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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    2

    Default Overseas Employer Wants a Formal Employment Contract

    Hi guys. im very new here and just need some friendly advice.

    I am an expat, and im a specialist who has been employed by a team of investors to manage and run their factory here in India.(manufacturing plant, huge staff numbers and i run it all from top to bottom, from finances to factory floor and every single detail in-between)

    I made the move here 6 years ago. And it was all done (possibly a bit naively by me) on a verbal agreement.
    All has been ok so far. There are Long hours, high stress, lonely 3rd world living conditions, massive expectation by clients and investors etc. But i have risen to (and above) it all.

    The company has provided me with humble (but livable) house to live in. And takes care of my work permits and immigration status etc.
    The only minor complaint is that the salary i have been given since day one is really very low.
    It was verbally promised to be increased soon after i moved here to hit par with what it should really be. And in fact it i did get one very minor little pay rise around 3 yrs ago. (but still very low, i wont give details here)

    I have so far bitten my tongue and gone with it, as i am very financially literate otherwise, and have taken the opportunity over theses 6 yrs to rent my house back home, to become non tax resident there, and to save almost my entire (meg-re) salary as i have next to no living costs here in India.

    But suddenly after all these yrs, i have been asked to sign a formal employment contract. However this document really contains zero incentive for me to sign.
    It promises the same house as i already have, the same salary that i already have...zero rise, zero perks.... yet it asks me to sign to accepting these existing terms for another 2 yrs.. It even has a bunch of non compete items in there, and what appears to be them owning a lot more of my IP than i would be happy for.

    It seems to me as they now realize my value here, and wish to infer some legal hurdles should i ever leave and wish to take employment elsewhere.
    as its already been 3 yrs without a rise, and this 2 yr contract would spin it out to a 5 yr total block that i would work without any review or rise!!

    Im not really asking for help on the legalities of the contract itself. im more asking how i can politely decline such a useless and insulting contract. And for confirmation that im under no obligation to sign it. Esp when it amounts to nothing more than being locked to 2 more yrs of the same ol' thing ive had from them...with no hope of any review, the only difference being a few legal technicalities that suit their own cause thrown in.
    This is all in light of massive massive production rises i have given them, 6 yrs of building this up, implementing all the systems, staff. And exceeding all requests that have been made of me in my job.
    To be completely honest i expected at least some tiny gesture from them. I dont believe i could be replaced in a hurry, as its highly specialized engineering/ metal fabrication work we do, i am the only non-Indian here and am 100% billingual also.

    feeling a bit insulted and kicked in the teeth to be honest. Does anyone have any advice ? (find new job...yes i know!, but we all know the realities are a bit diff, and i have put so much into this job and this whole relocation and life change)

    thanks kindly

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: After 6 Yrs, Finally an Employment Contract is Given to Me. but

    I'm afraid you're going to have to find an attorney in India; it appears that US law doesn't apply at all.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: After 6 Yrs, Finally an Employment Contract is Given to Me. but

    hi there..
    much appreciated the time u took to read my story.. Just to clarify, i guess im not after the legalities of this, so much as the ethics as viewed by the audience here.

    I have all american investors, and paid in USD here too... I really just need some advice on how to write to these men that have offered the contract, and how to politely decline to sign it.

    Am i correct in assuming that i dont "have" to sign anything?... i mean, its ultimately my call here i would guess?

    I wish to tell them firmly but politely, to just let the status quo be. And for them to come back to me with a contract when they actually have something to offer me.

    Is that a fair ethical position for me to take?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: After 6 Yrs, Finally an Employment Contract is Given to Me. but

    The problem is that you're dealing with Indian employment laws, not American.

    I can't answer the question of ethics, if only because it would be based upon my own experience (and ironically, I'm a British ex-pat living in the US ) and what I might consider unethical may not match anybody else's opinion.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: After 6 Yrs, Finally an Employment Contract is Given to Me. but

    Quote Quoting exile
    View Post
    hi there..
    much appreciated the time u took to read my story.. Just to clarify, i guess im not after the legalities of this, so much as the ethics as viewed by the audience here.

    I have all american investors, and paid in USD here too... I really just need some advice on how to write to these men that have offered the contract, and how to politely decline to sign it.

    Am i correct in assuming that i dont "have" to sign anything?... i mean, its ultimately my call here i would guess?

    I wish to tell them firmly but politely, to just let the status quo be. And for them to come back to me with a contract when they actually have something to offer me.

    Is that a fair ethical position for me to take?
    If I were in your shoes I would be trying to have some actual conversation with whomever is "in charge" of their end of the negotiation. I would politely explain that they have really not given you any incentive to sign the contract. They are simply locking you into the current status quo for another two years, and you feel that you are due something more than that after 6 years. Its really not necessary to be "firm". You can simply say that you are unwilling to be locked into the current status quo for another two years, but would be happy to reconsider if they choose to make another offer.

    However, I would also be looking at just how profitable the business is as part of my negotiating tactics as well. If the business is not really profitable or only marginally profitable then you do not have much room to negotiate. If the business is seriously profitable, then you have a lot more room.

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