Dear all
As an employee, I need to know the following. I have worked with a company for more than 6 months. I was not paid the salary for the last 2 months. I decided to resign offering notice period service, which was immediately accepted. I had 2 laptops of the company issued to me as an asset. I do not need the laptops and I wish to return them to the company, but I am not sure whether they will pay me the full amount after I submit them the assets, during the full and final settlement. Its a very small company, which does not follow all rules perfectly.
I got a mail from the HR mentioning that I need to submit the assets first, and the process of salary settlement shall be done soon after. I doubt their words. Am I legally right in holding on to the assets till my salary is given to me? I am thinking of giving the assets only after the salary reflects in my account, as I am not even sure of the cheque being issued by them- that may bounce any time. Is it legally right? If yes, what precautions should I take? If no, what is my perfect legal recourse, without losing unnecessary time and money?
Regards
From India, Mumbai
As an employee, I need to know the following. I have worked with a company for more than 6 months. I was not paid the salary for the last 2 months. I decided to resign offering notice period service, which was immediately accepted. I had 2 laptops of the company issued to me as an asset. I do not need the laptops and I wish to return them to the company, but I am not sure whether they will pay me the full amount after I submit them the assets, during the full and final settlement. Its a very small company, which does not follow all rules perfectly.
I got a mail from the HR mentioning that I need to submit the assets first, and the process of salary settlement shall be done soon after. I doubt their words. Am I legally right in holding on to the assets till my salary is given to me? I am thinking of giving the assets only after the salary reflects in my account, as I am not even sure of the cheque being issued by them- that may bounce any time. Is it legally right? If yes, what precautions should I take? If no, what is my perfect legal recourse, without losing unnecessary time and money?
Regards
From India, Mumbai
Hi Vivek,
The standard process is that the employee returns all company assets to the company and the company then processes and releases final settlement dues. This is the professional method.
Why do you feel that they will not honour their part of the transaction? Have they done the same with other employees?
Some ideas-
- See if you can request them to hand over the cheque to you when you hand over the laptops.
- Take an acknowledgement in writing that they have received the laptops, etc. I would advice you to prepare this document yourself, mentioning serial nos etc. since you dont seem to have much faith in them.
- Ask them to commit in writing about when they will release the payment to your account. Find out who you can escalate to, in case they do not pay on the committed date.
Hope this helps you.
Regards,
From India, Mumbai
89The standard process is that the employee returns all company assets to the company and the company then processes and releases final settlement dues. This is the professional method.
Why do you feel that they will not honour their part of the transaction? Have they done the same with other employees?
Some ideas-
- See if you can request them to hand over the cheque to you when you hand over the laptops.
- Take an acknowledgement in writing that they have received the laptops, etc. I would advice you to prepare this document yourself, mentioning serial nos etc. since you dont seem to have much faith in them.
- Ask them to commit in writing about when they will release the payment to your account. Find out who you can escalate to, in case they do not pay on the committed date.
Hope this helps you.
Regards,
From India, Mumbai
Legally, the asset belongs to the company and you can not retain it.
The company could file a compliant of theft against you for not returning the same.
I assume there is some documentation of the fact that they have given you the laptop.
However, in the given circumstances, where the company has not paid you salary for 2 months, they are not likely to take criminal action against you. I agree with your contention that such a company can not be trusted to give you the salary after the assets are returned.
As a compromise, you should ask them to give you one months salary and then give the asset back when they give a cheque for the next month. Be prepared to settle for getting a single months salary.
Remember also that in case something happens to the laptop while in your custody, you need to pay for new ones to the company.
From India, Mumbai
The company could file a compliant of theft against you for not returning the same.
I assume there is some documentation of the fact that they have given you the laptop.
However, in the given circumstances, where the company has not paid you salary for 2 months, they are not likely to take criminal action against you. I agree with your contention that such a company can not be trusted to give you the salary after the assets are returned.
As a compromise, you should ask them to give you one months salary and then give the asset back when they give a cheque for the next month. Be prepared to settle for getting a single months salary.
Remember also that in case something happens to the laptop while in your custody, you need to pay for new ones to the company.
From India, Mumbai
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