Resignation and employment notice period

Hello,

I am on H1B currently and signed an employment contract in India stating the below -

Employee may terminate this Agreement only upon a ninety (90) day written notice given to the Company. The ninety (90) day written termination notice may not be waived by the Company under any circumstances. If the Employee fails to provide the Company with the ninety (90) day written termination notice discussed above, the Employees may be subject to an early termination penalty equal to Employee’s ninety (90) day salary, as paid by the Company at the time of termination.

I resigned from my organization giving them more than 2 weeks of notice. My organization is asking to payback gross salary equivalent to the unserved notice period.

My question is -

1- Is it valid for employer in US to ask for a 3 month notice period as compared to the US standard practice of two weeks?

2- Their calculation of payback money is based on monthly gross salary which is not mentioned anywhere in the agreement. I suggested basic salary instead of gross salary to which they disagreed. What is the standard practice?

3- I was made to sign this employment agreement in India couple of days before my flight to USA. Is condition under which the agreement was signed also a factor?

  1. Some terms of the contract can be enforced. I would suggest talking to a good labor attorney about your case. You can post the question on avvo.com and attorney(s) there can give a respond to your query.

  2. It is all about what is mentioned in the contract and its interpretation. If the language is ambiguous, then they would have to demonstrate what they intended and that you understood the same.

  3. I don’t think that is a determining factor.

The company can go after you either in US or India. If the contract says Indian jurisdiction, then they shouldn’t sue you in US but in India. You would have to then run this by an Indian labor attorney.