The Pros and Cons of Breaking a Job Bond

A guy was asked in his interview with TCS whether having a bond of Rs. 50000 helps in retaining employees, his answer was straight forward “jisko jaana hain woh to jayega hi, having a bond or not doesn’t matter”. The guy was rejected in the interview; perhaps he did a good to himself by not joining a company which forces employees to stay using threat means like bond. But the case for having a employee bond cannot be ruled out completely, if there are employers who believe in exploiting employees there are disloyal employees too. It is fair for companies, which invest a lot in training to have a moral bond. But in no case it should be used as a means to torture employees, if you have a bond with your employer but you are not getting any work (on bench) or you are not happy with your work, it makes sense to leave. If you cant work/live happily with your present employer, your productivity would be low any way, making your employer unhappy.
I don’t recommend breaking a bond but in extreme cases if you wish to, understand the pros and cons well. There are several pros and cons, which are related to breaking bond:

Cons:

1) The employer may chase you to court, I have heard Satyam doing so, Infy has quite good policies in this regard, and they may not trouble you much. Indian law does not permit Bonded Labor; the case can be fought on the basis of money spent on training by employer. Companies, which have big training batches, can go to court, they may lose the case, but it can cost your time and energy. Be careful, as some employers have started viewing breaking bond as a serious offense. It does put a question mark on your resume.
2) You may require experience letter and relieving letter, which you may not get if you break a bond. You can require experience certificate when applying for VISA, MBA or admission to any foreign university. If you go for a job it may not be required, but if a company asks for reference from your old company, whom will look for? If you broke the bond, you cannot have good relations with them.
3) Third reason is more of ethical issues/professional behavior, you get back what you give, if you chose to break the bond today, tomorrow when you start your own company, your first employee may do the same (you have already set an example for him). And it is better to have good relations with everyone, you never know what help you may need in future.

Pros:

1) You can break free from something you never wanted to do, you don’t have to work just because you have a bond, all this can act as positive boost. Very similar to what happens after divorce.
2) Your new company may be prove to be your dream company.
3) Be careful and preserve your offer letter and pay slips, it can come handy when you are asked to prove your experience, imagine during an interview you are asked why the gap is there in your resume.