Stuck in a Job Due to New Notice Period Rules: How Can I Get My Relieving Letter?

Hello Everyone, I am Yudhvir Rana. Presently, I am working with one of the most respected companies in India. I have been working with this company for the past four years in Sales & Marketing in Chandigarh. Now, I have got a good opportunity to work with a leading MNC with better career enrichment and growth opportunities. I resigned from my present job on July 6, 2010, but the company is not accepting the same and is adamant about relieving me vis-à-vis the change in policy dated June 26, 2010.

The change in policy has been imposed on all the management cadre employees and states as follows:

Notice Period

“In case of separation from service, the notice period is three months on either side. The same is applicable during the probationary period as well. In the event of various assignments which an employee is required to complete, and if not completed by him/her within the scheduled notice period, the Company will be at liberty not to accept the three months' notice period from him/her until such time the said assignments are completed. While employees hitherto had the option of giving three months' gross salary in lieu of the notice period at the time of submitting the resignation, the said option stands revoked, and it will not be permissible for the employees to give three months' gross salary in lieu of the notice period. In case of any employee leaving the Company's service without notice and/or without officially being relieved from the services of the Company, he/she shall be liable to be sued for damages.

Notwithstanding the above, the Company reserves the right to terminate the services of an employee at any time without notice if he/she is found to be guilty of absence from duty without prior intimation and/or permission for seven days or more, insubordination, non-performance, low productivity, disclosing confidential data or information pertaining to the Company, bona fide loss of confidence, misappropriation of the Company's funds, causing damage to the property of the Company, non-compliance with Company rules & regulations besides omission/commission of any act which may be prejudicial to the interest of the Company.

Other Terms & Conditions:

Upon separation from the services of the Company, it is expected that the employee will not, for a period of one year, join or work in any capacity with the Company's competitors or Company/Firm in a similar nature of business/trade. Any breach and/or non-compliance in this regard shall render him/her liable to be sued for damages.

The above amendment comes into force with immediate effect and is applicable to all Employees in the Management Cadre on the rolls of the Company as of date and/or thereafter. All other terms & conditions of the Contract of Employment shall remain unchanged. The Management reserves the right to amend/modify the rules as required from time to time.

With regard to this, I talked to my Branch Head, and he insisted that I remain in the company and that it's difficult to relieve me.

My new employer requires my relieving letter from this company. I wish to do things in the right way. I wish to know what my options are if my company doesn't provide me with a relieving letter. I hope that someone will read this and provide me with some advice.

Regards, Yudhvir Rana

In continuation of the above, in a similar but not exact circumstance (the difference here is a downward revision of the mandatory notice period by a month from 2 months to 1 month by the company. However, my friend gave a full 2-month notice). On repeated verbal requests, he let the opportunity on hand go and continued to work for the company diligently (he actually had a good opportunity financially). To his surprise, 11 months later (from the date of his resignation), he suddenly received an email followed by a hard copy letter confirming acceptance of his same old resignation.

Now, is that legal?
No disciplinary issues?
No performance-related issues?
(Instead, he was rewarded with the highest increment in salary, performance bonus, and many incentives during the period).

This is an interesting and real case. Can we have views on legality, validity, values, and ethics pertaining to the issue?

Re: Company Not Relieving Me: Change in Terms & Conditions of Employment

In continuation of the above, in a similar but not exact circumstance (the difference here is the downward revision of the mandatory notice period by a month from 2 months to 1 month by the company), my friend gave a full 2 months' notice. On repeated verbal requests, he let go of the opportunity at hand and continued to work for the same company diligently (he actually had a good financial opportunity). To his surprise, 11 months later (from the date of his previously submitted resignation), he suddenly received an email followed by a hard copy confirming acceptance of his same old resignation. Now, how legal is that? There are no disciplinary issues, no performance-related issues against him. There are no charges against him, apart from the professional rivalry and corporate politics that are so common. FYI, this is a case in an MNC. Instead, he was rewarded during the year with the highest increment in salary, performance bonus, and many incentives during the period.

This is an interesting and real case. Can we have views on legality, validity, values, and ethics pertaining to the issue?