Was My Termination Fair? Seeking Advice on Notice Period Rights and Next Steps

I was working as a Manager in an MNC in Chennai. As per my offer letter, the notice period stipulation is as follows: You shall give the organization at least two months' notice of your intention to resign. The organization reserves the right to accept your resignation with immediate effect at any time during the notice period.

The organization shall be entitled to terminate your employment at any time by giving one month's notice or without any notice on payment of one month's salary in lieu of notice. Despite this, the CEO terminated my services without giving me one month's notice or one month's salary in lieu of notice.

In such a situation, am I eligible for one month's salary in lieu of notice? Kindly guide me on what measures are available to me.

Best regards,
Vinay

You are entitled to one month's salary in lieu of notice as per your employment contract. If the employer has not paid you the said amount, it amounts to a breach of contract; hence, you can take legal action against your employer.

Regards,
Kamal

Can you guide me as to which forum to approach for initiating action against this defaulting previous employer? Do I have to send a legal notice through an advocate, or is there any forum like the Consumer forum for consumers?

Best Regards,
Vinay

Options for Aggrieved Workers

An aggrieved worker can seek assistance from the Labour Officer, Labour Court, etc. However, since the issue involves a manager, none of the dispute settlement mechanisms under the Industrial Disputes Act will be available to you. Nevertheless, as there is a breach of contract, you have the option to file a civil suit against the employer.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K

Further to what Kamal Prasoon Sinha and Madhu.T.K suggested, there are a couple of points to keep in mind regarding the circumstances of the termination if you choose to take any legal action.

You mentioned, "the CEO terminated my services without giving me 1 month's notice or 1 month's salary in lieu of notice." Usually, employees at your level [Manager] aren't terminated in this manner, as you mentioned—unless there are any circumstances of propriety involved. If true, then you may also need to consider the company's counter-responses before pursuing legal action. However, this surely doesn't affect your right to receive the 1 month's salary in lieu of the notice period, as per the offer letter.

Please provide more details about the termination circumstances, including the reasons given to you and the actual reasons, so that the advice and suggestions you receive from the members are more realistic and practical.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

I agree with all but more with TS. One more point to clarify: were you on probation during the termination of your service? The law states that your probationary services can be terminated even without notice or payment in lieu thereof. Numerous supporting court rulings favor managements. It would be helpful to know the nature of your industry to understand the consequences and methods to be adopted. Identify your status and send the management a notice asking for one month's salary, citing the relevant point of your appointment—only if all means to an amicable settlement are ruled out.

Thank you,
AR

Legal Rights for Notice Period Payment

The legal advice could be more precise with additional facts. Even if the termination by the management is justified, it is only fair that the minimum notice pay is provided. In my opinion, even a Manager can seek redress for non-payment of the notice period salary as this is protected by the Payment of Wages Act.

Additionally, a Manager (unless specifically excluded by the Company in their registration) is covered by the Shops and Establishment Act, enabling them to pursue a remedy for notice period payment before the Labour Commissioner under the S&E Act.

Regards,
Vasudevan

It matters whether you were under probation or not. Please provide this information. If you were under probation, then termination of service may be done without a notice period.

Please talk to your HR manager to understand why notice pay has not been provided when you were terminated by the CEO. If you still believe that your claim is valid, consider sending a simple letter requesting the notice pay via Registered Post and await a response. If there is no reply, then proceed to issue a legal notice through a lawyer.

All the best.

Dear, when did you join the company? Were you on the probationary period? Please clarify.

I read this post with due interest. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify certain legal aspects.

By the location given in the post, I observed that he is from Bangalore, which falls in Karnataka. Also, from the post, it is clear that Mr. Vinay is employed in an MNC, which I presume is governed by the Shops and Establishment Act of that respective State, which in this case would be the Karnataka Shops and Establishment Act.

I would like to draw the kind attention of worthy members towards Section 39 of the aforementioned Act. Since I am not able to copy from the file, I am attaching the Act PDF for reference. Section 39 states that anybody who is under employment for not less than 6 months under an employer cannot be terminated without giving one month's notice or salary in lieu of, other than in the case of misconduct.

While I say this, its applicability to the present case would come into question as Mr. Vinay is a manager. I would like to draw attention towards the definition of an employee in the Act, which states that except the family members of employees, everybody is an employee. So, he is well covered under this definition.

Section 39 also provides a remedy against the illegal acts of an employer. So, my opinion to Mr. Vinay would be that he should contact the proper authority as given in the Act immediately, and I am sure that he will get justice.