Maternity Complications Forced Early Resignation: Can She Still Claim Her Salary and PF?

Hi,

Someone in my close relatives has asked me about her problem, which I am sharing with you all, expecting to get valuable suggestions. She left the company due to complications in her maternity, and she informed the company by sending her resignation letter. However, due to her complicated pregnancy, she couldn't serve her notice period. Her notice period is 3 months, but she had worked for 28 days in that particular month. Since that period, she hadn't asked for her salary and PF.

Is there any chance that she can collect her salary and get her PF amount, considering this is a maternity case? Kindly suggest.

Thanks.

I am very sure the company should be considerate enough to ignore the notice period, considering the medical grounds.

I also faced the same issue, and my company waived off the notice period. She needs to ask for it; companies will not come forward with this.

"Something is achieved when managed in this world."

She has worked for 28 days. Is there any clause in maternity leave that prevents a person from leaving the organization?

Dear Anupama,

Maternity or not, no one can stop any person from leaving the organization (we are not talking about any mafia company here!). Forcible employment should not exist; civilization has come a long way. As correctly suggested by Pritha Pandey, she should first request a waiver of the notice period, duly submitting copies of her medical reports. There can be one complication - if the company is really benevolent, they may inform her that they are willing to wait until she is 'fit' to join duty; in which case appropriate leave, as admissible, shall be granted. In the event the company does not accede to her request, she will have to forfeit the notice pay.

Warm regards.

Dear Anupama,

Please clarify whether the said employee was on Maternity Leave (12 Weeks admissible) when this complication in pregnancy arose. If she was on Maternity leave, then she can state with medical records that she was unable to fulfill the notice period owing to the complications during the Maternity period. If the employee is covered under ESI, then the appropriate standard benefit rate will be paid to her during the period of Maternity leave. If she is out of the purview of ESI, then she will be entitled to benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act. She can make a request to the employer to consider a waiver of the notice period on medical grounds and also submit the PF claim forms through the employer.

M.V. Kannan

Dear Anupama,

Subject: Left the company due to maternity complication without serving notice period

As my senior, Ms. (Cite Contribution), had suggested in detail, it is sufficient to waive off the notice period. Ask your relatives to submit the application accordingly. Once she has worked for 28 days, she is authorized to receive wages on a pro-rata basis and her PF amount as well.

If PF is registered with EPFO, then after two months, she has to submit the papers for withdrawal or transfer, depending on the case. If PF is registered with a trust, then automatically after two months, she will receive the withdrawal amount. If she is willing to rejoin the same organization, it is up to them whether to take her on board or not.

Regards,

Pranab

Something does not make sense here.

Generally, a company will not recruit someone who is already pregnant at the time of the interview/recruitment. But this seems to be the case here. I am wondering if she informed the company or kept it a secret. That alone may be grounds to dismiss the request. Recruitment is expensive, and companies do not like to have people leave within a month.

If she has worked for only 28 days and is on probation, in many cases, the notice period does not apply. Companies generally take a dim view of anyone sending a resignation while on leave, especially as it means that the handover would not have taken place.

The rules on preventing dismissal do not apply as the employee has resigned. Nothing in the act says that she has to be given full pay for not fulfilling the notice period; I don't think the legislators considered that path (I guess they should have).

PF is payable irrespective of other matters. No one can legally withhold the payment of PF. In most cases, it's with EPFO, so she needs to apply for it. But she will need to get the relevant forms signed by the company.

Certainly! Here is the corrected version of the text:

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Ya, you are right. People, please start asking (i.e., mangna) if you do not know; please learn the same.

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I have corrected the spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors in the text while maintaining the original meaning and tone. If you need any further assistance or have more text to review, feel free to ask!

Very important and relevant point is raised by Mr. Saswat Banerjee, and I agree with him. She has served only for 28 days and has proceeded on leave. It is not clear whether she had applied for any leave and was it sanctioned. With only 28 days of service, I feel she may not be eligible for any benefits under the Maternity Benefits Act. Now what she needs is a relieving letter and salary for 28 days. To get this, she only needs to apply and argue that under the circumstances, she is not in a position to serve the notice period, and the same may please be waived. She needs to justify her claim by submitting necessary medical certificates.

Something does not make sense here. Generally, a company will not recruit someone who is already pregnant at the time of the interview/recruitment. But this seems to be the case here. I am wondering if she informed the company or kept it a secret. That alone may be grounds to dismiss the request. Recruitment is expensive, and companies do not like to have people leave within a month. If she has worked for only 28 days and is on probation, in many cases, the notice period does not apply. Companies generally take a dim view of anyone sending a resignation while on leave, especially as it means that the handover would not have taken place. The rules on preventing dismissal do not apply as the employee has resigned. Nothing in the act says that she has to be given full pay for not fulfilling the notice period; I don't think the legislators considered that path (I guess they should have). PF is payable irrespective of other matters. No one can legally withhold the payment of PF. In most cases, it's with EPFO, so she needs to apply for it. But she will need to get the relevant forms signed by the company.

Dear Anupama,

As per your information and the circumstances, yes, she can get her due salary in the form of voucher payment mentioning all her statutory deductions. Normally, in such a case, the company has to pay, but her salary will not reflect in the prescribed paysheet. Her statutory deductions should be made through proper challans and related forms like Form No. 5, 10, with Form 12A. Afterward, she can claim her PF withdrawal. This is for your information.

For more details, you can contact debajeetroy@gmail.com.

Thank you,
DEBAJIT ROY
Sr. Officer - HR

Dear,

If you can produce a Medical Certificate and make a sincere convincing appeal, the Management will definitely consider your plea and waive the Notice period. As informed in the posts, payment of Maternity Benefit may not arise.

Normally, in cases of detection of pregnancy post recruitment, some employers force female employees to resign. In such cases, you can consider it a forced resignation, violating the human rights of motherhood. You can file a complaint with the National Women's Commission.

Rajan Associates

Rajan,

I don't think going to court or the human rights commission, etc., is going to make a difference. Will she be able to spend time following the complaint (physically present)? The employer will definitely refuse to waive anything after that. And a signed resignation letter is strong evidence that is difficult to refute.

Dear all,

Thank you for your valuable reply. Let me explain the situation clearly. She had been with the company for 10 months. She left her job upon hearing from the doctor that she needed to be on bed rest for a minimum of 40 days due to a complication in her pregnancy. At that time, she was only one month pregnant.

She sent her resignation by mail to her boss, which has not been accepted so far. She did not receive any acceptance letter from her employer. The resignation letter was sent on the 28th day of that month. She did not serve any notice period but submitted an immediate resignation letter for the safety of her baby and her health.

It has been a year since this incident occurred. Her health has improved, and the baby is also doing well. She now wishes to claim her PF and salary. My question is, does she need to pay the equivalent of a 3-month notice period to receive her experience letter, 28 days' salary, and PF?

Thanks.

• A classic case of miscommunication and providing insufficient information. This has become very common on citehr.
  
• Had you provided this information in your first post itself, you would not have wasted the time and efforts of other citehr members.
  
• It appears to me that, after the resignation email, there was a studied silence from both parties. Now, after a successful pregnancy, childbirth, and a gap of one year, your friend wants a relieving letter.
  
• As mentioned in a post, she was advised 40 days of bed rest. So, probably, she could have served some notice period after 40 days, if not all 3 months, to make her case somewhat arguable. If it was not possible to serve the notice period, she should have applied for a waiver of the notice period, supported by doctor's recommendations and reports.
  
• Now, the employer may insist on notice pay and then only issue a relieving letter since your friend's case is not very strong. But there are chances that the employer may waive off the notice period if facts and circumstances are put forth convincingly. So, approach the employer (the right authority) and give it a try.
  
• Getting PF withdrawal is easy. Just submit filled withdrawal forms to the employer and need to do a little follow-up.
  

Salary is salary whether you pay it through cash, voucher, DD, cheque, or pay sheet. These are internal issues more related to accounting and not at all related to the subject of the thread. You are unnecessarily creating confusion by raising such points.

Hi,

There are two different issues clubbed together in this matter. The first one is Maternity Leave. All those who are not covered under ESI or are to be covered under this act are eligible to receive all the benefits as per the provisions of the same.

The second issue pertains to the Notice pay norms of the Company where she was employed. One must adhere to the employment norms unless there are valid reasons such as Maternity Leave or Leave with or without pay on medical grounds, etc.

However, it is a mystery why she submitted her resignation when she is entitled to avail the benefits as per the Act. She is eligible to avail the benefits for 12 weeks (6 weeks prior to the date of delivery and 6 weeks after the delivery). It is not clear whether she was within the entitled period.

Regards,
Balamurugan Sivaprakasam
Head of HR, ICIL- MM Nagar