Salary On Hold 30 Employees Please Help!!!

Dear Devika,

Holding salary of a person just because he / she is going to quit is not a right thing to do. If that is so, then your friend should hold the salary of all employees in the organization because once they get their salaries, they will quit. Does this make sense? It really does not make sense.

Many of our site members have given valuable inputs. I have some to add here, and obviously, these inputs will only add to the overall discussions that have been going around here.

Holding salaries is like bonding and it has a lot of legal implications. Just because one person has told to hold the salaries of all employees, does not mean that it has to be done, that too for a large number of employees (30 employees). As an HR professional, it is the duty of your friend to check out what is the matter. If the 30 employees have already put in their resignation letters, then the issue is different. If they have not put in their papers and your friend is acting on hearsay, then she will land in deep trouble tomorrow because the operations manager will merely say that he / she did not mention anything on holding salaries of employees. During such times, HR is always the first to be blamed, even if HR is acting at the behest of someone else / management.

I would request your friend to release the salaries with immediate effect. In today's world, where the psychological contract between employee and employer has undergone a lot of changes and it is a free world where one can pursue any kind of career he / she wishes, it is against the law to hold one's salaries for flimsy reasons.

It would also be appropriate for your friend to take up this matter with the higher management and get things sorted out immediately.

At the back of all this, I do see that the operations manager is at fault because he / she may have misbehaved with the staff; otherwise, employees resigning enmass is always an exception, never the rule.

I hope the above inputs will provide you the direction to help your friend in this hour of crisis.

Tejas Subrahmanya

Associate Professor

Dear Tejas,

Thanks for your valuable input. But, I have a difference of opinion with you to certain extent on resignation matter, as you have stated, "If the 30 employees have already put in their resignation letters, then the issue is different."

Even if the employees in mass scale intended to or have already put up their resignation letters in mass, the matter needs proper investigation about the cause of such a drastic decision of mass scale resignations, BUT, still the management does not get the right to withhold their pay for the duty they have already rendered. The resignation or termination of services are regulated by the conditions of the agreement between the management and employees at the time of their appointment. The management, of course, can withhold their acceptance of resignations only if those conditions are not fulfilled by the employees, but does not enjoy any right to withhold their salary, just because one manager has his doubt that the employees would put their mass scale resignation. By holding up their salary, the management would just be indulging in to blackmailing tactics to illegally and unethically bind its employees not to put their resignations as against the provisions of the agreement.

If the employees have decided to resign in such a mass scale that clearly smacks (very) bad policy of the management or mass scale tyranny and misbehavior of the operations manager. In that case the operations manager need to be sacked. The question arises, HOW THE OPERATIONS MANAGER COULD COME TO KNOW BY READING THE MINDS OF ALL THE 30 EMPLOYEES AND PRESUME THAT THEY WOULD RENDER THEIR RESIGNATION?



PS Dhingra

Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant

Dhingra Group of management & Educational Consultants

New Delhi

Dear Sir;
She has got an email from the operation's manager with the names of the employees.

Dear All;

I appreciate the inputs you have given. I would like to mention that my friend was informed through an email, which has the names of all the employees who's salaries are to be put on hold.

As far as the age of the company is concerned it was started 3 years back.

The total strength is 150 approx. Now the main concern is that the hierarchy is flat. My friend directly reports to the MD of the company. The same company has a sister concern dealing in the same business and the HR Manager of that company looks after the affair of both the companies. The company in question has only one HR and that is my friend.

Recently my friend forwarded her resignation to the management which was rejected. She wants to leave the organisation asap but they are not relieving her and leaving without following the proper process wont be fruitful.

She is working with the company since it had 15 employees.

The only thing I would request you all to let us now is that, if she is not relieved what can be done and the issue which is going on in the company can any legal action be taken against her. If yes what can be done to avoid the situation?

Regards;

Dev

Dear Dev,
REad the comments carefully given by Mr. P S Dhingra. and ask your friend to take written confirmation from HR Manager on the Email forwarded by Operations Mgr.
Remember it is the duty of HR deptt. to save the co. from all legal aspects. operation mgr is right as far as his work is concerned but liability for holding the salary in the labour court will be the responsibility of Hr deptt. if they act illegally without telling the management or without guiding the management.
Regards
Manish Gupta

Dear Dev,
There are now two different issues, (1) withholding of salary of employees, and (2) resignation of your friend.

Please ask her don't try to mingle up both the issues. Try to tackle first the present fluid situation created by the operations manager's instructions. Even if the resignation is accepted that would not be an honorable solution for your friend, as she would be taken as escaping from accepting the challenge of her job.

Now since your friend has received the email confirmation of the names, whose salary had to be stopped, take a print out and submit to the MD for taking her approval asking whether the salary be kept withheld or be released on account of the fluid situation & commotion created by the employees and their kith and kins, clearly stating the legal implications, as against the agreements entered in to by the management with its employees.

But, she must keep a copy of the printout in her personal custody for her own safe side to be used at the time of need, as some times management prefers to access and delete from the official computers/ mail boxes all such evidence as may be going against them.

In the meanwhile, she may also not be afraid of telling the truth suitably to the affected employees.

Only after getting the situation tackled successfully she may take up the case for her resignation, as that may be advisable for her not to remain in that organization after that. That would add a feather in her cap as she would have successfully neutralized the situation of challenge being faced by her in her career.

PS Dhingra
Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant
Dhingra Group of management & Educational Consultants
New Delhi

I think without any of the fault of employee - employer can not stop salary of any employee. I think ethically & legaly its very wrong practice. Take a legal opinion & accordingly approach to your management. As per my knowledge your management will also convenienced.

Sorry to say, but this is ridiculous !
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As some of them have suggested,if you make all of the people sit under one roof , it creates verbal explosions.If your friend is going to file case against the employees and parents..then the reason behind them threatening your friend comes to limelight..wherein they can file a case against your friend and the person who has instructed to hold their salaries.
As suggested,kindly ask your friend to have a written communication from the operations manager/higher authorities immediately.

whats there to feel sorry?
I Guess You have not read the threat properly. Read it , from everyone point of view, employer and employee both .
Also understand what the original person ( threat posted by ) is looking for.
And whats there to feel ridiculous.
I hope you too agree all employers do not get loyal employees else cheating and fraud would had not happened in organisations.
Kindly read again