Resigned with Notice, But Company Wants Immediate Departure – What Should I Do?

Dear Sir, This is to inform you that I am a confirmed employee of SIS India Ltd. I sent my resignation dated 29.12.2012, with a one-month notice period, and the company accepted the resignation dated 01.01.2013 and instructed me to move now. Please suggest to me what steps I should take next. Thank you.

What exactly is the issue? You haven't cited it here. Please brief your situation for a better response from our forum seniors.

In contrast to the above-mentioned, what I understood is that you're perplexed about the employer relieving you from services as soon as you resigned. If there is no reason behind the scene, then the straightforward fact is that the employer needs to pay your one-month notice as it was their discretion not requiring your services for a month. You may also talk to your HR department for your full and final settlement at the earliest.

Regards

Resignation Acceptance and Immediate Relieving

The company is generally free to accept your resignation and relieve you with immediate effect. Typically, the appointment letter or other terms of employment will provide for this. In such a case, they don't need to pay you for the balance period. You can join your next company immediately.

Regards

The employer has the right to relieve you without waiting 30 days. He will be within his rights to appoint a new person in the interest of service. Even though you are a confirmed employee, since you have resigned, he can relieve you.

Embrace the Change

There is something good that has been kept in this. Enjoy it and do not contest it.

Blessings,
Dr. Ram

Only to add to the above responses is that, once an employee resigns from a job, their loyalty to that job expires. Therefore, the employer has the discretion to relieve the employee either immediately upon receipt of the resignation or at the end of the notice period. Here, we cannot compel the employer to relieve the employee after the notice period.

Hope that you have understood.

Please go through your appointment letter. There should be a clause regarding the separation/relieving procedure. If the clause states a one-month notice period and in lieu of that period, one month's salary, the organization is liable to pay. This agreement is a mutual agreement and is binding on both parties. Therefore, you are requested to approach your HR department, quoting the appointment letter and the procedure.

Regards,
Raju,
HRD.

My two cents of advice would be for you to go back and look at your appointment letter. As far as termination and exit from the company are concerned, the majority of employees do include a clause stating that it is the company's discretion to waive off your notice period without pay and relieve you immediately.

I don't see a conflict here, except that it seems to have taken you by surprise. The company is well within its rights to relieve you immediately upon acceptance of your resignation, which I believe was accepted almost 20 days after you resigned. Technically speaking, they are relieving you 10 days ahead of your completion of the notice period. This decision could also have been made after observing your contribution post-resignation.

Employee Resignation and Immediate Termination

An employee who has submitted a notice, if asked to leave immediately, will be deemed to mean that the contract of employment is terminated in the interest of the employer. Therefore, the employer is liable to pay the remaining days' salary to the employee. It is important to note that an employee has the right to withdraw their resignation before it becomes effective. Thus, if the employer wishes for the resigned employee to be relieved immediately, they can do so but must pay the salary for the notice period.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Understanding Termination Clauses

The termination clause is typically reciprocal regarding the rights and obligations of the parties involved in a contract of service. This means that when an employee gives a one-month notice of resignation, the employer cannot immediately relieve them of service by accepting the resignation. Similarly, when the employer gives a one-month notice of termination, the employee can choose to leave immediately without waiting to serve the full month. The employer may accept the employee's resignation immediately upon receipt, but it only takes effect at the end of the notice period. By incorporating a one-month notice term, both parties agree to keep the contract in force during this period.

Thus, by giving a one-month notice, the employee intends to terminate the contract at the end of the month, reserving the right to withdraw the resignation during the notice period. If the employer accepts the resignation and relieves the employee immediately, they effectively terminate the contract of service and are liable to pay wages for the remainder of the notice period. Mr. Madhu is incorrectly explaining the position.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
Mumbai

Madhu T K's contention does not appear to hold water. Employment is not a contract. An employer requires one month's notice to arrange for an alternative. If they can handle the replacement quickly or manage without a hand, they have no obligation to keep someone sitting idle and pay any compensation from the date of relief to the completion of 30 days.

"Contract" or "breach of contract" have different meanings and are not applicable to an employer-employee relationship. An employer has the right to set their own terms and conditions as long as they adhere to statutory provisions.

Blessings,
Dr. Ram

Br. Ramanan's view is genuine, but laws are made to benefit employees, and that is why the courts have come with verdicts allowing an employee to withdraw before it becomes effective. It is correct that the notice period is the duration during which the employer can have enough time to find an alternative and facilitate knowledge transfer. Simultaneously, if the employer observes that the resigned employee is just spending time chatting in the office, naturally, they can ask the employee to leave sooner.

On the other hand, if we consider the situation where the employer asks an employee to leave by providing a one-month notice period and the employee agrees to leave immediately, then, in that case, it will be the employee terminating the contract and paying the notice pay to the employer.

Case Study: Shambumurari Sinha Vs Project & Development India Ltd

The attached is a verdict in Shambumurari Sinha Vs Project & Development India Ltd. Though the matter discussed pertains to the withdrawal of the VRS option, the following sentences may be highlighted for the present discussion:

"It appears to us that the law is well settled by this Court in a number of decisions that unless controlled by conditions of service or statutory provisions, the retirement mentioned in the resignation letter must take effect from the specified date, and such date cannot be advanced by accepting the resignation from an earlier date when the employee did not intend to retire on that earlier date."

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

What Mr. Madhu TK has stated is perfectly true. Being a lawyer in the same discipline, I can affirm that every employment is a contract. I have seen many instances wherein the employer relieved the employee without paying for the notice period, and the employee sought the notice period payment as relief, and the courts granted it. Even if you make any employee accept any unreasonable term in the appointment letter or in the employment contract, it would not hold any weight in the Court of Law. Mr. Madhu TK is again correct in saying that labor legislation is a beneficial legislation which gives power to the courts to interpret the situation in such a way that it may not curtail any right of any such employee.

I would request the poster of this thread to contact the Local Labor Commissioner, and he will surely get the relief he seeks for.

Best regards,
Dr. Ram