Is My Friend Entitled to His Last Working Day Benefits Despite Missing Monday?

Hello Seiner, My friend has given his resignation. Accordingly, Monday was his last working day. The handover-takeover process was completed on Saturday. However, due to illness, he could not attend the office on Monday.

Now, the company is considering his last day as Saturday. Consequently, he has lost his Sunday as well as the two days' notice period. Please advise if he is entitled to Sunday, as the company follows a 7-day working system.

Regards,
Rajvir Singh

As you mentioned that the employee was sick and due to this, he couldn't report to work on Monday, please have him provide his sick leave report and finalize the matter.

Thank you, Mr. Ghouse, but he hasn't any medical certificate; this is just a cold and fever. Now, the company has processed his F&F as a consideration for Last Working Day (LWD) on Saturday. I would like to ask if he is entitled to any remedy according to the law.

Regards,
Rajvir Singh

Here are some points that need consideration:

1. If your friend's last working day was Monday, why did he/she hand over the charge on Saturday itself?

2. As your friend was already aware that Monday was his/her last working day, why did he/she take leave on that day, especially when it was just due to a cold and fever (as mentioned by you)?

3. Did your friend send any leave mail to the management on that day, and was it accepted by them?

Your query is focusing only on your friend's perspective. For the right advice, the full context should be clear. Please provide these details as well. It would be very helpful for many of my friends here on this forum to give their views on your query.

Response to Queries

1. That will be decided by management because, to date, no replacement has been hired by the company. Therefore, the higher authority came from the Head Office to take over the change as per their convenience.

2. There was the same mistake; he couldn't inform/mail the higher authority due to his shifting works. The question is, if anybody meets with an accident on their last working day, and we leave the Last Working Day (LWD), but after six working days, they are entitled to their weekly off accordingly. His LWD was Sunday. Don't see this as a case, my friend; just consider what we can do as HR if anybody challenges us through legal procedures.

Regards,
Rajvir Singh
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

I can understand your friend's case and also agree that anybody can challenge it through legal procedure. But, what will be its consequences?

As your friend had already handed over the charge on Saturday itself and didn't go to the office on Monday too, then in my view, the company is right.

But, as you have mentioned in your post that your friend had just a cold and fever, whereas now you are saying that your friend wasn't able to send mail to the higher authority due to his shifting work, it is itself a contradictory statement! Although, if anybody meets with an accident, then it will be a different case.

If you go legally, the decision of the management to take over the charge on Saturday as per their convenience is okay, as it is out of control for the leaving employee. But they can take the stand that as the charge was handed over on Saturday itself, your friend didn't come on Monday knowingly, and now he is asking to be paid for Sunday also, whereas his last working day was Saturday. As there was no information with them that your friend was on leave on Monday due to fever, that's why they considered Saturday as the Last Working Day.

And your friend too doesn't have any proof that he was unable to come to the office due to fever, although he was willing to come.

Now, the decision is yours/your friend's.

I agree with Bhuwan. It looks very suspicious when an employee does not turn up on the last working day, which again happens to be a Monday. He obviously decided to join the new company on Monday (his employer must have insisted). Then he is making an excuse of being sick...

And seriously, do you wish to challenge a company for reducing one day's pay during settlement? I am beginning to wonder about the mental sanity of the person. Do you realize that you need to maintain a good relationship with the company and that you need them to provide good feedback during any background verification? Do you expect cooperation in the future if you are taking legal action against them for marking you absent for one day?

Dear Rajvir, you were wondering why no one responded even when 35 people viewed your message. It's because of two reasons: one, insufficient information and/or conflicting information in your two posts; two, an incoherent query leading to a suspicion of whether you are using your friend as a proxy for your own circumstances.

May we kindly know if you work in HR? If so, what's your role and how long have you worked in HR?

None of the companies in India are entitled to conduct continuous seven working days for an employee, as the working hours are 45 hours per week (5 and a half days if 8 working hours a day or 5 days if 9 working hours a day). Therefore, you don't have to work seven consecutive days.

However, if you take one day of leave during the notice period, you should submit a medical certificate and then compensate it with either one day of presence or salary.