21st or seek opportunities elsewhere."

Given his current situation of having resigned and facing inflexibility from the new company, he is in a difficult position. Can a company behave this way after issuing an offer letter and be so rigid regarding the joining date?

Please advise me.

To add to the above, they have stopped paying salary during the notice period.

Please refer to the appointment letter—there must be a clause on the notice period during probation/post-confirmation. Both employees and the company are supposed to follow all the clauses mentioned in the appointment letter.

Based on my understanding, your brother should currently be on probation, and his notice period should not exceed 30 days. If your brother wishes to leave the company immediately, he can pay the required notice pay amount in lieu of the notice period (usually the basic salary for the days of the notice period) and move on.

The company cannot ensure that your brother is blacklisted, etc., and cannot prevent him from joining another company.

Regards,
Shashank

Your brother needs to review the appointment letter issued to him by his previous employer and adhere to the provisions regarding his probation and resignation during the relevant period. If he is on probation or otherwise, he must either serve notice for the specified period or provide notice pay in lieu thereof. Once he has done so and retained valid proof of such, there should be no issue with his current employer retaining him any longer. Additionally, he must ensure that he has returned the company's property to an authorized person and retained proof of this action.

No company can blacklist a person from seeking employment with another employer unless there is an extreme and proven case of fraud or dishonesty.

Regarding his joining the new company effective March 21, he can proceed without any hesitation as long as he follows the compliance mentioned above.

Regards,
S.K. Johri