Can I Take Legal Action Against My Son's Employer for Inhumane Treatment and Threats?

My son entered into an agreement to work for a placement training company for a period of two years. This company sent my son everywhere by bus and did not provide adequate rest. They asked him to work continuously without rest, and as a result, he developed a spinal column problem. Doctors advised him not to strain like this and recommended a change of job. A necessary medical certificate from the doctor, along with a leave application, has been submitted to the company. The company has not made any effort to help my son with his treatment and always insisted he rejoin, threatening legal action if he didn't comply. Additionally, they were withholding his certificates, which he later retrieved.

Can I file a case against the company for threatening my son and not providing assistance for his treatment, as well as for inhumane treatment? This agreement seems entirely one-sided. Please advise.

Validity of Employment Bonds in India

Bonds are not valid in India as per many court judgments.

Regards,
Pon

Yes, please go ahead and send a legal notice to the company through a solicitor. As you already said, threatening an employee to come to work because there is a bond itself is a "strong ground" to nullify the bond. The bond was to work and not to enslave and willingly hurt one's physical health. Besides, as rightly pointed out, "Bond" in India has been thwarted by many courts in the past.

Bonds Are Meant to Be One-Sided

Why did you and your son ever sign a bond? I fail to understand, even after so many cases, candidates and parents still fall for these one-sided bond papers.

My Earnest Advice to All Candidates

Do not sign any bond. But if you really have to, have it cross-checked by a solicitor. It's worthwhile to pay Rs 500-1000 for legal advice than to keep fighting your stress and mental torture later for you and your parents.

Regards,
Ukmitra

I have not signed the bond or agreement, and it was done by my son. The company also deducted some money as a caution deposit, and later they gave it back, resulting in them contributing less towards PF too. Thank you for your valuable advice. Should I send a legal notice, or should I ask my son to do that? Can we request the company to compensate for the treatment and earnings loss due to the sickness?

Please advise.

Thanks and Regards,
J. Narayanan

Dear Mr. Narayanan,

While it has been correctly pointed out that bonds for employees are not legally valid or enforceable in India, I notice that at no point in your postings have you used the term "employee."

You have made reference to:
- An agreement that was signed by your son and not to a letter of appointment being issued to him;
- A term of engagement for two years, which is not a common approach for companies employing people.

It would appear that your son was retained by the organization as a contractual worker and not as an employee.

Two Observations:

1. If the nature of engagement was contractual, then an employer-employee relationship does not exist. For violation of the covenants of the contractual agreement, your son can be held liable and taken to court for breach of contract.

2. If the nature of engagement was indeed employment and not contractual, then the terms of employment would normally have been specified in the employment letter, including the nature of duties and the expectations about how they are to be fulfilled. Also, most organizations do not reimburse employees for unlimited amounts in case of medical treatment. Usually, the organization provides an amount as reimbursement (varies from company to company and usually as a goodwill gesture) while the rest is covered by a Group Medical Insurance taken out by the employer. Even these have limits up to which claims can be defrayed.

I hope that this would enable you to make an appropriate decision on whether or not to proceed legally.

Regards,
Raju Bhatnagar

In my opinion, it would be incorrect to say that employment bonds are not enforceable in India. In view of recent judgments by various Indian courts, employment bonds may be considered reasonable only if they are necessary to protect the interests of the employer. However, the restraints stipulated upon the employee in his employment agreement should be "reasonable" and "necessary" to safeguard the interests of the employer, or else the validity of the bond is in question.

The employees are always free to decide their employment, and they cannot be compelled to work for any employer by enforcing the employment bond. The court can, however, issue an order restricting the employment of the employee only if the said action is deemed necessary to safeguard the trade secrets/proprietary interest of the employer, or issue an order for compensation amount (bond amount on a reducing basis) in case the employer had paid some exceptional amount on the development/training of the employee.

In the event of breach of contract by the employee, the only remedy available to the employer is to obtain a reasonable compensation amount. The compensation amount awarded shall be based upon the actual loss incurred by the employer by such breach.

You may refer to these judgments for more details:

- Sicpa India Limited v Shri Manas Pratim Deb
- Satyam Computers v Leela Ravichander

Do let me know in case it doesn't answer your question.

Regards,
Jay