Facing Pressure to Resign After Unapproved Leave: How Should I Handle This?

Respected Seniors, I am in need of some suggestions. I am a senior executive (HRD) working for an IT company. I had to avail some leaves last week due to family problems (which I had informed in advance—3 weeks prior), and my employer has not approved these leaves. Now, my VP-HR is forcing me to resign. The point is that I am eligible for a bonus and salary in the current month (i.e., 30 Apr). As per the process, if any employee resigns, they are not eligible for any bonus, and the salary is put on hold. My senior is pressuring me constantly. Please suggest how I should handle this situation.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Was there any reason stated by your manager why you were not granted leave? Did you exceed your leave balance? Did you use sick leave instead of earned/casual leave? What was your performance rating? Things are unclear, and hence, I cannot provide a suitable answer; I would require more details.

Regards,
Sree

Please find below the answers:

1. My manager did not specify any reason for not granting my leave, although I had informed them about my planned absence well in advance.
2. No, I did not exceed the allowed duration of leave.
3. I used casual leave that was not approved, resulting in a loss of pay.
4. Performance rating: Average performer.

Regards,

If you have applied for casual leave, your manager should be responsible for providing a reason for not approving or rejecting the leave. If you had casual leaves in balance, there shouldn't be any loss of pay. You should raise this issue. Do you have a grievance committee in your organization?

Forcing someone to resign is harassment, especially if you are not a poor performer. I don't think you should resign just like that but should stick with the organization at least until 30 Apr. However, I suggest you also start looking for other opportunities because the environment will not be favorable unless one of you (you or your manager) leaves the company. If there is a Senior VP HR or a Director HR above the VP-HR, you should meet with them.

I empathize with you, but if you have not done anything adverse, there is nothing to worry about. If you are not receiving a favorable response from the company, then the company does not deserve your service. So stay calm until 30 Apr and ignore the VP's threats.

Regards, Sree

Thank you for your response. We do not have any Grievance Committee as such. Being in HR, we cannot go and discuss this with anyone else. I tried to discuss the same with our HR Head, but even she did not pay any heed to my words and has just asked me to resign.

I guess I don't have any other option now.

Regards.

I commiserate with your situation. From your above posts, it's clear that you were not asked to leave based on poor performance or behavior in the workplace. Without any reason, if your VP forces you to resign, ample time is required to refute his judgment by considering factors such as job performance, company stature, or if someone has spoken ill against you. Favoritism towards a specific employee by the VP also plays a role in such cases.

After conducting your research, you may find no reason for your treatment, and you are being treated unfairly as your VP is covertly persuading you to resign. You can still fight against it. If your company is large enough, reach out to potential allies in your organization and gather their opinions on such discriminatory practices.

In case you don't receive the best response to your findings, I suggest you uphold your self-honor, similar to what Mr. Sree suggested ("Company doesn't deserve your service"). Sometimes, a voluntary resignation is rewarded with a positive letter of recommendation, regardless of your forced exit.

I totally agree with Ms. Sharmila's opinion: "... you'd find NO reason & you're being treated unfairly as your VP is covertly persuading you to resign -- ..." It is as simple as that, and your leave is just an excuse.

Unfair Practices in Small IT Companies

It is a very common practice for small IT companies to resort to such unfair and unethical ploys to remove people. The reasons can be favoritism towards someone, prejudice, diminishing utility, cost-cutting, etc.

Just try to take advantage or negotiate the notice period and look for better opportunities.

Warm regards.