Maternity Leave Dilemma: Can My Company Force Me to Resign During My Leave?

Hi, I delivered a baby boy by caesarean operation. I am on maternity leave for 3 months. I applied for a maternity leave extension of 3 more months because my baby is only 2 months old, and I am not well, but my HR told me to resign. My company has a 2-month notice period. I have completed all handovers before going on leave. If I resign, will the notice period be applied to me?

Dear Mr. R.N. Khola,

Why do you even bother to reply to the query when this is how you have to reply? We can see the offer/appointment letter, so please next time don't reply until you are specifically asked to reply.

I believe Mr. Khola has a very valid point in looking at the terms of employment. No sample of the employment contract was provided to determine whether the 2-month notice period is legal. Your hostility isn't required on this website.

Advice on Termination Clause

My advice would be to check the termination of employment clause in the employment contract. If it does state a 2-month notice period, your resignation should be tendered effective from your last day of Maternity Leave, and the 2 months should be counted from there. The company should pay you 2 months' salary if they do not want/need you to go back to the office after Maternity Leave.

Notice Period and Resignation During Maternity Leave

Notice period counts from the date of official resignation. Even though you handed over the entire task before you proceeded on maternity leave, that is merely to ensure your job responsibilities are managed by someone during your absence for the smooth running of day-to-day activities. Since there was no intention or official intimation from your end about the resignation, your HR is checking for the service of the notice period as per the company policy. Normally, if there is any shortfall of the notice period, it needs to be adjusted with the recovery of pay.

You can present your case on health and humanitarian grounds and seek a waiver of the notice period approval from your Department Head and Head HR. Also, you can present that your presence in the office during the two months (notice period) doesn't contribute to any productivity. Since there is also no monetary loss to the company, you have a fair chance to get waiver approvals.

If you find a 2-month notice period in your appointment letter, then the HR's request to serve the 2-month notice period or pay in lieu of notice period is correct. This would be applicable even if you have completed all your assignments and handed over the company properties.