How Should We Handle Salary Payment for a Resigned Employee with Poor Performance?

Dear Seniors,

We have one team lead (TL) who worked with us for 4 months. During this 4-month duration, his performance was nil, and he brought zero business (profit) to the company. We initially assigned him one team member, but he did not establish a good rapport with this team member, failed to provide proper training and support, and ultimately caused the team member to leave within a month. We wanted him to justify the company's costs for the last 4 months, so we gave him a one-month deadline to improve. However, during this period, he only attended for the sake of attendance, and his daily productivity remained zero. Consequently, we asked him to resign instead of terminating his employment. He resigned in the middle of January (16th Jan).

Salary Payment Query

Now, our query is: Is it necessary to pay his last month's salary? Because:

• Over the past 4 months, his performance was literally 0%, and we paid his full salary without any deductions.
• He worked only 5 days this month, with the remaining days being weekends and festival holidays, yet he is claiming 15 days' salary.
• Due to his poor performance, we lost good clients, money, and also one good employee.

Management is not ready to release his salary and has asked me to hold it. However, the employee is requesting that I pay him half of his month's salary. In what way can I convince him that his salary should not be paid?

Kindly suggest how to handle this problem. Very urgent...

Regards,

Clarification on Contract Terms and Salary Payment

It is not clear what the terms of the contract are. However, it is understood that he was employed on a salary basis at a monthly rate. In that event, you need to pay him his salary for the period he turned up for work. You cannot withhold his salary after allowing him to resign. If he worked only for 5 days in January 2014 and was treated as absent without authorization for the remaining days, without any leave being sanctioned, then you can pay only for those five days. If his performance and attendance are questionable, which caused a loss of business to you, then you should have taken disciplinary action instead of allowing him to resign.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

Dear Mr. Sai, I have the same problem, but I didn't have any contract from the employee. In the past 4 months, her performance was nil, and she has brought zero business (profit) to the company. Our management informed her to leave the company without a notice period. We want to withhold her one month's payment. She already left the company 5 months ago. How can I handle the problem? Please help me.

Regards,
Sindu

Salary and Performance Clause in Appointment Letter

Is there any specific clause in the appointment letter stating that his salary is payable and linked to performance? Even if that is the case, you had acquiesced to his breach of contract every month by paying his salary.

Further, under the Payment of Wages Act and the Shops and Establishment Act, you cannot withhold his salary at the time of his discharge.

Entitlement to Notice Pay

As regards Mr. Sidhu's query, since she had put in more than three months of service, she was entitled to one month's notice pay even if she was discharged immediately. This amount ought to have been paid at the time of discharge under the above provisions.

Anyways, pay her dues with interest immediately.

Regards,
Sushil

Recruitment and Performance Issues: A Need for Self-Examination

If the Team Leader gives "zero" performance in the 4-month tenure, then you just cannot lay the blame at the door of the newly recruited employee. Who was involved in the recruitment? Why is their failure in the wrong recruitment not questioned?

It appears that the malaise lies in the poor recruitment practices of your company. Have you trained your managers in Interview Handling Skills? How many rounds of interviews were conducted, and what questions were asked? Recently, Amazon selected a female employee at a very senior level. She happens to be the daughter-in-law of our family friend. She mentioned that the recruitment process involved 10 rounds. Amazon neither believed in her more than a decade-long career in a top-notch IT company nor in her qualification from IIM, Bangalore.

By not paying the wages to the Team Leader, what you would like to do is to grasp at the last straw. However, what you need to do is self-examination. The sooner you do it, the better it is for your company.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar