Worried About "Breach of Undertaking" on Service Certificate? How It Might Affect Future Job Searches

Hi all, I worked for an Indian MNC in Europe before being deputed onsite. I had signed a bond of indemnity to stay with the company for 2 years. I got a better opportunity here and resigned from the company that sent me onsite after 6 months. So, I paid around 1.5 lakhs to clear all the dues (bond amount).

Currently, my service certificate has a line: "He committed a breach of undertaking but has, however, paid the damages mentioned in the undertaking." Other than this, the certificate is fine with the designation and dates.

My query

Will that breach of undertaking create a negative impact for future references or a background verification check if I do a job search back in India?

Issuance of Service Certificate on Termination

The issue of a service certificate by the employer is a must upon the termination of an employee covered by the provisions of the Standing Orders applicable to the industrial establishment. Even in other cases, it is a certificate given by the employer upon the exit of any employee regarding their employment under them. This includes details such as the period of service, the designation held by the employee, and may or may not mention any meritorious service rendered during their tenure. It is at the discretion of the employer to specify the type of termination, whether it be resignation, retirement, discharge, retrenchment, dismissal, etc. However, in the case of a normal resignation that is accepted and acted upon by the employer as per the employment contract, there should be no need to be ambiguous, as mentioned in the poster's case. Such ambiguity only reflects poorly on the particular employer and constitutes bad HR practice.

Impact of Negative Aspects in the Service Certificate

The impact of a negative aspect in the service certificate largely depends on the attitude of any prospective employer. While some may view it negatively, others may be swayed after a detailed explanation—it varies.

Contractual Obligations and Resignation

If the employment contract clearly stipulated a minimum service period post-appointment or a specified indemnity amount in case of early exit by the employee, and the employee was allowed to resign after paying the indemnity as per the agreement, then there should be no issue of breach.

Therefore, my suggestion would be to formally request the previous employer to adjust the service certificate accordingly and maintain a record of the entire correspondence.

It depends on the employer. One may say, 'Fine, he paid for early relieving because he got better prospects.' Others may say, 'He may do the same with us, run off without serving the notice period.'

Please let me know if you need any further assistance with grammar or spelling corrections.