Feeling Trapped by a Service Agreement: How Can I Handle My Employer's Legal Threats?

I am Shailesh here, and I was working with a BPO for 9 months as an Associate for Transcription. I have been talking to HR, my Team Leader, and Manager about not doing the job for which I was hired and also regarding a shift change, as I have a 4-month-old baby now. I have almost 8 years of International BPO experience, which is why I was hired for transcription.

Issue 01

Before hiring, they have a thing called "Boot Camp," which lasts for 7 days, and once the candidate completes it successfully, they hire him. In the boot camp, the files provided were all in English, and now, as an employee of this firm for 3 months, they are giving me regional language work, which I am not satisfied with. I have been talking to the manager and Team Leader about this for about 3 months, but I didn't receive a proper or reasonable answer. I even asked them for a shift change as I am consistently working in the same shift, and there are other employees who are working in their desired shifts for various reasons. My reasons were genuine, but I didn't get any positive response from them.

Issue 02

Due to this shift and my paternal responsibilities, I had to take several leaves in these couple of months, which even I feel is wrong. However, I decided to quit this job as I am doing a job that I've never done, and it's out of my job profile, which was explained at the time of the interview.

- When I talked to them about leaving, they are not accepting my resignation and told me to leave without getting a relieving and experience letter, which is fine with me, but they are not accepting a resignation.

- At the time of the interview, they took my signatures on a service agreement for 2 years, printed on green legal size paper, and not any bond like Rs. 10, 20, or 100. They also took a blank dated cheque of Rs. 50,000, saying that it's just for security purposes and they won't encash it.

- As I didn't receive any positive response from them, I stopped going to the office as it's not possible for me to go in that shift due to my own health issues. I received a call from them to have a talk about why I am not attending the office, for which I personally went and met HR and explained everything, to which they replied, "Remove the ID Card, and you can leave." I did it.

- Now they have sent me a letter by registered post saying "Breach of Service Agreement," in which they have written that I need to pay them Rs. 50,000 as I am not coming to the office.

- When I went to meet HR and said I could join the firm back but asked them to change my work or shift, they denied it, which is why I finally left them.

I didn't even take the salary for the last month as I can't go to the office. They are threatening me that they will take legal action against me. I am not in a position, and I am not at all going to pay them a penny as my monthly salary was just Rs. 7,000. If I work for them for 8 months, the total earnings amount to Rs. 56,000 only. How can they ask me to pay Rs. 50,000?

- I request you to give me proper guidance and steps that I can initiate legally. They are harassing me now, and I am mentally disturbed due to this.

Please guide and advise.

Regards,
Shailesh

First of all, kindly request the bank to stop the payment for the cheque you issued to the company at the time of joining. Secondly, please share the termination clause from your appointment letter and the bond that you signed upon joining. Do not worry as they cannot enforce this bond in court.

Best Regards,
Manoj

Hey Manoj,

I have already stopped a cheque payment with ICICI Bank and even closed that account 3 months ago. The issue is, whatever agreement I've signed, they haven't given me a copy of it. I have asked them several times, but they are not providing me with that agreement copy, so I don't remember the clause.

Regards

I want some clarification from your query.

1. How many years or months have you worked?
2. The reason you provided is health issues and a new baby born, so a change of shift, yes.
3. Payment through bank or cash?
4. How many years are mentioned in the signed agreement you are referring to?

Here, one point you have to note is that it may be a legal document after your signature. They will stamp it with values like 10, 20, 100. It's not only on a stamp paper; the company's HR people follow a due process. If the same is done, they will show liquidated damages, which may cover training costs for boot camp and other expenses to train you.

Therefore, all this correspondence is through emails or only face-to-face discussions. If you have all correspondence on paper, then the company cannot take any action against you.

As suggested by Manoj, you have done the right thing by stopping the payment of the cheque. Secondly, it's very likely that they may send you several threatening letters, claiming they will take legal action against you. However, in practice, they are unlikely to take any action against you. Please be assured that nothing is going to happen to you. I have seen many cases like this before.

Please feel free to reach out if you need any further assistance.

Best regards