Should My Cousin Apologize to Avoid Negative Remarks in His Relieving Letter? Seeking Advice on Handling Unfair Termination

I'm having this query for one of my cousins who is working in a company in Mangalore as a Design Engineer. Here, people make you work day and night, and at the end of the day, you are left with no pay. If you ask for a salary, they respond that the payment is pending from the client.

The situation here is that when asking for a salary, or even for some money due to an emergency, the boss insists that you should speak properly with him. Despite my cousin speaking calmly, the boss accuses him of being rude without any valid reason. Consequently, my cousin argued with the boss to defend himself against the unfair accusation.

Subsequently, my cousin sent an email to the boss requesting his salary. In response, the boss informed him that he was terminated due to bad behavior and would only be allowed to stay if he sent an apology.

Despite being in the right and having done nothing wrong, my cousin is considering writing an apology letter to ensure that the boss does not provide a negative report in his relieving letter.

Should my cousin write an apology letter, and what should be the content of the letter? He intends to write an apology solely for the purpose of avoiding any negative remarks in his relieving letter.

Hi, there's no specific payment date, and the payment has been pending for several months. The reason cited for the delay in salary is the company's financial situation and low revenue. It is a private company established in 2007.

Regards,

This is a technique used by the boss: heating up a situation to make it worse before taking action. According to the ID Act, there are no provisions to force someone to apologize. It is advisable not to let emotions take over and resign from the job. Stay calm and composed. Do not apologize or resign. Respond by asserting your right to receive the correct and immediate salary that you are entitled to ask for.

Thank you.

Tell the boss you'll talk to the labor department about this. You just cannot withhold salary for months and expect staff to tolerate it in the name of "cooperation" or because the company is losing money spent on training the resource. Is it a training institute? Did you join it for training? It is a job where you work to get paid. It is that simple.

All else is smoke they build to keep you trapped.

I agree with the comments of Bodhisutra. Such unfriendly or rather hostile employee policies and approaches are the bane of the private sector or unorganized sector employment. Only a determined implementation of labor laws and penal action, as well as a dogged pursuit of such matters in the Labor Court by the affected employees, can alleviate the malady to some extent.

Warm regards.

From your question, it appears that it is a small private establishment and doesn't have any HR policy or whatsoever. Writing an apology letter leads to acceptance of the mistake even though it was not committed. However, even after accepting the apology letter, they may not be interested in providing a relieving letter. Since it is a private establishment, it can be very difficult to engage in a dispute with them. If you have access to the local office of the Labor department, please seek their help in obtaining a relieving letter. If they are also influenced by bribery, obtaining justice is unlikely.

With regards,

I agree with you, SPRK; that is the reason I was asking my cousin to bend with them and write an apology letter. But then, it's getting over his head now. Upon submission of the resignation letter, they say he will be relieved after JUNE. The reason being, they retained him during the off-season, maybe this means on the bench, and the season begins from JAN to MAY so that they can make use of him. In all this, they are not speaking about the work he has done without taking his payment.

I have suggested he talk to one of the HR professionals from the companies in his place as his company does not have an HR.

Thanks all.

I don't find any use in saying sorry. The company is small and not paying salaries on time. We all work for a salary to some extent. If it's not on time, any person will get demoralized.

Your cousin has done nothing wrong if he asked for the salary. He has worked for them; it's his right to ask for a salary. Mark 2-5 more mails from your personal mail ID for proof.

Don't write the apology letter and switch to a new company. The market is small, and companies know the level of each other. Start facing interviews, and in interviews, clearly tell the reasons to HR. Also, convey that you might not be able to provide a relieving letter. Also, keep a backup of all mails to use them in your favor in the future.

As soon as you get a good job, switch without even serving notice. If they are not paying you and harassing you, there is no use in being too loyal to such a company. While relieving, tell your owner that you have all the harassing mails with you. If he does anything against your career in the future, then you will send it to the labor commissioner, and he should be ready to bear the case expenses. He is guilty and will not take any risk.

"WHEN IN ROME DO AS THE ROMANS DO"

Good Luck!

Forum Etiquette and Positive Engagement

Perhaps you are new to this forum. "Do not post anything derogatory about any company or entity," and names should be avoided. We are here for solutions, not for creating problems. The world is full of such companies, so why should we name just a single company? If we respond to them in a positive way, only then can the problem be resolved. We are here to support a person in trouble, not to increase his/her troubles. Therefore, we do not demand names. It's not ethical either.

Regards