PERM not filed before 365 days

[Brinda]

My employer's immigration law firm has not filed for my PERM application and my 365 day limit has passed on September 30th 2017 (even after adjusting for time abroad). They have assured me that it is OK and that I should not worry. They are filing in EB3 category (even though I qualify for EB2) and cite "company policies" for doing so. I am a little worried and want to time my departure from this company. How should I think about this? Am I stuck with my current employer till PERM is approved and I-140 is approved? The law firm says they are still at the recruiting stage, and have not given me any substantial answers as to why they missed the deadline even though they started working with me on my PERM application 2 years ago.