How to Handle a Mistake with Dual Employment and Avoid Trouble with Employers?

I have a query here. One of my friends was working in MNC A. The tenure with the current employer is 2 months, and she's still a permanent employee there.

For the purpose of self-evaluation, she gave interviews for other organizations as well. Mistakenly, due to ignorance about the consequences, she signed an offer letter for the other organization and attended 1 day at another MNC B (during which she applied for sick leave at her current employer). However, she soon realized that it may not be a good decision. The project requirement for MNC B (which is a consulting company) is very critical, and now she wants to continue with her current employer. The manager from MNC B is threatening her to declare her case as absconding and will impose a case of dual employment on her. He also threatened to send an email to her future employer (which they think is MNC A, not aware that she's already working there).

Possible Actions and Consequences

Can anyone please let me know what can be done in this case? Also, what are the possible actions MNC B can take? Will it create any issues with MNC A if she admits that it was just a mistake?

Please suggest.

Regards.

The Manager of Company B is equally at fault. He cannot take action against your friend for dual employment. He should not have allowed your friend to join, even if it was for a day, unless she had resigned and been relieved from Company A.

It was unprofessional to allow an employee of a company to join his company when she had not resigned from her previous job.

If the Manager of Company B is threatening your friend, she has a valid point to tell him: how could he allow her to join without an Accepted Copy of Resignation Letter or a Relieving Letter from Company A?

She can, in return, threaten the Manager with going to the Labour Court for compelling her to join even when she was already an employee of Company A, and further, not providing a profile/career as promised during the interview.

This sheds light on the culture of Company A, which does not seem to have a professional culture.

I would suggest that your friend should not worry and continue working with Company A.

I also assume that your friend has not been issued an Appointment Letter on the very first day of her joining, and her attendance was not enrolled in the Attendance System, where she might have marked her attendance. These can be considered as valid proofs by Company B if they want to trouble your friend.

This action of the Manager, I foresee as a threat, given only a 50% chance of any such action being taken by him.

He cannot file a case of dual employment against her, knowing the fact that she has not resigned from Company A and that the Manager allowed her to join without a resignation letter.

In the worst-case scenario, if anything negative happens, your friend should give an apology in writing to Company A and avoid such situations in the future.

Thank you for the reply. To add here, Company B's manager was not aware that my friend is an employee of Company A. Also, my friend availed herself of leave for 3 days during which all this happened.

Options for Resolving Employment Conflict

If she wants to work with Company A, she may submit a backdated resignation letter to Company A. She can resign during leave.

If she wants to continue with Company A, she may politely decline to accept the offer from Company B. In the future, she should be careful and responsible.

It is not an offense to appear for interviews.

Please note that what your friend did was incorrect. Most of the time, we blame the employers. If your friend had the courage to submit a leave application, attend not only the interview but also work for the other company, she should be bold enough to face the consequences. Ultimately, it was the result of her actions, which were inappropriate and unacceptable. If we expect the employer to be fair with us, then it is equally our responsibility to be fair and just in our dealings with our employer.

Regards,
JMK

I completely agree with JMK. Please think of this situation from the employer's perspective. If they were to do the same thing with your friend, would she accept it? For example, if the work at MNC B is excellent and meets your friend's expectations, will she serve the notice period as per company A's policy?

Attending interviews is not a fault unless you genuinely want to change jobs. However, merely for the sake of knowing where you stand or for self-evaluation, please refrain from doing so. There is a considerable amount of time and processes involved in selecting candidates. For self-assessment, you can take online tests available these days.

Many jobless individuals are eagerly awaiting opportunities, counting each day. Please give them a chance if you are not genuinely interested in making a move.

Finally, ask your friend to relax for now, but moving forward, advise her to be more responsible.

Thanks,
Aditya Iduri.