Analysis of Forced Resignation Practices and Legal Implications in Organizations

Dear All,

I joined a company after receiving an offer letter and accepting the position of Senior Manager.

I was asked to report to the site and was working accordingly. When I asked for the appointment letter, the HR Department informed me that it is under process. Since I was posted to the site and the Head office was far, and I was busy at the site, I thought it could be collected later as it was a very reputed company. After 5 months, I received a call from the HR Department informing me that, due to my non-performance, I was forced to resign on the same day along with two other colleagues who were at a different site for the same reasons. The claim of non-performance was false, and to date, we are unable to get the exact reason for our forced resignation. My other two colleagues were permanent employees, and I had not received my Appointment Letter. We submitted the resignation letter as asked by the HR department, considering our future careers. There are rumors circulating about reasons such as high salary, ego, attitude, harsh e-mails, regionalism, etc., of which I am confident are incorrect.

Can anybody provide me with an answer or suggestion?

Dear Mr. Govind Singh Negi,

Thank you for your reply and suggestion. I am not going to fight with the company, as I have to think about my future career. Nobody is ready to tell me the exact reason for my forced resignation regarding my performance. Even when I questioned it to my seniors and colleagues, they were surprised and unable to tell me exactly where I went wrong. At least they should have told me the reason, but they just informed that the performance is unsatisfactory, which is not true as discussed with other colleagues. A company should recruit professionals only if they seriously require them instead of treating us like use and throw pens. I am just surprised that very reputed companies can do this.

Dear Samarubasu,

I have gone through your post. The fault lies solely with management because only the offer letter was provided, and not the appointment letter. Even if there may be some fault on the employee's part, management is required to warn the employee. Subsequently, they should issue a show-cause notice and request an explanation letter from the employee. Management needs to clearly point out the mistake.

With regards,
V. Subbarao

Hi Samar,

I think you received the reason from HR as non-performance, which is the general explanation HR provides during termination. The issue may be that they lost the project extension, leading to the termination of all three of you. However, as you mentioned, I don't agree with hiring and firing without any career planning before recruitment.

Please smoothly transition out and seek a new opportunity. Any further action with HR will unnecessarily create issues.

Regards,
Hari

Hi Samarubasu,

It's quite late for you to look out to get suggestions. The next time you land a job, ensure to take an offer letter before joining the company. Once you join the company, within the next 2 days, get your appointment letter (this is very important) as this is the key proof that the X company is your employer and you are their employee. Read through the policy well and do ask questions if you do not understand or have any doubts regarding policy on pay, leaves, medical leave, resignation, etc. If you find anything strange or if you don't get any responses, then you can send your queries on this site; the HR community will be able to guide you.

Try to get the offer/appointment letter from the last company by talking to the HR and reporting manager. Try a softer and humble approach so that they may give you the letter which will be helpful for you. As this method has better chances of yielding you benefit than brushing shoulders. This is your career.

All the best.

If you were on probation, no notice is required to terminate your services if performance was the criterion for your confirmation.

But all said and done, your company doesn't seem to be a professionally managed organization. However, you have taken the right decision to settle in your career rather than pursuing the legal path (which, in the absence of an Appointment letter, seems difficult to manage). Remember, for the future, not to join a company without an Appointment letter and without reading the terms and conditions of your employment. Let this painful experience be worth a lesson.

Good luck to you, Samarubasu.

Please let me know what you need now. Put it clearly.

At this moment, I could say categorically that you need not have submitted your resignation under the circumstances that you were neither issued the Appointment Order nor received any related documentation. It is clear from your statement that the organization you joined and left is not an organization with Corporate Social Responsibility. Do not worry. Such an unethical, practice-oriented organization will meet its own end without anybody's effort to put an end to it. When one door is closed, many doors automatically open.

Wish you the best.

Dr. V. Sundaresan

Dear Mr. S Vasu,

Whatever happened to you is quite tragic, but the most surprising fact is why you submitted the resignation without getting the true story. You must have contacted the higher management or just to know the truth. You can even now contact the management and ask them the reason. If they are genuine people, they will explain the reason. Otherwise, the best is to forget all this as a bad dream. There are many such big and small companies.

But one more thing, there may be someone or something that might have gone wrong from your end. That may be some unintentional error or maybe someone made a false complaint against you, or you were made responsible for the mistake of someone else. So just think if there was anything on your part, rectify it, and that will help you in the future. Otherwise, it's too late for any recourse.

Next time wherever you join, never join without an offer letter and keep salary slips intact as they are as good as an appointment letter.

With best wishes.

When an employee resigns from his office, he formally withdraws from the position. This indicates that he has made a conscious decision to terminate the employment contract, which must be done voluntarily.

However, in the current situation, the resignation was submitted under coercion, making it not a voluntary act on the part of the employee. This was discussed in the case of Coromondal Fertilizers Ltd. vs. P. Venugopal 1986 (1) LLJ 417 (A.P.H.C.) and P.K. Ramchandra vs. Union of India (1984) 2 SCC 141 (SC).

Additionally, according to the provisions of the Shops & Establishment Act, the employer is legally obligated to provide an appointment letter to an employee. Therefore, in this scenario, it can be deemed as an example of "Unfair Labour Practice," indicating a lack of concern for corporate governance within the organization.

Based on your salary slips, it is advisable that you formally file a complaint with the Chief Inspector of Shops & Establishment, copying the Labour Secretary of your state.

When an employee resigns from his office, he formally withdraws from the position. This means he has made a decision to terminate the contract of service voluntarily. However, if the resignation is submitted under coercion, it no longer qualifies as a voluntary act on the part of the employee. This was demonstrated in the case of Coromondal Fertilizers Ltd. vs. P. Venugopal 1986 (1) LLJ 417 (A.P.H.C.) and P.K. Ramchandra vs. Union of India (1984) 2 SCC 141 (SC).

Furthermore, according to the provisions of the Shops & Establishment Act, the employer is legally obligated to provide an appointment letter to an employee. Therefore, in this particular case, it can be considered an example of "Unfair Labor Practice." It appears that the organization in question may not be concerned with adhering to corporate governance standards.

Based on your salary slips, it is recommended that you formally lodge a complaint with the Chief Inspector of Shops & Establishment, copying the Labor Secretary of your state.

Hello,

I feel you should have clearly asked for the reasons for the termination of your services before submitting your resignation. This enables you to understand your performance gaps (if any) or any other reasons that may have triggered the company's decision to discontinue your services. Anyhow, there is not much that can be done at this point, but in case you happen to visit your previous organization to collect your experience letter, etc., then if possible, you should meet with some senior management personnel and talk to them openly. Inform them that though you have chosen to resign and move on, you are keen to understand the exact reason why the company initiated this step. The reason given to you by HR is a very general statement, but one can demand specifics, and there is nothing wrong about it. You are a Senior Manager, and I am sure you know how to handle such kinds of meetings.

All the best.

- Gia

Can anybody suggest to me what legal provisions should be taken towards the employer if this type of incident happened?

Dear All,

Above incident is not new; this is the basic difference in a Private Company and a Government Company. Most of the Factory or Firm Owners understand themselves as the Malik of their employees until they face a legal offense. I am working in a Manufacturing Company where Management has forced some employees to resign without reason. They had no option but to resign because HR informed them that if they wanted One Month Salary with leave encashment as a full and final payment, they would have to resign without objection. The ill-fated employees had no choice but to comply with what HR instructed; at least they received one month's salary. However, the employees lost 15% of their salary, which was deducted in the name of variable pay (performance-based payment), and some lost their Gratuity amount as they were about to complete 5 years. If their final payment was made as per their CTC (with variable pay), they would have received a higher amount. Most private companies are not honest, yet they expect honesty from their employees even when engaging in illegal practices.

Regards,

Madhusudan Mishra

Dear Friends
In present days condition forced resignations have become very common. It’s my personal view that when such situation comes, one must write the resignations letters with words such as …as discussed I am putting my resignation letter….. and seek no objection from the company if I take up the employment with direct and/or indirect competitors of the company…further as the project on which I was working is not complete I should not be held responsible for any shortcomings or failure of the same……….
I believe that such forced resignations may not be noticed by the top management, as these are the part of blame game theory. If such an resignation letter is given then the company will think twice before acting on such forced resignations.
Readers please share your views on this
CS Mukesh Tank

Hi,

Well said, but most of the time, HR applies fear tactics to get employees to submit their resignations, and there are a lot of unfair practices circulating in companies. HR will typically state that if the employee doesn't resign, the company will terminate their services, which can be detrimental to the individual's career. The individual then succumbs to the fear that it will impact their future and meekly submits their resignation.

I am an HR professional, and I had to do this once, much against my wishes. I was working in an organization that was a proprietary firm. My senior (GM-HR) had given the instructions. I was new in the company, and hence I just followed the instructions. It was after months of association with the company that I realized the GM-HR had no HR expertise (knowledge-wise and sensitivity as well). She joined the company as a receptionist and climbed up the ladder in a span of 12 years by being a YES boss to our MD. Obviously, our proprietor, who was the MD, also was breeding such people because, according to him, they are loyal and will remain so more than the new joiners. I quit in about 11 months due to tremendous pressure from the GM in everything. I did not see much professional growth in this company. Within the next year, the MD sold the company to an MNC, and the MNC implemented proper processes and inculcated a professional culture. Surprisingly, this GM-HR was the first to be shown the door by the MNC. I hope this lady has now realized how it feels to be shown the door, something she did to others countless times before.

- Gia