How Should a Company Handle Employee Complaints During the Notice Period?

Handling Employee Complaints During Notice Period

If an employee resigns and is serving a one-month notice period, and subsequently lodges a complaint with the Labor office stating that management's lack of support led to his resignation, the company may face certain challenges. If this complaint is supported by five to six other employees who continue working at the company, and the Labor office sends a notice based on their complaint, the company should consider the following:

1. **Immediate Actions for the Company:**
What should the company do in response to the complaint?

2. **Addressing Concerns:**
Should the company address his concerns immediately, or wait until he completes his notice period?

3. **Obligation to Respond:**
Is the company obligated to respond to his complaint while he is serving his notice period?

4. **Impact on Supporting Employees:**
What about the employees who are supporting him?

Thank you.

Please provide more details such as: Did anyone speak to the concerned employee when he resigned? What are the points this employee and others supporting him are referring to (e.g., management not supporting him, leading to frustration)? The more information you include, the clearer the responses from the members will be.

However, there is one thing that is not clear in your post. Have you received the Labour Department notice? Or is this post in response to learning about the employee's plans to complain to the Department?

Regards,
TS

Though you mentioned the whole issue, certain details are missing. Kindly help with the following details:

Qn 1. Reason for Resignation

When the employee resigned, what was the reason for resigning mentioned?

Qn 2. Change in Duties During Notice Period

He was undergoing his one month's notice period. In that period, did his duties or responsibilities and roles change considerably?

An employee has the right to approach the labor commissioner, but I think there is a process to follow. Has he ever directly or indirectly shared that the company is pressurizing him?

Another thing, as far as my knowledge goes, even if an employee complains and has backing, I think a labor commissioner would allow the company to put forth their viewpoints before declaring a conclusion. A decision can never be made by hearing just one side's story.

I think you should draft a letter of concern sharing your viewpoints with the commissioner.

The question is unclear and vague. What do you wish to ask?

Since the complaint has been en-routed through the labor office, it is recommended to reply back to the labor officer stating your points.

Why do you not want to reply if you were looking out for that way?

What do you wish to know? What exactly about them? Do you know who is supporting them? Why? And if so, what is your suggestion to handle that? Your question is very vague to understand and answer.

Hope it helped.

Inquiry from the Labour Office

It appears from the post that the company received a notice from the Labour Office. If so, what did the Labour Office seek to know from the company, and did it give any directions to the company? This information is missing.

Regards, B. Saikumar Mumbai

First of all, my suggestion to you would be that you MUST reply to all and every communication received from the Labour Department. Please don't take it lightly; otherwise, not only the company but also the top management may land in legal trouble, which may include imprisonment.

The other aspect is evident from your query itself that he has some issues with the management, and some other employees are backing him as well. This is not a good sign. It clearly shows that something is not right somewhere. Please elaborate on the incident so that we may assess the gravity of the situation and give you a proper suggestion.

For the meantime, please take the matter very seriously.

Firstly, thank you for your inputs. The problem is that one employee is working in an organization. He was involved in theft, but one day an auditor cross-checked his data and caught him. The company issued him a suspension order, and upon receiving it, he stopped his duties. After some time, he returned to the office and told his colleague that the company was treating him unfairly. He had them write a letter and obtain signatures from some employees through a sympathy plea, without explaining the original problem of his involvement in a theft case. He has now gone to the labor office, which has sent a legal notice to the company.

During this period, the employees who signed the letter are aware of the original problem. Some employees approached their supervisor and provided a written statement that they had mistakenly signed the letter, while others did not. One of them submitted their resignation and is currently working through a one-month notice period.

Dear Sudhir Tiwari ji, still, you have not mentioned what kind of notice you have received from the labor office. Normally, the labor office sends a notice calling you to be present before it and give a reply to the complaint, in writing and/or orally. The officer tries to bring a solution to the complaint before him. This kind of proceeding is called Conciliation Proceeding, and a person/officer who conducts it is called a Conciliation Officer.

In such a case, you are advised to attend the same. You should not ignore it. The role of the Conciliation Officer is only to try to bring a solution. He cannot give you any decision and compel you to follow it. He has to give a failure report to the government if no solution comes out of his efforts. (The only thing is that the officer has some nuisance value). You should be firm with your stand if it is not unfair.

Regards

As far as I guess, you have not conducted a domestic enquiry nor issued any show cause to the employee concerned. Theft (I think you want to say misappropriation) is a very serious misconduct, but no misconduct is big enough to bypass the statutory procedure of an enquiry.

Now, when the notice has already been issued by the Labour Department, you must go on the date so fixed by the Labour Commissioner for hearing with proof of his misappropriation and the findings of the auditors. Please, if possible, take along those workmen who are ready to withdraw their complaint and let their statements be recorded at the Labour office.

Also, as soon as possible, start the domestic enquiry procedure by issuing a show cause to the delinquent employee. If the response received is not satisfactory, please appoint an enquiry officer to look into the charges against the delinquent employee.

Please handle this matter very carefully. Feel free to revert in case of any specific query in this regard.

First, the company should attend the hearing as it would have been sent from the Conciliation Officer. Then the company can file a suitable counter. Based on this, either the matter would be settled amicably, or a failure report may be passed, and then the case would be taken to the Labour Court. During these proceedings, i.e., Conciliation Officer and Labour Court, the company will have to prove that the resignation given by the worker was voluntary and not under force.

Secondly, if your company has any certified standing orders, a show cause notice may be issued to the worker regarding his misconduct. After receiving the explanation, if it is not satisfactory, a domestic inquiry may be conducted. Based on the findings of the inquiry officer, a suitable order may be passed by the company.

Thirdly, the company must send their reply notice to the complaint.

Fourthly, if any coworkers are supporting, then the management will have to find out whether those employees colluded with that employee. If there is any collusion, the management may issue show cause notices to those employees. Based on their explanations, a charge memo may be issued to them as per the standing order, and then the management can conduct a domestic inquiry on all of them. Based on the inquiry findings, a suitable order may be passed by the company.

Regards, Jeevanantham S Advocate, Chennai

Issue with Employee Involvement in Theft and Legal Notice

Firstly, thanks for your inputs. The problem is that one employee was working in an organization and was involved in theft. One day, the auditor cross-checked his data and caught him. The company gave him a suspension order, and after receiving that order, he stopped his duty. After some days, he came to the office and told his colleague that the company was treating him unfairly. He wrote a letter and took signatures from some employees through sympathy but did not explain the original problem of being caught in a theft case. Now, he has gone to the labor office, which has sent a legal notice to the company. During this period, the employees who signed the letter learned about the original problem. Some employees came to their in-charge and provided a written letter stating that they had mistakenly signed, but some did not. One of them submitted a resignation and is working the one-month notice period.

I am a little confused about this:

- Is the person who was terminated due to the theft issue the same person who resigned, or are they different individuals?
- Secondly, as suggested by all, when you or your auditor found a discrepancy and suspected theft, did you conduct a proper inquiry to determine if the terminated person was actually guilty before taking action?
- Thirdly, if the resigning person and the terminated person are not the same, why would someone choose to resign from their job solely because a co-worker is involved in an issue with the company? Has he/she stated the reason for resigning?

Even after this, it is not clear what the actual problem is. We may have interpreted it in our ways, but is it fair? Just as you mentioned, those supporting employees without knowledge of the actual situation supported the wrong individual. Similarly, in the absence of the actual scenario, someone might provide advice that may not be suitable for your situation.

Addressing the Problem

You must take the case seriously since it has been escalated through the labor office. If they have requested a meeting, please proceed and present your case, and they will take appropriate action. If there is any other notice, kindly share it so that seniors can provide guidance.

For Future Reference

While we have a policy to terminate immediately in cases of gross misconduct, one cannot terminate someone solely based on a gut feeling. Even with evidence, there needs to be at least an inquiry allowing the guilty party to explain their side. Terminating without conducting an inquiry could lead to various implications.

Regards,