Can I Leave My Job Without Notice If I Never Signed a Contract? Seeking Advice on Company Policy

I am currently doing my job and now I want to resign from that job. I had submitted my resignation letter, but in reply, I was informed that as per the company policy, I have to work at least one month and cannot leave until my commitment is fulfilled. However, I want to leave at the end of this month.

Concerns About Company Policy

Additionally, there is one more point: I was not aware of this policy because the company has not provided me with any appointment letter, and I have not signed anything in the company. So, can I leave?

Thank you.

You can leave the company at any time; they cannot force you to work. However, you should serve your notice period or pay in lieu of notice.

Options for Resignation

a) If you want your salary and a clean exit, then you should offer to resign, serve notice, and get relieved.

b) If you have worked in the company for less than 1 month and you don't want your salary or relieving letter, then you can just inform them that you don't want to work there and stop going to your office. As an HR professional, I do not recommend this option, but it's your choice.

From my experience - Whenever I had cases where people wanted to resign immediately after joining, I would recommend to the management to accept the resignation, waive off the notice period, and relieve the employee immediately. The reason was that in such cases, the employee had just joined, not completed training, and was not productive. Even if the employee would serve notice, it would not benefit the company.

My recommendation is to try to reason with them that you have just joined and are not fully productive. It would be in the company's best interest to relieve you immediately.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for your reply. Here are a few more details. In this company, I worked for more than a year and a half and received very nice appreciation. As a software developer, some clients also mentioned that it was good work. However, I am feeling frustrated because the company owner made some foolish decisions.

He assigned a highly recommended project to other developers with only 3 to 6 months of experience and moved me to a boring project like data entry. Additionally, the company owner is not paying salaries on time. On average, it is delayed by 25 days.

Moreover, the company is not compensating me fairly for the work I am doing. Therefore, I have decided to resign from my job. However, after receiving this kind of rude reply from him, I am feeling a bit scared.

Regards

Hi Sagar, I would suggest that you resign, serve the notice, and get relieved.

It is understood from the above postings and replies that at present you do not have a job on hand and would like to resign due to frustration. Therefore, it is advisable to search for a good job, serve the notice as per your employer's requirements, and exit with a clean record.

Standard Notice Period Requirement

A notice of one month is standard practice. Even if you have not received the appointment letter, a notice period of one month is still valid and required. It's also a fair requirement.

Most of the Shops & Est Act provide for such notices. For example, the Delhi Shops & Est Act provides for one month's notice after three months of service. In the absence of any more favorable provision in the appointment letter or in the event of no appointment letter, these provisions will apply and will be binding.

I do not know the place of your work, so I cannot comment specifically. I am giving a general reply.

Dear Mr. Sagar, there is a mention in the appointment letter about the notice period, which indicates how long you should work after submitting your resignation. As per your words, you have not signed any copy. If you need your salary for the days worked and relieving documents, etc., you should complete your notice period, which is advisable. If you leave the company without serving the notice period, you cannot expect the salary, relieving benefits, etc.

Thanking you,

Best regards,
Subba Raju.N