Can Company Forced Me To Serve Full Notice Period, When Opt To Buy Out Notice Period Option Is Available

I am working in a MNC and want to leave the company in a month while my notice period is 3 months.

In my offer letter, under the Notice Period section, it states the following: If you intend to leave the services of the Company, you are required to give 90 days prior notice in writing or Notice Pay in lieu thereof and vice-versa. The acceptance of Notice Pay, if you intend to leave early, shall be at the sole discretion of the Management.

Now the company is forcing me to serve the full 90-day notice period and is not agreeing to the buyout option. Please help me out.

Yes, it is at the discretion of management. Diplomacy is the only option to buy out the notice period.

In your anxiety to land a job, candidates blindly sign the offer letter. Only when they are in a hurry to leave the job for a better opportunity, for whatever reason, do they read the appointment letter in detail. Just as candidates have their own justifications and compulsions to leave an organization, why do they not realize that the organization also has its own reasons to keep the employee on board? The organization provides a salary, so they have the right to impose conditions. If you signed the appointment letter willingly and without coercion, the best approach, as recommended by our professional friends above, is to be diplomatic, gentle, and request a swift release.

Best wishes

There are some laws of the land. Some of my friends have bluntly taken the part of the employer in this case. But in my view, one cannot enter into any contract which is void ab initio (from the beginning). In this case, the paragraph under question is contradictory itself. On one side, it is saying that the notice pay can be of either side, and on the other side, it is saying that the acceptance of notice pay is at the sole discretion of the management. I think that, under these circumstances, if Mr. Sachin wants to give up his service, he can do so. The labor law is always in favor of the employee, and he can win in this case. Backed by this, it is always desirable to settle the issue amicably to save time. Entering into the law shall always be secondary and optional.

"If you intend to leave the services of the company, you are required to give 90 days prior notice in writing or Notice Pay in lieu thereof and vice versa. The acceptance of Notice Pay, if you intend to leave early, shall be at the sole discretion of the management."

This clause is perfectly legal and not in any way ab initio void.

Then, what does it mean? "If you intend to leave the services of the Company, you are required to give 90 days prior notice in writing or Notice Pay in lieu thereof and vice-versa."

In my view, it means if Mr. Sachin wants to leave the service, he either has to serve and perform for the next 90 days. If he wants to leave without serving notice, then he has to pay the company notice pay for 90 days.

On the other hand, the company can also give notice to Mr. Sachin to leave the service by providing 90 days' notice or notice pay in lieu of.

Here, the 'acceptance of the notice period by the management' appears to mean Mr. Sachin can serve a notice for 90 days. However, whether the company will allow him to perform for the next 90 days after serving his notice is at the sole discretion of the management. In that case, the company has to pay him for the balance (notice) days if it does not allow him to complete his notice period.