Can I Legally Hold Company Assets Until My Unpaid Salary Is Settled?

As an employee, I need to know the following. I have worked with a company for more than six months. I was not paid the salary for the last two months. I decided to resign, offering notice period service, which was immediately accepted. I had two laptops of the company issued to me as assets. I do not need the laptops, and I wish to return them to the company, but I am not sure whether they will pay me the full amount after I submit the assets during the full and final settlement. It's a very small company, which does not follow all rules perfectly.

I got an email from HR mentioning that I need to submit the assets first, and the process of salary settlement shall be done soon after. I doubt their words. Am I legally right in holding onto the assets until my salary is given to me? I am thinking of giving the assets only after the salary reflects in my account, as I am not even sure of the check being issued by them—that may bounce anytime. Is it legally right? If yes, what precautions should I take? If no, what is my perfect legal recourse, without losing unnecessary time and money?

Regards

The standard process is that the employee returns all company assets to the company, and the company then processes and releases final settlement dues. This is the professional method. Why do you feel that they will not honor their part of the transaction? Have they done the same with other employees?

Some Ideas:

- See if you can request them to hand over the check to you when you hand over the laptops.
- Take an acknowledgment in writing that they have received the laptops, etc. I would advise you to prepare this document yourself, mentioning serial numbers, etc., since you don't seem to have much faith in them.
- Ask them to commit in writing about when they will release the payment to your account. Find out who you can escalate to in case they do not pay on the committed date.

Hope this helps you.

Regards,

Asset Ownership and Legal Implications

Legally, the asset belongs to the company, and you cannot retain it. The company could file a complaint of theft against you for not returning the same. I assume there is some documentation of the fact that they have given you the laptop.

However, in the given circumstances where the company has not paid you a salary for 2 months, they are not likely to take criminal action against you. I agree with your contention that such a company cannot be trusted to give you the salary after the assets are returned. As a compromise, you should ask them to give you one month's salary and then give the asset back when they provide a cheque for the next month. Be prepared to settle for getting a single month's salary.

Also, remember that in case something happens to the laptop while in your custody, you need to pay for a new one to the company.