Is Our Company Obligated to Pay Salary After a New Hire Resigns Due to Poor Performance?

Hello Seniors, We are an IT company. Recently, one experienced person joined our company. Now, at the end of the month, she told us that she is not able to continue with us as she is not performing well in training and she can't do this kind of work. We have accepted her resignation, and we also feel that she was not performing well during the training period. Now, my question is, in this case, is the company liable to pay her salary, even though the company has invested in her training which has not provided any benefit?

Thanks,
Kinjal

Understanding Notice Period and Performance Issues

Notice period always depends on mutual understanding. You are going to terminate her later once you find that she is not performing well. In such a case, you need to pay this notice period amount, right? Please find out the reason why she wants to leave the organization if she is intentionally not performing well. Is there any chance to mentor her and improve her performance if the reason is genuine?

In my opinion, it's too early to accept the resignation. Find out the root cause of why she is not performing well because it takes 2 or 3 months to gel with new people and a new environment. Give her time for 2-3 months to see the performance and then make the decision.

On one hand, you say that she is an experienced person. On the other hand, you say she is in training. Both of these statements do not go together. If an experienced person joins, he or she would have joined on probation or directly as a confirmed employee.

Recruitment System Concerns

Your recruitment system appears to be faulty. If a candidate's skills and competencies align well with the job profile and the candidate does not suffer from "attitudinal sickness," this situation should not have arisen.

Managing such issues is not difficult if your Appointment Letter or the Company HR Policies adequately define the clauses for separation. However, to avoid a recurrence of a similar situation, I may advise a review of your recruitment, induction, and onboarding process.

Looking at the situation, please find my suggestion below:

Appointment Letters and Notice Period

Firstly, we should check the appointment letters issued to her at the time of joining. Secondly, in my opinion, the company is not liable to pay her for the full notice period, as she has resigned of her own volition. The employer never asked her to tender her resignation.

Mutual Agreement on Notice Period

Serving the notice period totally depends on mutual agreement. If the resource is not productive, there is no point in asking her to stay back and serve the full notice period. The company should only pay her for the number of days she has extended her services.

Thanks,
Ana

Being "fit" or not for the role she was hired for is an issue related to the company's recruitment system, which seems to need fine-tuning. Such things keep happening, and it is good that this has been accepted and settled amicably. However, notwithstanding the above, it is unethical and downright deplorable not to pay salary for the period worked. The fact that it was a training period and the company has incurred expenses has no meaning.

If the company is so cost-conscious, would it not be correct to recover the cost of the tea that may have been given to her or the cost involved in offering her a cold glass of water? See how ridiculous it sounds!

That's exactly the case if she is denied the salary for the period. Good companies do not take account of such trifles! And if some seedy and shabby companies do it, then I think the ex-employees should pay them for the tea and refreshment served to them during training, preferably along with some tip!

Warm regards.

I agree with M/s. BK Bhatia and Mr. Rajkumar's views on the subject. The fault lies more with the company than with the employee. She needs to be paid for the days she worked.