Is It Fair for IBM HR to Reject Email Relieving Letters Without Signatures? Let's Discuss!

Hi Team, can anyone help? Is there any policy for the IBM HR team not to accept a relieving letter via email confirmation without an HR signature for a new joining employee? Whose fault is this - the employer who issued the email, the employee, or the IBM HR team?

Discussion on HR Policies

Hope to have a discussion on this so that employees learn HR policies correctly.

Thanks,
HR Column

Dear Everyone,

Here are the details step by step:

1. IBM has issued an offer letter.
2. They asked the candidate to join as soon as possible.
3. The candidate has requested their current employer's management to release them at the earliest due to personal problems.
4. The current employer quickly released the candidate with the notice period waived, approved by the General Manager, and confirmed the employee's release verbally.
5. The issue is that HR did not put any signature while sending the release email to the employee; only the HR name XXX was mentioned.
6. The employee trusted HR and forwarded the same email to the IBM HR team to confirm joining based on the email assurance.
7. IBM HR confirmed the joining over the telephone, requesting the candidate to join as soon as possible.
8. On the joining date, the IBM HR stated that they could not accept the release acceptance email as there was no signature from the last employer's HR. Whose fault is this? Can a release acceptance email/letter be served without full and final settlement to the employee? This is the question here.
9. The IBM HR team informed the candidate that they could not onboard them due to the absence of the HR signature from the last employer.

Please suggest a solution for the candidate and help the community. If you need more information, please feel free to write.

Regards

The Importance of Official Documents Over Emails

Prima facie, an email is usually considered the initial step for any action, but it does not and cannot be regarded as a definitive document for final proof. Forget about IBM for a moment—it is in your best interest (assuming it's your case rather than anyone else's) to have all the necessary documents (Relieving Letter, Experience Letter, Recommendations, etc.) on official letterheads with proper signatures. These documents are vital components of your career track record.

Given that even emails can be forged (commonly known as 'phishing'), no company views them as conclusive proof unless there is a specific reason to do so, which is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Steps to Take for Obtaining Formal Documents

Regarding the available course of action, it is advisable to promptly contact the HR department of your previous company and obtain the formal documents to submit to IBM. Ideally, these documents should have been provided to you without the need for a request if all formal procedures have been duly completed.

Wishing you the best of luck.

Regards,
TS

Thank you for your reply. As per your suggestion, all steps were taken with the Old Employer HR by the candidate. The IBM HR has also tried to reach the HR of the old employee. The HR said that without full and final settlements, they cannot send a relieving letter. Agreed, but when they had accepted the resignation with mail but without a signature and had assured that they would send the relieving letter by scan and send courier, as informed to me by the candidate - why did they play tricks? What is the fear? Because of this, the entire working community is suffering. This CITE FORUM is helpful, and that's why people reach here. Hope a section of the community who does wrong things with employees is reading this post. Justice needs to be given to the right people.

Appreciate your time, suggestions, and looking at the issue from your point of view. However, readers are not satisfied with a solution. If you can convince with your more progressive solutions, it would be helpful.

Industry Practices and Challenges

The bottom line is the industry is working differently on a case-by-case basis. No HR community is following a universally globally accepted rule. We have to accept this, though bitter. There are thousands of cases listed here in this forum where employees were forced to face the music because of certain people's adamant and poor mentality.

I, as part of the same community, know and understand the reality of what is happening inside the industry. As you mentioned F&F, if it takes 2 to 3 months, what should an employee do? Should they not change their job?

Namaste, brother again! To those who are following and reading this post, kindly advise with a convincing answer. Why does a section of the community play tricks, and because of this, the entire industry faces criticism?

You have given your time and tried to understand the issue. Thank you! As you said, some employees jump without following bond rules. Agreed - that's why I have mentioned justice should be given to the right people.

Progressive Solutions

When I said Progressive Answer, it means - is it only meeting HR a solution? You also mentioned it's the personal call of the employee, finally, what he or she wants to do. Dispute, time-consuming for the employee... What are other solutions? Is there any controlling authority for both employee or employer - apart from management? Any institution that monitors all the cases genuinely in India. Time has come - we need to introspect on this. An independent institution where both employer and employee can write the grievances well.

There is no intention to impress or do any such - no time, please! Again, justice should be given to the right people.

Notice Period and HR Communication

Mentioned again - the notice period waived with a discussion with the Manager & HR team. Actually, the manager had waived the notice period. Maybe that was the case. The HR team felt ignored while taking decisions. Anyway, the latest news... talks are going on with HR - there was a small F&F settlement amount due, which is why they are delaying the relieving letter. But here, every company relieves the candidate and then does F&F (not mixing separately, it comes with this issue). The HR had sent an email of relieving but did not put a signature while sending the email of relieving - tricks.

Hope all is clear now. If you need further details, please feel free to ask. Namaste!

Dear Everyone,

Detailed Steps:

1. IBM has issued an offer letter.
2. They asked the candidate to join as soon as possible.
3. The candidate has requested the current employer's management to relieve him at the earliest due to personal problems.
4. The current employer has quickly relieved the candidate, with the notice period waived by General Manager approval. The relieving of the employee was confirmed verbally.
5. The issue is that HR did not put any signature while sending the relieving mail to the employee, only HR Name XXX.
6. The employee trusted HR and forwarded the same mail to the IBM HR team to confirm the joining.
7. IBM HR confirmed by telephone to join as soon as possible.
8. On the joining date, the IBM joining HR replied that they cannot accept the relieving acceptance email as there is no signature from the last employer's HR. Whose fault is this? Can a relieving acceptance email/letter be served without a full and final settlement to the employee? This is the question here.
9. The candidate was sent back by the IBM HR team, saying they cannot onboard him as there is no HR signature from the last employer.
10. Please suggest to the candidate and help the community. If you need more information, please feel free to write.

There are always issues that arise (I do not point fingers at anybody, and I do not wish to speak on a particular case) out of desperation where we do something and forget something else.

You wanted to have a job with IBM. You applied, were shortlisted, and were offered the position. You were asked to join as soon as possible, for which you resigned and requested your former employer to relieve you as soon as possible. Your employer waived off your notice period and relieved you urgently. He sent you a confirmation over email. Of course, that does indicate that you would be relieved, but anything official not written on letterhead and not bearing a signature will not be treated as official. You should have asked for a relieving letter and should have inquired about the reason for them holding it. A full and final settlement usually covers all dues with the employee. The time to settle FnF varies from company to company, ranging from 15 days to 2 months. You should be aware of different policies. No other person can help.

You can do one thing: You can contact your employer or visit them and ask about the matter. Inquire if it is possible for your monetary dues to be cleared eventually while being relieved as soon as possible. Another possibility may be that you resigned citing personal problems when you had a better opportunity. If you may have hidden this from them, they might not appreciate it unless you had a really good relationship.

Just try talking and hope it works out. Wishing you luck.

Regards