Understanding the Difference Between Relieving, Experience, and Resignation Acceptance Letters: What Do They Really Mean?

Dear all,

Someone asked me the difference between a Relieving letter, an Experience letter, and an acceptance of resignation. As per my knowledge, I would like to share with you all on this matter.

The acceptance of resignation is a letter confirming that your resignation has been accepted by the company, but this does not mean that you have been relieved of your duties.

Next, the relieving letter states that the concerned employee has handed over all documents, belongings, drawings, files, and keys possessed during their tenure.

Lastly, the Experience letter details the years of experience you have, including the dates from joining to the end of your tenure, which is commonly referred to as the experience period.

Hi Amit,

Thank you for appreciating me. I am new to this field and very eager to learn HR-related terminology. I wanted to ask you, if a person wishes to leave their job with a genuine reason after completing all formalities, are they entitled to receive acceptance of resignation, a relieving letter, and an experience letter? Does the company provide all these documents to the employee? If the employee has been fair in their dealings, I believe they should receive all these documents without any issues. What has been your experience?

Hi Priyanka,

Yes, you are very correct. If someone has resigned after following all the essential procedures, such as serving the notice period, having a good service record, clearing all dues, and genuinely handing over responsibilities to the concerned person, I don't think there should be any problem in providing them with these letters.

Yes, I have handled some resignations while working at Pantaloons, and we completed all these formalities.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, ensure you carry out all these formalities from your end with the approval of your senior. I believe there won't be any hurdles coming in between.

Regards,

Amit Seth

Is the company giving all these documents to that employee?

If the employee is fair on his end, then I think he will get all these documents without any problem.

What is your experience?

Sometimes it so happens that the EMPLOYER is not fair at his end.

And it depends from company to company... like for example, in our company, the relieving letter and experience letter are one and the same.

Let me explain further:

Employee submits resignation to the supervisor who, in turn, forwards it to HR Dept with comments on what to do. Usually, these comments can be relieved by ------ date ------, after mutual verbal discussion with Employee and HR.

HR gives the employee an acceptance of resignation letter for two reasons: to acknowledge the receipt of resignation, accept it, and to intimate the employee the status of his resignation. In the acceptance letter, usually, the employee is intimated the relieving formalities which he has to do to be relieved...

Then, along with the acceptance of resignation, the employee is given a no-dues clearance form, which he has to submit by ---- date ----- for relieving...

After no dues are submitted, the PF, gratuity settlement forms if applicable, are filled up by the employee...

And he is relieved. In the experience letter, it is mentioned as TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN, "This is to certify that Mr...... was working in our company as ------ from --- start date --- to the end date and he has been relieved from the services of the company WEF --- end date --- (closing hours).

He had the following responsibilities/job profile:

ss

ss

ss

ss

We wish him success in all future assignments.

END END END

I hope you are clear now as I have given you a live case. 😎 😎 😎 😎

Let me add a little more on the subject.

In all cases of separation, the company is required to issue a letter. In the case of resignation, it is the relieving order. In the case of termination/dismissal, it is a dismissal order/termination letter. An acceptance letter, by its name, signifies accepting the employee's decision to separate himself from the company. However, it has to be necessarily followed by a relieving order/letter.

Irrespective of the nature of termination, every employee needs to be issued with an experience certificate specifying the date of joining, date of separation/leaving, reasons for separation, and employee's conduct during his association with the company. If an employer is not issuing a relieving letter, it is a different matter for which procedures can be explained if anyone is interested.

Regards,
S. Srikumar