Immediate Termination Concerns: Could Letting an Employee Go Tomorrow Cause Legal Issues?

Hi all, I need advice from a legal aspect. We issued a termination letter to an employee yesterday to be relieved after a 1-month notice period from our end. However, due to some strange behaviors of the person, management feels that we should relieve him with immediate effect.

Please advise if we relieve him tomorrow itself, will it create any legal issues? We will terminate him with 1 month's salary.

Need an urgent reply.

First of all, nobody will give one month's notice for termination. Termination is for immediate effect only. Please go through his Appointment order or Standing order/Service rules if available. If the clause is available, you need not worry. Give one month's salary and settle this issue.

Regards,
Alphonse
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Dear Pritha,

Kindly go through the terms of the Appointment Letter related to Termination and simply follow them. If you fulfill all the terms of the appointment letter, then there will be no legal impact on you.

Regards,
Kapil Dev Singh
Siemens Ltd.
+91-9718989007

Dear All, Thank you for your quick reply. Actually, the reason for my worry was that just yesterday we issued a letter stating:

Date: 17th June 2010

Dear Mr. Pawan,

It has been observed that your performance has not met the required standard. You were given sufficient time to reach the standards necessary for your job performance. However, there has been no improvement in your performance.

Therefore, management has decided to terminate your employment with the company effective from 16th July 2010.

You are required to contact the HR department for further formalities.

And now, just 2 days later, if we terminate him tomorrow, will it be acceptable from a legal standpoint?

His appointment letter clearly states that we can terminate his services without assigning any reason by providing one month's notice or salary in lieu of notice.

Thank you.

Dear Pritha,

It is clear from your letter that you are giving him a 1-month notice period. There is nothing illegal as it may be considered a termination letter cum notice period intimation as per the appointment letter.

Regards,
Kapil Dev Singh
+91-9718989007

I think what I want to clarify is not clear. What I am trying to say is that I issued a letter on 17th June 2010, stating that I am giving you a 1-month notice. Now, on 19th June 2010, I want to terminate him on the same day by providing him with a salary for the 1-month notice period. The question that arises is, the employee may ask, "Why do you want to terminate me before completing the notice period you gave me? Why has the decision changed within 2 days?" This is my query.

Dear Prita,
First, if one letter has been issued and signed by the authorized signatory of the company, you will have to comply with that.

Second, if for any reason whatsoever, the conditions have to change, you will have to speak to the employee first, take him into confidence, and try to obtain a resignation from him instead of issuing another letter. Give him one month's salary and try to assist him in finding another job by reaching out to the consultants the company works with. This approach will help ease the stress between both parties and resolve the issue amicably.

Thanks.

Hi Nishta, thank you for your reply. I believe that if we pay the full salary to the employee until the promised notice period date, it should not be an issue for him. He can utilize this time to search for another job.

Pending Dues Issue

Another issue is that even if we consider his notice period salary, he is still supposed to pay us around 5-6k as he has some pending dues to be recovered. He claims he cannot pay now as he has no money and will do so at a later point once he is in a new job.

Impact on Company Environment

Throughout the whole notice period, he will simply be sitting, spoiling the company's environment, and spreading negativity. Therefore, we are considering it better to relieve him from his duties.

Dear Pritha,

Please don't use termination words. Termination is equivalent to Court Martial in the Army. The same is issued to those employees with immediate effect who have misbehaved with senior authority, broken the company rules outlined in the company code of conduct, continuously been absent without providing information after being followed up to join the company, engaged in scams involving company assets, involved in theft cases, or committed murder, etc. In such cases, you can terminate any employees immediately.

Performance-Based Terminations

Regarding performance-based terminations, you cannot terminate the employment of anyone solely on performance grounds. Firstly, check their date of joining. If they are a confirmed employee, then review the terms and conditions of their employment. Provide them with written communication regarding their performance. You must give them a maximum of one chance to improve their performance. If he/she is unable to meet the required performance standards, discuss the matter with them softly and agree that they should resign subject to receiving notice pay from your side. If you have issued a warning letter related to their performance for one month, you cannot release them without providing notice pay.

You can ask them to leave after one month as per your letter communication.

For further clarification, you may call me.

Regards,
Vishwash Thakur

[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I agree I should not use the word "Termination." Even in his letters, we will not use the term "termination"; we will simply say "relieve."

Actually, we tried our level best to improve his performance over the last year; however, there was no improvement. Then, we gave him the option to submit his resignation and take a 2-3 times notice period so that he could secure another job in between. However, he completely denied it, saying, "I will not resign. If you want, you give the letter. Why should I give it?" That is why we released a letter from our end.

The one-month notice was initially on a verbal basis, and now it is one month in writing as per the notice clause.