Unfair Dismissal - accusation of forgery of a relieving letter submitted for BGV after 1.5 yrs - which was human error

I just wanted to bring to notice an incident that has happened with me in XXX India. As of now, I'm terminated from the company after working for 1 and a half years. 28th Feb 2020, was my last working day. The termination was due to BGV, in which they found a discrepancy in one of my relieving letters (three months difference) of my last-to-last company, which was uploaded in the portal along with all my other documents before joining the company.

The uploading of this particular relieving letter was a human error, but as soon as I realized the mistake, I informed the HR person in charge of my recruitment and sent her the correct document. I then cleared my interview. On the day of onboarding, I provided the same documents that were sent to HR. After completing 6 months of my probation, I was confirmed, and I even worked at the client site for 3 months where all my work was appreciated.

Suddenly, after working for more than 1 and a half years, the BGV team called me and informed me of a discrepancy in one of my documents (relieving letter). I was shocked and informed them that I had already submitted the correct document before joining, but they were not willing to believe me and accused me of forgery.

I discussed this issue with my managers and directors, and they were all surprised by this accusation. They all supported me, knowing my work ethic and character. They considered it an unfortunate incident. However, the management was not willing to consider my explanation; they stood by their policies and ethics. While I understand the importance of policies and ethics, if I had been informed within 3 months of joining, I would have cooperated.

I'm left wondering how a company like XXX can disrupt a person's life without any consideration. I am a father of three children and have other commitments in my life. If I had intended to commit forgery, I would not have sent the correct documents to HR. All document processing occurred before I joined XXX. I am uncertain about finding a job with this termination letter. My experience has been halted abruptly. They did not even allow me a chance to resign. Being terminated for such a minor reason is entirely unjust to an employee like me.

What is your suggestion on this?

Dear member,

You have written, "How this one relieving letter got uploaded was a human error, but as soon as I realized the relieving letter uploaded was wrong, I informed the HR who was in charge of my recruiting and sent her the right document. Then I cleared my interview."

How did you inform HR about the human error? How did you send her the correct document? Do you have any evidence of the communication that took place? If you have evidence of the communication, then I recommend you write a letter to the MD of the company. In the meanwhile, I recommend you file a complaint with the labor office under whose jurisdiction your company falls. To find the addresses of the labor office, you may click here to refer to another thread of this forum.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

Dear sir,

I worked with one company for the past 2.4 years. My last working day in the company was on 31-12-2019. I did not go through the normal process; it was a termination. I started working at the company in August 2017. I got a new job at another organization on 21-11-2019, and I resigned from my job at my present company on 02-12-2019. They did not accept my resignation request. Suddenly, on 31-12-2019, HR informed my reporting manager that it was my last working day and asked me to hand over all company properties and go home.

Before resigning, I had already received one mail confirmation for my last working day (as per the company policy, the notice period is 2 months). When I handed over my resignation, HR asked for a mail confirmation, promising to send it within 30 minutes. However, I ultimately received a termination mail, stating that the branch was facing integrity issues and warning me to hand over all documents or face legal action. I responded that I was not involved in any integrity issues and requested clarification, but HR did not accept my email. Instead, they insisted that as the branch in charge, I was responsible for any issues and demanded the immediate handover of all company properties. They stated that they would not entertain any more emails and threatened legal action if the handover did not occur that day. The same message was conveyed to my reporting manager, who also requested a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from his side.

I received my Full and Final (FF) settlement amount through the bank on 14-02-2020, but I have yet to receive the FF letter. I have been trying to communicate this through emails for the past 30 days, but I have not received any responses. I even visited the head office in Chennai, but they informed me that they would not provide any services or the final settlement letter. Please advise me on how to proceed.

Thank you.

Thanks, Dinesh for taking the time to reply to my concern. As you asked, "How did you inform HR about the human error? How did you send her the right document? Do you have any evidence of the communication that took place?"

To this, my answer is yes, I've emailed the revised document over the email, and that email was shared when this issue popped up. I also wrote an email to the India CEO stating the same. He replied back saying, "I believe you have reached out already through various different channels. The team will get back if there is merit in your case."

Should I go ahead and file a complaint with the labor office?

Dear member,

Yes, I recommend that you file a complaint at the labor office. These are difficult times of lockdown due to the Coronavirus; however, do proceed to have the complaint registered at the labor office.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar