Employee Rights: Can Your Company Transfer You Right After Joining?

Please advise me on what the rights of an employee are if the company transfers him from one branch to another branch immediately after his joining.

Regards,
Bharat

Transfer Clause in Appointment Letter

In the appointment letter, the condition is: "Although you will be based in Ahmedabad, please note that your services are transferable anywhere in India or abroad."

The question is, does the employee have any rights to demand perks or benefits if the company transfers him within a week of his joining date?

Regards,
Bharat

Dear Bharat, your appointment clearly states that you can be transferred anywhere in India, so you cannot complain.

Regards

As an HR professional, I want to help my employees because, due to a transfer, their cost of living will increase. The topic of transfer was not discussed during the interview. Is it not unfair to have a transfer policy where management orders the transfer of an employee within a week of their joining?

Regards,
Bharat

You should have mentioned clearly in your first posting that you are the HR person and not the affected party/employee—since that's the impression one gets from your first posting.

Query on Employee Transfer

Coming to your query, technically "it's not wrong," going by what's mentioned in the Offer/Appointment Letter. However, ethically or based on fair HR principles, it surely isn't a desirable managerial step to transfer the employee so soon after joining without giving any indication during the hiring process.

Further Information Needed

However, to give any further suggestions, you would need to provide more inputs:
1. How many cases like this have occurred? Is it a one-off case or being repeated?
2. Has this been a recent phenomenon or has it been ongoing for a long time?
3. Have you noticed/seen any counter-responses/actions by the affected employees, like resigning, performance issues, etc.?
4. Have you discussed this issue with any of the affected employees so far—what's the feedback?

The more inputs you provide, the more focused and accurate suggestions the members will be able to give.

Regards,
TS

The employee has agreed to the terms of transfer in his appointment letter. Though the management shall, as far as possible, avoid unsettling an employee by transferring him within one week of his joining, it has every right to organize its business and thus transfer an employee as per its business and administrative needs. Normally, the management reimburses travel fare and halting allowance during the period of transit. I do not know whether there is such a provision in the company's policy. As for granting him a higher salary due to an increase in the cost of living at the new place of posting, it all depends on the company's policy, and in the absence of it, it depends on its discretion. As an HR professional, you can take the initiative in framing a meaningful policy.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

Your service conditions remain the same unless you are promoted. The only difference is that they may provide you with transfer benefits such as TA, DA, and relocation expenses according to their policy.

Impact of Location-Based Transfers on Employee Morale

An employee might have joined your organization considering the location is convenient for him. He might have sacrificed a few good benefits too that he was getting from his earlier employer.

It may be a management tactic to poach a good person from a competitor by offering him a location that is convenient to him initially. Once he joins, they may want to transfer him to the actual place where his services are required. Since the clause in the appointment letter allows his transfer to any other location as per the wish of management, he can neither protest legally nor can HR do anything. This is absolutely against the principles of natural justice and demoralizing for the new employee. Instead of settling down happily in his new job and showing interest in giving his best output to the new bosses, he will start cursing the company, feeling cheated, and of course, his priority will be to look for another opening.

Since you are kind-hearted, try to avoid such transfers by convincing your seniors.

I have gone through your query and the views of many learned followers. From your query and clarifications thereafter, it is assumed that your concern/establishment is a significant one with branches in many parts of the country. Hence, the individual(s) being appointed are selected to fill vacancies in various units of the main establishment and are required to be posted according to the company's needs, not the convenience of the individual concerned.

Employee Transfer Policy

First and foremost, please understand that as stated in the Appointment Offer letter, the employee may be transferred anywhere in India to a unit owned by the same owner. The employee shall be entitled to TA/DA as per the company's rules.

Role of an HR Manager

Secondly, as an HR Manager, it is your primary responsibility to address and alleviate the doubts of your employees. However, instead of calming their concerns, you seem to be raising questions. In addition to the employees' interests, you must also consider the company's interests within the framework of rules and regulations. You are expected to act as a liaison between top management and the workers/employees.

The role of an HR Manager is crucial. Please execute your duties diligently; otherwise, you may find yourself in a "lose-lose" situation. Neither the top management nor the employees will appreciate your current approach.

Regards,
AK Jain
HR Personnel
NCL, CIL

Thank you very much, seniors. I discussed with management the possibility of providing transfer benefits to the employee for moving to another branch and will revert to you with the management's feedback.

Thanks & Regards, Bharat

Thank you very much, seniors. I will discuss with management the possibility of providing transfer benefits to the employee for moving to another branch and will inform you about the management's feedback.

Thanks & Regards,
Bharat

In transfer matters, it is not a foolproof right of the employee to fight it out successfully. I don't think any employer should include a clause in the T&C that he cannot be transferred. If the employee fights for such matters during the initial period of his career, it may cast clouds on his future prospects. I think he will have to fight a losing battle only. Let him be content with what is made available. Maybe he could get some clues if he verifies what happened when his seniors were transferred like this.

Regards

Dear Bharat,

I agree with Pon1965; you should check your appointment letter first because this serves as your initial or even final contract, a binding agreement between you and your employer. Any deviations shall be deemed negotiable with your employer.

Regards,
NBAton

Dear Senior, Today, my branch head sent me the email below. Please advise on what actions to take.

"Email from Branch Head

Dear Bharat,

As you are aware, our Head Office in Gujarat will be relocating from Ahmedabad to Surat starting January 2014. I would like to know if you wish to transfer from Ahmedabad to Surat by January 2014.

Looking forward to your reply."

Regards,
Bharat

Employee Rights in Case of Office Relocation

If an organization is shifting its complete head office from one location to another, with all government permissions, I don't think you have any option to accept the transfer or not. Whatever may be the clause in the appointment letter, when the company itself is shifting, you have to accept the same. The message from your boss itself is wrong. He should not ask you whether you want a transfer or not. He should write, 'you will be transferred.' (It is presumed that you are a head office employee).

If at all, your company has another office premises in Ahmedabad, where any of your other departments is working, and your job profile suits working in that department, you can request management that you want to remain in Ahmedabad due to some reasons (give a few reasons which sound genuine).

Like Abhay Bandekar mentioned, this is NOT a case of the transfer of an individual employee. In fact, apart from what he mentioned about the wording your Branch Head used, he should have said "OUR HEAD OFFICE OF GUJARAT IS GOING TO BE SHIFTED FROM AHMEDABAD TO SURAT" instead of "OUR HEAD OFFICE OF GUJARAT IS GOING TO TRANSFER FROM AHMEDABAD TO SURAT."

It's YOUR CALL now. All the Best.

Regards,
TS

It is quite obvious that when the company is shifting its Head Office from one place to another and the present HO will be winding up, the services of its existing employees will also be required to be shifted from the earlier place to the new place. In this case, it is from ADI to Surat. Now it's up to the employees to report to the new place of HO or to quit. The management is very intelligent, and it has placed the ball in your court to either opt for services at the new place at the same terms and conditions or to quit. The choice is yours.

However, in my opinion, the affected employees should approach the management and request compensation for the hardships to be faced at the new place of posting, such as accommodation or House Rent Allowance (HRA), transportation of household goods, one-time traveling expenses to report at the new place, and other benefits as applicable in case of transfer as per the rules of your organization/company.

Best wishes for the future.

Regards,
AK Jain HR Personnel NCL, CIL