Stuck After Resignation: How to Handle a Manager Ignoring Your Notice Period?

I have submitted my resignation as I got an offer from another company and have committed to the 60-day joining period with the new employer. My current company policy is to serve a 60-day notice period, and I am willing to serve this full period and leave. However, my delivery manager is ignoring the company policy and said that he won't release me until he finds a replacement resource from outside.

The recruiting team also cannot say for sure when the replacement will be found, hired, and join the company. It is not right to keep me as a prisoner in the company indefinitely and spoil my career. What he is doing is against company policy, and he has no right to do that.

I already have a person trained in my team to handle my role, but he has dismissed this person and doesn't consider him as a replacement. He will not even tell me what is wrong with him so that I can work on correcting it.

If I leave after the 60 days, I fear I will not be given my relieving letter from the company and will be treated as an absconder, which may not reflect well on my new or next prospective employer.

How do I approach this matter? Please advise.

Addressing the Issue with Your Delivery Manager

The Delivery Manager will not be the final word in the company. You should approach his higher-ups through HR. No civilized company will tolerate deviation from accepted policies. You can also convince your new company of your genuineness.

Regards,
Varghese Mathew.

Yes, it is one of the top IT companies, so they technically must not accept deviation from acceptable company policies. However, in my case, they are simply allowing the delivery manager to do whatever he wants as if he owns the company. You are correct that such individuals need to be held accountable by senior management.

Approaching the Chief HR

I want to know how I can approach the Chief HR without creating too much of a scene. I fear that they may treat me like a third-class citizen since I am leaving the company, and then act as a puppet of the delivery manager instead of being neutral.

Do you have any acknowledgment from your current employer regarding the submission of the resignation letter? Acknowledgment and acceptance are two different things. If your new employer is convinced that the existing employer has to release you in 60 days (show him the proof of your appointment letter with the existing company), and he also has the acknowledgment for his reference, things should work out in your favor. But if you have no proof of the submission of the resignation letter, then it has to be sorted out first unless the second employer ignores that.

Regards,
V. Raghunathan
Navi Mumbai

I have the appointment letter which states that the notice period is 60 days, and it is printed on the company letterhead. I also have emails acknowledging the resignation and that the exit request has been approved, but they aren't on the company letterhead.

I also have a printout of an undertaking stating that I agreed to the terms and conditions of the exit, and it is signed by me. The undertaking states that I agree to do the knowledge transfer before leaving the services of the company, and failing which the company can take legal proceedings against me.

A knowledge transfer can be done to anyone from the team, and I have already done that to a member of the team. He has been working with me for well over a year, so he isn't a new person with no experience. I can also get signed documents from him stating that I have completed all the required knowledge transfer to him and that he has nothing more to learn from me.

Nowhere in the agreement nor in the company's official exit policy does it state that I have to wait like a prisoner for an indefinite period (e.g., 75, 90, 100, 120 days) for a new replacement resource to arrive from outside the company and do the knowledge transfer to him before I can be released.

This not only goes against the company's exit policy but also violates Indian labor law. I understand that legal action can be taken against the company for ruining someone's future. The exit policy is not to be twisted according to individual needs, and he does not have the authority to change it as he is neither a director on the Board nor HR.

Please advise.

You can have a free and frank talk with the prospective employer and decide accordingly. I feel your case is clear. You can create evidence of your willingness to facilitate knowledge transfer and keep a record of the lack of response. This will protect you legally.

Regards,
V. Raghunathan
Navi Mumbai

Consequences of Quitting Without Notice

Please tell me, if there is a notice period in a company and I quit the job without giving notice, what would happen?

Regards