Hiring Dilemma: Can We Accept a New Employee Without a Relieving Letter Due to Urgent Needs?

Respected members,

We have selected a resource who is unable to produce a relieving letter from his last employment, which he left five months ago. The documents he has provided include an experience certificate, an offer letter, FFS, and salary slips.

The reason he has given for not obtaining a relieving letter is that he did not serve the notice period, and the company, as per policy, was unwilling to provide a relieving letter unless he completed his notice period. He attributed his abrupt departure from the job to a medical emergency in his hometown.

I am in a dilemma as we are urgently in need of resources, and there are looming hiring targets. Please assist me in deciding if this situation is acceptable and what potential problems it could lead to.

I appreciate your guidance and prompt response.

Thanks,
Kumar

Dear Mr. Kumar,

Once the employee is provided with the experience certificate and full and final settlement, then the previous company cannot claim anything from that employee or from the company where he joined. As per my opinion, he is free from all his associations with that company. I don't know why they are unable to provide the relieving letter once they have given all other documents like the experience certificate and FFS.

You can very well hire him into your company. Some companies are inducting employees by obtaining an indemnity bond from the employee in the absence of a relieving letter, full and final settlement, or experience certificate. In such cases, if any legal issues arise, then the employee is solely responsible, and the company is not concerned. Therefore, you can proceed with that type of arrangement, but in the present case, it is clear, and you can proceed.

Regards,
Kameswarao

Dear cyberbuddy2007,

You should consider him/her to some extent, but it is essential to conduct a complete background verification on the new joiner. You can't solely rely on the reasons provided by the employee and the employer. Ask the candidate for the date when he/she submitted their resignation. Did he/she receive any acknowledgment for that? Cross-reference the resignation date with the last working day. This can be a challenging task in situations like this.

Remember, a relieving letter is crucial compared to an experience letter because the previous company may potentially take legal action against the employee for non-clearance. :(

Thank you.

Thanks for the advice, Mahesh and Kameswarao.

I did check about the resignation letter. He mentioned he had sent it via email with a week's notice to the company (he does not have a copy with him). However, he didn't receive any acknowledgment as they did not agree during the verbal discussion on his request. It's based on his pleading and earlier good impression on his supervisor that he was given the experience certificate and FFS upon his return from his native after a month.

It looks like something may not be right, and we might have to reject him. Any views on this?

Thanks,
Kumar

Hello cyberbuddy,

I suggest that next time you offer a position to a candidate, ask them to send a resignation email to their superiors with a BCC copy to you. This will confirm that the candidate has officially resigned from their current company.

Thanks, Amit. I will keep that in mind for the future. In this case, the person left the organization five months ago, so there is no way an email can be produced. However, I need to make a decision now for the candidate due to the hiring pressure. His background check came out fine based on the documents he had provided.