Struggling to Get My Relieving Letter: How Can I Resolve This HR Issue?

Hi all, I was working with a Pvt Company. I sent them a resignation dated 08-09-2011 to the project manager's email ID, keeping my TL in the loop, but I didn't receive any acknowledgment. I continued working until 31-12-2011 as per the contract's two-month notice period requirement. In this case, I served more than 2 months. After that, due to a family tragedy, I stopped coming to the office. Some time later, I found a job in another company that required a relieving letter from my previous employer. I inquired with the project manager, who said he would inform HR. After a few days, my TL informed me that the project manager had prepared a relieving letter and forwarded it to my email, which I submitted to my new company. Upon verification, my new company informed me that my previous company had not endorsed the document. When I raised this issue with my project manager and HR, they mentioned that I had not submitted my resignation either via email or on HR crest (which was not in the appointment terms) and refused to provide a relieving letter. When I showed the project manager the resignation email, he pointed out that the email address I used was incorrect and claimed that he did not receive it.

Questions and Concerns

1. If they believed I hadn't submitted my resignation and had abandoned my duties after 31-12-2011, shouldn't HR have sent a show cause notice as per policy?

2. Can the company withhold my relieving letter?

Please suggest how I can obtain the relieving letter as I have already lost my job due to their negligence. They have not been responding to my emails or answering my phone calls.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. Sohail Rashid,

I appreciate that you have served the full notice period of 2 months as mentioned in your appointment order. However, I fail to understand why you decided to abruptly stop reporting for work (for whatever reasons). Now, I am surprised that you are citing that your previous company is negligent.

Though it is an accepted practice that the resignation letter through e-mail is acceptable, I am unable to understand from your email whether the resignation email was sent from the official email ID provided to you by your previous company. On the other hand, if you had forwarded the resignation through someone else's official email ID, then it may be invalid.

The only way for you now is to approach your previous company's TL & Project Manager, explain the situation that led to your exit, and sort out the matter amicably.

Some employees feel (I certainly don't mean you) that the new company will take them without verifying their past employment career. Professionally managed companies insist on a relieving letter from past employers; in some cases, if the duration of stay in past employment is very short, even past employment relieving letters are verified, and they also seek references from past employers. If the association in those companies has been smooth, then the candidate does not feel any hassle.

The best way out for you is to sort out the matter with your previous company; at least you do not have a choice now. Do not open up the topic of sending show cause notices, etc.; it will only aggravate the problem.

Regards,
M.V. Kannan

Dear Sohail,

I would like to address the points you mentioned:

1. Firstly, you resigned by sending an email to the wrong ID.

2. Following that, there was a family tragedy causing you to cease attending work, coinciding with the end of your notice period.

3. Upon joining a new organization, you mistakenly submitted that email in place of a relieving letter.

4. It was only after your previous employer's decision that you had the opportunity to discuss the resignation sent via email with the Project Manager.

5. It was during this discussion that the Project Manager pointed out the error of sending it to the wrong ID, akin to sending a letter without an address.

If the above sequence is accurate, it is evident that things are not as they seem, and there may have been a misunderstanding. I am confident that your dues, including your full salary, have been settled by the company. Pursuing your Provident Fund (PF) may be necessary, but eventually, you should receive it.

It is possible that they may withhold your experience or relieving letter, but they should not have any other recourse.

As Kannan and Anil have mentioned, the fault appears to lie with you. I suggest meeting with the Project Manager to apologize for the confusion.

The email issue you have encountered could potentially lead to cyber fraud, so I urge you to act promptly to resolve this matter.

Thank you,

Rupendra Chahar

Dear Mr. Kannan and Anil Pillai, I appreciate your reply. I would like to add here that the company has deputed me at the client's site, and I had sent the resignation from the email ID that the client provided me for communication with its internal employees. Moreover, the project manager also asked me to hand over my belongings, like my ID card, to the TL for the location, indicating that he was aware of my resignation. Therefore, the show-cause notice was to be served, even though I had already served the notice period. Additionally, they have forwarded me a relieving letter, which, according to them, is not genuine.

My performance and conduct have been good at the site, and the staff at that location have acknowledged it from time to time. Why should I be separated from my employment without being informed when I am aware of the repercussions?

Can they withhold my relieving letter? If I receive an experience letter from them, does that imply that I have worked but still have pending clearances, or do employers only consider the relieving letter from the immediate previous employer?

Does the company have the authority to decide whether to issue a relieving letter, or is it an employee's right (I believe even a terminated employee receives a service certificate)?

Thank you.

Dear Rajender,

Thanks for your reply. If the employee is absent or absconding from the office, isn't it the duty of HR and the Project Manager to know the reason behind it? Isn't it the HR policy to send a show cause notice, which they haven't adhered to? Moreover, as I mentioned in my previous comment, the project manager instructed me to hand over the belongings to the TL, so he was aware of the situation. I don't think this is a case of cyber fraud.

What steps should I take now to close this issue?

Thank you.

I haven't produced any email instead of a relieving letter as mentioned in your point 3. I had received a relieving letter from them, which they are now not endorsing, citing that they have not provided any. They disown that letter.

Regards,

Official Resigning Practices Guide

The person shall submit their resignation in person to their immediate reporting authority, express their final decision to quit employment, and ask for a smooth relieving upon completion of the notice period.

If, in case, the immediate authority or the HR authority denies accepting the resignation or providing acknowledgment of the resignation letter, it is the right of the employee to use internet communication mode for submission of resignation. In this case, the employee has to clarify that they had submitted the resignation in person, which was not accepted or acknowledged by the company; hence, they are submitting the resignation by email. While doing this, the employee shall clearly mention their last date of working and inform the company to complete their clearance formalities.

The email shall be sent from the official email ID provided by the company, and a copy shall be marked to the personal email ID of the employee.

Moreover, in this case, you can refer to the email communication and also clarify that you have completed the notice period by statute.

Let me give you a simple rule for resignation.

1. If you want to submit your resignation, you have to send it to your senior (To) and the HR department (CC).

2. You should receive a response from either your senior or the HR department confirming they have seen it and will revert back to you soon.

Documents Required Before Leaving an Organization

3. Before leaving any organization, you need to obtain three documents:
- An experience certificate showing your tenure with them.
- A salary certificate and salary slip if you don't already have them.
- A relieving certificate and ensure completion of the No Objection Process.

Failure to complete this process may lead to issues with the HR department.

Never consider ignoring a show cause notice as it will waste your time and may impact you in the future when potential employers request your past records.

My suggestion is to speak with your Team Leader and apologize to them and the HR department.

I am confident they will appreciate your apology and assist with the remaining process.

If they are unwilling to proceed, be honest with your current organization's HR department. They will understand if you are valuable to them.

Best of luck.

I appreciate your suggestion. Whenever I talk to a TL or Project Manager who has sent me a relieving letter (fake one), they just tell me that the email from which I received the letter has been used by every employee of the department (a type of public access to the email ID), and they don't know who sent it. Now, when I ask them if I should resign, they don't compromise on this issue. As already mentioned in my previous comments, they asked me to hand over the belongings to the TL; therefore, he knows about all this. Should I take any legal steps?

Thanks

Just recheck the spelling; it's Varun Purohit, not Parohit.

1. In this case, you can submit your relieving letter, which you received via email, to the HR of your current organization and explain that you have this document but they are not willing to provide more documents.

2. You are required to return all belongings provided by your previous company, and if possible, complete the work handover process there.

3. Why waste your time pursuing legal action?

Thanks & Regards,

1. Resign via email, send a hard copy via Registered Post (keep the receipt), call your reporting officer, and record the conversation on your mobile.
2. Begin serving your notice period. Send an email to the aforementioned person, post a hard copy as before, and make the phone call as previously instructed.
3. Serve notice for 1 month and then repeat the steps outlined in point 2.
4. When there are 15 days remaining until your last working day, repeat step 1.

Full and Final Process

Ideally, every corporate organization has a Full and Final (F&F) team to handle processes such as issuing your relieving letter, experience certificate, or PF refund. Even before that, there is an HR manager whose role includes efforts to reduce attrition and provide counseling. Regardless, follow steps 1-4 and best of luck.

Regards,

As everybody has mentioned here, now you will have to sort out the issues for which you need to ask questions (though you may be right in your way). It is better to sort them out quickly by visiting your previous office personally and meeting the concerned person(s) while emphasizing that your future is in their hands. Humbly request them to provide the necessary letter accordingly. After the request, no professional person would harm any employee who has worked in their company.

In the meantime, please go and meet the current employer (concerned persons) and inform him/them that you are obtaining the relieving letter as they have requested.

Be in touch with your current employer once every 4 or 5 days if there is any delay from your previous company.

OK, all the best.

Regards,
Venkat
Bangalore

Submission of Resignation: Key Considerations

Submission of resignation is one thing, and acceptance is another. I think you have done it in the wrong way. An employee must follow certain disciplines. Read carefully the appointment letter and its terms and conditions. Always apply resignation as per the clause of the appointment letter. Always submit it in person to the HR department and get acknowledgment. If you send an email, it should never be from your personal ID. If you don't receive any letter or communication from the company or department, the employee must follow up with the HR department and remind.

If the resignation is not accepted, then you may ask and explain the position, but under no circumstances should you leave the job at your whim. Meet the personnel department and the project manager with all the papers and explain to settle your full and final account and request a relieving letter. Please remember, the law is for both the employee and the employer, and it will protect the interests of both parties.