Forced To Serve Notice Period Of Three Months Despite Repeatedly Pleading Them For Buyback

Sir/Mam,

Recently I came across an offer which required the candidate to join them within a duration of 30 days. As per the offer letter the notice period is 90 days in my present company.

I am ready to pay salary in lieu of notice period shortfall still my supervisor is not reliving and want me to serve full 90 days notice else he will issue an absconding against me. I have read several posts on this website pertaining to similar issue and the opinion that has been suggested by experts is that employees does not stand a good chance in this case.

My offer letter states that "After the expiry of your probation period, if you decide to leave our employment, for reasons other than retirement, you are required to give us three months notice in writing. If the company decides to terminate your employment, the company will also give you three months notice in writing. Also, it states that " The company reserves the right to make payment in lieu of notice in respect of Total Fixed Pay"

Also, after reading my company policies properly there is one clause of voluntary unemployment which says that if an employee chooses not to report to office continuously for seven days than company reserves the right to accept payment of the remaining days as a full and final settlement. So is this not contradicting their stand of issuing an absconding if I do not report to office after serving 30 days of notice.

My question is as follows:

1) In India, for a contract to remain valid (not null and void) it has to be enforceable from both sides. I mean it should be equal from both sides otherwise it becomes null and void. Hence, if a company is allowed to make payment in lieu of notice than is it not allowed at the end of employees. Can we not legally challenge a company?

2) I have written several letter to the management stating that as a good HR practice they allow me to buyback 2 months notice however, I have not received any revert from them.Is it possible that company even after full and final settlement is done (accepting money for days not served, or assets held by an individual) not issue a relieving letter?

Kindly advise.

Thanks and regards,

One more clarification that I need is on as follows:
3) If my new company is ready to take me on board without having acceptance on my resignation from my present company, do I really require relieving letter of this company. Documents to prove my association with this company for future include: offer letter, last three months salary slips, increment letter, resignation mails, handover mails. In future if I switch to some other company, do I require to submit previous to company's relieving letter or any document from above such as resignation mail + salary slips or increment letter can work out?
Kindly advise.
Thanks and regards,

Hi,

In India contract is valid as per Indian contract act 1872.

for your reference, judgment given on considering appointment letter is valid.

Suppose if a employee is given an offer letter and he accepts it. Once he joins, if the employer asks him to sign a bond for 1 lakh rupees to continue in employment, then the court may view this as an undue influence since the employee has resigned from his previous job and he has no other option but to agree to the terms and conditions of the employer. So a lot of these things depends on the facts and circumstances of the case.

A Employment agreement is like a standard contract, where the employee can either accept the offer or not, so after reading the terms and conditions of appointment letter then only you agreed for the employment with employer so this will be in consideration.

so try to make mutual understanding and negotiation with your management, you can not move legally. according to mentioned by you about appointment letter terms and conditions, employer can proceed legally and you will be considering for breach of agreement.

Hi Anonymous,

1. You are right an agreement cannot be lopsided- as far as my logic goes you can challenge it in court.

2. It is advisable to have an uninterrupted chain of service documents to prove continuity or otherwise in service

3 Beg/plead with your present management to accept monies in lieu of remainder notice period. Communication and persuasion might help you, just don't lose patience and humility.

4. Talk to your new employer about the facts of the case and convince then to postpone your appointment for another 2 months.

5. There is something called voluntary cessation of employment/duties- That happens when an employee goes unreported for a long time and does not respond to notices etc. Should you want to follow this path what about your relieving papers?

6. The best way to tackle a problem is to delve into it neck deep, never try to skirt the issue, that way you court fresh trouble upon yourself and will always carry a muddied conscience.

Finally there are a lot of things that are not seemingly right or even not legal in this world, the problem is, it takes time, energy, patience, resources and will power to conclude what is right and what is wrong. That is a question that individuals will have to ponder over and decide whether to force an issue or ignore and carry on making compromises along the way

All the best.

Why you are in such a hurry to join new company ? while accepting the offer, you were knowing the fact of 3 months NP clause, so why u didn't ask for 3 months joining period? so ask your new company to hold on for some more time. It is always better to part ways amicably. No point making it a legal issue.