Employer asking $$$ - tricky question!!

[ronak.shah.0531]

Tricky question:
I looked for a consultancy job myself and decided on the rate, while being employed by A. Since I needed sponsorship for the new job, approached B and B filed my H1- transfer with agreed salary. When I submitted resignation with A, A counter offered(surprising) and made the salary comparable to B.

B told me (unofficially) they would deduct H1-transfer from my paycheck within 6 months of the employment. The offer letter with B never mentioned any $ amounts for termination of employment, although 2 weeks of notice was required in case I leave them.

I decided to stick to A and never joined (drew any paychecks from B). Now B is sending me laywer’s notice that I need to pay them $7.5k for loss of revenue/clients/adminstrative… etc..Have attached the notice from Employer's Attorney.

Has any one encountered similar situation and a way out of this?

[krishmunn]

Rather than Attorney's letter, post the copy of agreement . That will help us see if there is substance in this demand. If you signed a liquidated damage agreement stating client loss etc, you are in a difficult situation ; if you signed something saying you will need to repay H1 cost, you are probably safe.

[ronak.shah.0531]

Thanks krishmunn, attached is the offer letter which I signed with B.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is my pleasure to extend this offer of employment to you effective mm/dd/yyy on behalf of Employer B (“the Company”).

Title: <Job Title> (refer to Appendix A for more details)

Salary: You will be compensated on the 15th and 31st of each month for the services provided during the previous month at an annual salary of $xxx which will be regarded as $y/hour during the prior month on semi-monthly basis. (Refer to Appendix B for further details). Compensation is subject to all applicable taxes and withholdings. You will also be eligible for bonus for amounts up to $x payable at such times determined by management in its sole direction.


Benefits: If requested, you will be provided with health insurance. The first $100 per month of the premium applicable to your coverage paid by you and the balance will be paid 100% by the company. If you elect to cover your spouse and/or your dependents you will be required to contribute 100% of the incremental cost of such coverage. Your contribution may increase in future policy years if the cost of insurance increases upon renewal. You will also be allowed a total of 11 days of paid time off (PTO) as follows

6days of National Holidays and 5 days of PTO. (Please see Appendix C for more benefits details.)

Confidentiality: As part of your employment, you will acquire or develop confidential and proprietary information concerning the Company and its dealings with its customers and employees and you also will develop relationships with special trusts and confidence with the Company’s customers and employees (collectively, "Confidential Matter"). You agree that such Confidential Matter is for the Company's exclusive benefit and that, both during your employment and at all times thereafter, you will not directly or indirectly use or disclose any Confidential Matter except for the sole benefit and with consent of the Company. Upon the conclusion of your employment, you will promptly return all documents and information (including computer generated or stored matters) concerning the Company or its customers and employees. You further agree that, all rates and fees are confidential and shall not be discussed with the client or middle company or with any third parties.

Non-Solicitation/Non-Competition/Non-Hire:

As part of our agreement during the term of your employment and for a period of five years from the effective date of termination of your employment and, notwithstanding the reason for termination, you will not directly or indirectly solicit, either voluntarily or involuntarily, enter into agreement with nor assign or refer personnel to any client of Employer B to whom you have been introduced by interview or placement by or through Employer B including middle companies and intermediary entities or persons who have been involved in securing your placement and you shall not directly/indirectly solicit and hire for yourself or others the direct personnel or resources of Employer B. This restriction is limited to the Client or Client Manager's group at which you have been engaged by virtue of this agreement.

Termination: The Company agrees to provide you with two weeks advance notice of termination (except no advance notice is required if the termination of your employment is for cause) and you agree to provide the Company with two weeks advance notice of termination of employment. The Company shall not be required to provide any such notice or to make any payments to you in lieu of notice or with respect to notice period if the termination of your employment is for cause or takes place at a time when you are not assigned to any project. You acknowledge that at least two weeks advance notice by you is reasonable and necessary under such circumstances due to substantial effort, time and expense the Company will be required to incur in employing and relocating you and in replacing your services by the Company.

Applicable Law: This Agreement shall be construed and determined under the laws applicable in the State of NJ.

This offer is in effect for five business days and is contingent upon your presenting evidence, such as a social security card. Please also understand that this is only a letter of offer and not a contract of employment.

If this offer is acceptable to you, please sign below and return it to us.

In closing, we would like to again thank you for interest in our company. We here at Employer B look forward to a long and mutually beneficial future together. If you have any further questions, please contact us by email or telephone.

We welcome you to Employer B!

[krishmunn]

Are you sure this is all you signed ? If so, you are pretty safe. The first step is , ask the Attorney to send a copy of contract . Next, talk to a labor lawyer in your area . I am pretty sure once your attorney replies , they will not pursue. Getting an Attorney letter will not cost you more than a few hundred $$. Once they shut up, sue them for your costs for defending (your Atorney fees) .
For labor lawyer, contact local bar . they can refer to decent lawyer and the first hour or so is usually free or very low cost.

[100mya]

Its a very small world and we bump into one another with same kind of issues.

First I agree with "krishmunn" you are safe and follow his recommendation.

Also this is what I did. I was in similar situation as you but slightly different and I will tell you what i did:

My h1 was with Company A and i was consulting for their client in SFO. I got a good offer from company B and they were very nice no h1 fee good pay rise good bonus etc even though it was a consulting company with no strings attached. I did not sign anything apart from the offer letter which had nothing and the employee handbook as well did not talk about any fees etc expect that if i was a joining bonus i need to refund that amount if i quit with in 1 year which was fair. But when i put in my papers SFO negotiated terms with Company A and took me as full time. Since it was full time i was more than happy and they went beyond what company b was offering me. but a small glitch that i had signed the documents for B. So i sent all the documents to SFO lawyers and they reviewed it and mentioned that no one could come after me based on the documents that i signed. They were even willing to represent me in case B came after me.

I joined SFO but surprising i got a similar letter that you got from B and for a moment i panicked ofcourse who wouldnt. But when i sent it to SFO lawyers they simple responded to that officially and I did not hear a word from B again.

So i would suggest talk to A show them your documents and show them the letter they might be able to help as well.

I hope this helps as always just sharing my experience please contact a lawyer. Also please post what happens in your case so I can advice friends who fall into similar situation.

[developer1]

Hello, I am in a similar position... i am about to take up a new job in Georgia, USA and the employment agreement contains the below clause,

In the event that Employee voluntarily terminate his employment with
Company or Company terminates your employment for cause (such as misconduct, insubordination, substandard performance, excessive absences, breach of this agreement etc.) within one (1) year of the commencement of your employment with Company, Employee agrees to pay Company, as lawful liquidated damages and not as a penalty, the sum of $ 7,500.00. You acknowledge that this liquidated damages sum is a reasonable and good faith amount in light of (1) the anticipated or actual harm to Company caused by Employee’s termination or breach, including but not limited to the substantial effort, time and expense that Company will incur in, employing , relocating and training Employee during his employment, and replacing Employee’s services upon such termination and (2) the difficulty of proving the exact amount of such harm to Company and the non-feasibiltiy of otherwise obtaining an adequate remedy. The liquidated damages do not include outstanding loans or advances owed by Employee to Company, and such sums will be owed in addition to the liquidated damages upon termination.Employee expressly authorizes Company to deduct and withhold all such amounts to be paid by Employee from any compensation or other amount otherwise payable to Employee.

Is this contract legally binding and am I obligated to pay the liquidated damages in case I resign before 12 months. Please advice.

Originally Posted by 100mya

Its a very small world and we bump into one another with same kind of issues.

First I agree with "krishmunn" you are safe and follow his recommendation.

Also this is what I did. I was in similar situation as you but slightly different and I will tell you what i did:

My h1 was with Company A and i was consulting for their client in SFO. I got a good offer from company B and they were very nice no h1 fee good pay rise good bonus etc even though it was a consulting company with no strings attached. I did not sign anything apart from the offer letter which had nothing and the employee handbook as well did not talk about any fees etc expect that if i was a joining bonus i need to refund that amount if i quit with in 1 year which was fair. But when i put in my papers SFO negotiated terms with Company A and took me as full time. Since it was full time i was more than happy and they went beyond what company b was offering me. but a small glitch that i had signed the documents for B. So i sent all the documents to SFO lawyers and they reviewed it and mentioned that no one could come after me based on the documents that i signed. They were even willing to represent me in case B came after me.

I joined SFO but surprising i got a similar letter that you got from B and for a moment i panicked ofcourse who wouldnt. But when i sent it to SFO lawyers they simple responded to that officially and I did not hear a word from B again.

So i would suggest talk to A show them your documents and show them the letter they might be able to help as well.

I hope this helps as always just sharing my experience please contact a lawyer. Also please post what happens in your case so I can advice friends who fall into similar situation.

[krishmunn]

Originally Posted by developer1

Hello, I am in a similar position... i am about to take up a new job in Georgia, USA and the employment agreement contains the below clause,

In the event that Employee voluntarily terminate his employment with
Company or Company terminates your employment for cause (such as misconduct, insubordination, substandard performance, excessive absences, breach of this agreement etc.) within one (1) year of the commencement of your employment with Company, Employee agrees to pay Company, as lawful liquidated damages and not as a penalty, the sum of $ 7,500.00. You acknowledge that this liquidated damages sum is a reasonable and good faith amount in light of (1) the anticipated or actual harm to Company caused by Employee’s termination or breach, including but not limited to the substantial effort, time and expense that Company will incur in, employing , relocating and training Employee during his employment, and replacing Employee’s services upon such termination and (2) the difficulty of proving the exact amount of such harm to Company and the non-feasibiltiy of otherwise obtaining an adequate remedy. The liquidated damages do not include outstanding loans or advances owed by Employee to Company, and such sums will be owed in addition to the liquidated damages upon termination.Employee expressly authorizes Company to deduct and withhold all such amounts to be paid by Employee from any compensation or other amount otherwise payable to Employee.

Is this contract legally binding and am I obligated to pay the liquidated damages in case I resign before 12 months. Please advice.

This contract is valid. Liquidated damages is a valid clause. You can reduce the payment based on how long you stay with the employer but you will need a lawyer

[developer1]

Originally Posted by krishmunn

This contract is valid. Liquidated damages is a valid clause. You can reduce the payment based on how long you stay with the employer but you will need a lawyer

Thank you for the reply Krishmunn! I will go ahead and sign the contract then.. I have no intention of quitting within the year but we dont know what circumstance will force us to do That's why i was worried about signing this contract..

Thanks again!