Can My Ex-Employer Legally Withhold My Salary and Relieving Letter? Seeking Advice

Dear All,

7 months ago, I resigned on zero days' notice from a company, on the day just before the salary transfer into my account. Consequently, I could not claim the salary for that month. Now, when I am simply asking for a relieving letter from the company, they are stating that I have been absent and insisting that I will have to pay one month's salary.

Firstly, I was not a confirmed employee, and they did not provide any letter.

Secondly, the appointment letter specifies a notice period of 15 days.

Thirdly, I am not even claiming the one month's salary; I just seek a smooth exit.

Can a company legally withhold one month's salary or a relieving letter? Please advise on this as I require a relieving letter, or else, if they refuse to provide it, I would like to claim the withheld salary.

Can I take any legal action in this matter? Friends, please provide guidance regarding this.

Regards,
Rashee

Dear Rashee,

First of all, you should not have run from the job. You can in no way justify your action of suddenly disappearing from the organization without giving any notice and handover. It is not only legally wrong but also morally and ethically wrong. In your case, it seems that in your past organization record, you are marked as absconding. Even if you had submitted a resignation letter, it was not accepted by management, and I hope you do not have an acceptance letter for the resignation, so practically, it is null and void.

Now, coming directly to your questions: Can a company legally hold a 1-month salary or relieving letter?

Ideally, a company should not withhold an employee's salary, but in your case, since you left the organization abruptly, you may owe the company. Absconding employees do not have the right to claim their salary. Typically, a relieving letter is issued to employees who exit the organization properly. If I am not mistaken, a relieving letter does not have a specific format, so even if you manage to obtain one, HR might issue a letter that is of no use. Additionally, your professional experience check will likely yield negative results.

Can I take any legal action for the same?

In my opinion, your case is not very strong, so it is not advisable to take legal action. Legal proceedings are not only time-consuming but also costly.

It would be better if you approach your boss and reporting manager to discuss your situation. Learn from this experience and avoid such actions in the future, as they may lead to trouble for yourself.

Seek new job opportunities as there are plenty in the market. You will find your place. Best of luck.

White Eagle

URL: White Eagle

Hi,

I sent a resignation email to the ex-employer, to which he even replied regarding the notice period. It is a very small company of thirty people with no policies. I agreed that I should have served proper notice, but I have seen many cases where they mistreated employees even after the notice period was served. Due to an emergency, I resigned without notice.

I asked them for a relieving letter and not for the whole month's salary. I resigned just 1 day before the salary was to be credited to my account. Since I didn't serve the notice, I did not even demand salary in lieu of notice (even though it was for 15 days). When I requested a relieving letter, they told me to write an email, to which they replied stating I have been absent. I have the email of resignation with their reply in my mailbox. Therefore, there is no way I am absconding. Now, they are mistreating me, so at least I can ask for the salary for the 1 month that I worked.

Please tell me if I am still in the wrong.

Regards,
Rashee

Hi
Thanks for replying.
I sent a resignation email to the ex-employer to which he even replied for notice period. That is a very small company of thirty people with no policies. I agreed that I should have served proper notice but I have seen many cases when they screwed up the employees even after serving the notice period also. I had an emergency so I resigned without notice.
I asked them for releiving and not for whole month salary. I resigned just 1 day before salary was to be credited in my account. Since I didn't served the notice so I did not demanded even salary in lieu of notice(though it was of 15 days). When I request them for releiving they told me to write an email on which they replied I have been absent. I have the email of resignation with their reply in my mail box. So their is not way of absconding. Now they are screwing me so at least I can ask for salary as I worked for 1 month.

Please tell me if I am still doing wrong.

Regards
Rashee

Issue with Incorrect Salary Transfer and Relieving Letter

I am in a very big problem. I was with American Express and resigned from there on 11/05/2016. I received my salary on 25/05/2016, and then on 24/05/2016, which I thought was my full and final payment from the company.

Today, I called my company to request my relieving letter as I had to join another company. The payroll team informed me that the amount sent on 24/06/2016 was incorrectly transferred to me. They are asking for the return of 50,000 rupees before providing my relieving letter.

The issue is that I was not aware of this mistake, and neither the company nor the bank contacted me about it. I am unable to pay this large amount. What should I do? Please help. I am feeling depressed because of this situation.

Regards,
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