Absconding - What legal action can be taken for the offer letter notice period?

Dear All,

I received the offer letter and worked for only 2.5 months. The offer letter stated that an employee must provide a 30-day prior termination notice.

My Date of Joining: 3rd October 2022 Last working day: 24th December 2022.

After the 26th, I will not be going to the office. I did not respond when the office called, but today, I sent an email. The office sent two individuals to visit my house to take photos and also sent a registered post letter today.

What legal actions can be taken regarding the offer letter notice period? Kindly advise on how to handle this situation.

Hi,

Not reporting to the office without any prior information is not a right practice. Even if you are not interested in working with the employer, you should have discussed it with HR or your immediate superior. Have you signed any bond, training agreement, or any similar agreement? If you have not signed any such agreements, there is no need to worry.

Sending warning/termination letters through registered post is a standard practice that employers follow to close your file. However, it is unclear why they took a photo of you.

Even now, if you are able to serve the proper notice period, communicate with your employer. If they allow it, you can serve the proper notice period and get relieved properly.

Your employer cannot proceed legally significantly as it will be a time-consuming process. However, if you are keeping any company property like a laptop or desktop in your custody, they may lodge a police complaint. So, be clear about it.

Dear sir,

Thank you for providing a valid point. However, I have already signed the offer letter, which mentions a 30-day termination notice period.

The management practices, with only two directors and two HR personnel, do not align with proper HR practices. I am currently reporting directly to the Directors, which limits my communication channels.

Furthermore, the Junior HR personnel did not conduct an inquiry and did not visit my house. The field officers, who are North Indian individuals, conducted the inquiry and took photos.

Regards,
Saravanan

Interesting that you have absconded from the job and didn't have the courtesy to answer their call, and you are saying their HR practices are not on the right path.

Were you expecting the Director himself to come to your house then? It does not matter who came to your house; I think it is either exceedingly nice of the company to check on your well-being or they are gathering evidence against you.

They expect you to come up with various lies when they send you a legal notice. So they have taken evidence that you are very much well and at home. If they are not bothered with your work, they will simply use this to close their files and intimate all their customers not to interact with you.

If they want to pursue the legal way, for whatever reason (and it is very much within their rights to do so), then expect a lawyer's notice, asking you to pay the 30 days' notice period salary and any other damages that may be incurred on your account. Since we don't know the terms of your appointment, we will not be able to comment much.