Employee Leaving After One Month: Are They Entitled to a Relieving Letter and Final Pay?

In our company, one employee has just completed one month and he is planning to leave because he got an offer from somewhere else. Now, he wants to join that company and he is not fulfilling our policy of a one-month notice period. In such a case, will he be eligible for a relieving letter, experience letter, and dues/pay for this month?

Dear Chanchal,

It's always better to relieve an employee who wants to leave even after our request to stay back. By all means, deduct the notice pay or adjust the leaves available to his credit provided he/she wants to leave before the notice period expiry. You must give all his dues along with necessary certificates.

Please do remember one golden principle...always send people out with respect...after all...they are going to be our ambassadors.

Sincerely,
Pip

That's a great thought! Relieving with respect. But people should not take advantage of this principle and misuse it.

Regards,
Shyam S. Mantha

Hi Sudha,

Thank you for your reply. You are right. The basic purpose of framing a policy is to have uniformity in an organization; otherwise, anybody and everybody can take things into their own hands. If there is a policy stating that an employee has to serve a notice period of X month(s) or pay in lieu of the notice period, he/she has to comply, and it remains the same for everybody. It cannot be changed from employee to employee.

Regards,
Shyam

Hello Everyone,

I agree that the employee should follow the rules. If he is ready to pay the said amount in lieu of the notice period, he should be relieved without creating a fuss. One thing to remember here is once an employee decides that he wants to leave the organization, there is no point in retaining him forcefully, giving reasons like replacement required. Because even if he abides by this, he won't deliver anything. He won't perform because he knows he is going to leave soon and that he is here just because the organization is forcing him to. He will be just an extra cost to the company. So it's better to speak to him first, know why he is leaving, if as an employee you feel that he has a valid reason, then let him go. But adhering to the policies is a must.

Regards,
Jyothi

I have a question regarding the notice period. Can the HR of an organization amend the NP policy and state that, starting on a specified date, the notice period for all employees is revised to 30 days?

In my organization (BPO), there was a situation where different employees were given varying notice periods in their appointment/offer letters. Now, they have standardized this and implemented a 30-day notice period company-wide.

I am unsure if this change is valid on the part of our HR. Your opinions, please.

Pratima

As far as I know, yes, HR can amend the NP provided they have written consent/approval from the management. Also, this needs to be communicated to all the employees well in advance. Management/HR should take consensus of employees - may not be all but key stakeholders like Managers above Shyam.

Dear Friends,

Good afternoon.

I have clearly mentioned that the requisite notice period amount should be deducted. This should be a uniform policy across the company.

Pip

The notice period is required to hand over the responsibilities to someone else in the company. If an outgoing employee does not honor such a commitment, then coercive methods like stoppage of benefits, relieving letters, etc., are justifiable. Normally, deduction of notice period salary is an adequate penalty for an outgoing employee.

Bharat