How Can I Safely Recover My Unpaid Salary Without Legal Action? Seeking Urgent Advice

Hi, I am basically a sales and marketing person with almost two years of experience. I recently joined a consulting firm in Hyderabad as Manager of Business Development. This is the first time I joined a small start-up kind of organization, thinking that I will have more opportunities to learn. However, for the last two and a half months, my employer has not paid the salary. I got fed up asking about the salary and finally resigned. At that time, he gave me a cheque towards one and a half months' salary, which bounced on 26th Feb. When I approached him, he kept giving new dates to make the payment, which did not happen. He has been following the same practice with most of his employees. I have seen many people struggling to get their salaries from him, but no one seemed successful.

I have now decided to send him a legal notice, but somehow my heart does not want to go for legal actions as he is trying to scare me with his power and resources. I am alone in Hyderabad, and I don't want to be caught up in any troubles because I feel he can go to any extent so that he does not have to pay me my salary.

But at the same time, I don't want to let him go. I went to the police as well, but they refused to help. My real concern is towards my safety because I don't want to put my life in danger. If I don't send him the legal notice within one month since the cheque bounced, I will lose the legal value of that cheque. I am really frustrated following and requesting him to give my salary.

I would be grateful if any of you can guide and help me in this matter. My email is shravasti.sharma@gmail.com. I need a quick response as the clock is ticking, and I just have one week to take some legal action. Is there any way I can get my money without going the legal way? Please advise.

You can initiate legal action, and I suggest going to an NGO (which deals with labor issues) or a good lawyer for advice. As far as timing is concerned, you can proceed with legal action as you need to file the case within 2 years. I say teach these kinds of people a lesson so that they don't take advantage of others. Please let me know what you decide to do eventually.

Dear Shravasti,

For any dispute with your employer, it is better to approach the labor officer in your area. Find out the labor office in your area and go talk to him/her. Submit an application with adequate references such as a xerox copy of your appointment order, ID card, payslip, cheque bounce notice, etc.

Once you have done that, the labor officer will call both parties. If you are not satisfied with the ruling given by the labor officer, then you can take legal action against your employer.

Ok...

Dinesh V Divekar

Actually, I can go to the labour court, but the thing is that meanwhile, if the process stretches, I will lose the date of 26th March. So as of now, I have got a legal notice prepared from one of my friends who is a corporate lawyer. I will be sending that. After this, if he does not make the payment, I will have to hire a lawyer and file the case against him. A couple of people have also told me that I cannot go to the labour court as I fall into the managerial category. But in any case, this is a war against injustice and fraud, and I will have to win this.

Just need all of you there who can believe in me and guide me on this journey.

Dear Shravasti,

May I request you to read my reply correctly? I never told you to go to the Labour Court. I told you to approach the Labour Officer of your area.

Sending a notice through a lawyer is a second step. How can that lawyer also bypass this very first step?

Many times courts have ruled that a litigant should not take recourse to adjudication without approaching the competent authorities to solve the dispute. Here, the competent authority in your case is the Labour Officer.

Who knows, even the Labour officer may be able to solve your problem. Once you submit a formal application to him/her, it will be treated as an industrial dispute, and he/she will call both parties for a hearing. In the redressal, you have to prove:

a) that you were an employee of company ____
b) that you have drawn a salary till ____ month
c) that you have attended your duties till _____
d) since you did not get your salary since ____, you submitted an application, and you have an acknowledgment of the original copy
e) as you resigned from your post, you have obtained a clearance certificate from that company.
f) a portion of the wages was paid to you through a cheque but it bounced.

Never take a shortcut to the redressal mechanism. When a case comes for a hearing at the Labour Court, it would be a technical flaw on your side that you did not think it fit to approach the labour authorities to redress your grievance.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

Hi,

I think it's completely illegal to do so. You can immediately launch an FIR against him, and nothing will happen; rather, his company will get closed. If possible, take support of your colleagues so that a mass complaint can be filed.

All the best.

Best Regards,
Vyakhya

Hello,

The first thing you need to do is file a legal notice against him immediately. If he threatens you in any manner, then file a FIR against him immediately. I know of people who boast about their contacts. If you are correct, you need not be afraid. Try to contact others who have suffered from him. Also, file a case of mental harassment against him. If you are afraid that he might harm you physically, write a registered AD letter to the police department of your area. Also, send a copy to him. In that case, if anything happens to you, he will be the first to get arrested. Take the help of the media if things get serious. If you don't take any action, he will keep committing his crimes with others. Learn to fight for your rights if you want to be successful in your life.

Take the media and go to the police station to tell the whole story in front of the camera.

Thank you.

This is a cheque bouncing case. Handle it accordingly. Once he has given the cheque, he cannot deny your salary. The only thing you should do before proceeding legally is to serve notice on him. This is mandatory. During the proceedings, if he makes any threats, seek protection through the legal authorities. Take help from local chapters of Marketing & NHRD EXPERTS. Best of luck.

Thank you to all,

I have already been to Madhapur Police Station, but they refused to help, saying that this kind of matter is not dealt with by them. I have sent them a legal notice, and I am also planning to go to the labor officer soon along with a couple of other colleagues. Let's hope that something positive comes out.

My employer has not paid my salary and other travel expenses. Today is the 20th day, i.e., 20 days since I resigned from my company. The employer asked me to resign as there is no work. Consequently, I searched for a new job and requested my salary. However, the employer does not answer the phone; instead, he only sends messages like "I will call you." Now it has been 20 days. What should I do? I am the sole breadwinner in my family. Can anyone suggest what steps I should take to receive my salary and travel expenses from him? Please advise. I am from Mumbai.