Does a company, be it a start-up or not, need to make their employee sign bonds that state that the employee has to serve the company for at least for a period of X years or will be penalized $Y?

I find them to be neither ethical nor legal or even enforceable in a country like India.

At INSORCE we have replaced the stick with a carrot and it is working great for us. So instead of saying you pay us $Y, we say, we pay you $Y as retention bonus. That, in my opinion, is a more positive way to start a relationship. This makes the person feel that the relationship is a business relationship among equals, and not a mai-baap relationship.

What’s your opinion on the same? Whether as a employer or an employee.