Can My Company Withhold My Final Settlement After Delaying My Relieving Date?

Greetings Seniors,

I had submitted my resignation in hard copy, which was not accepted by my senior. After 3 days, I officially sent him my resignation via my company ID, cc'ing my personal ID, mentioning that 3 days prior, I had discussed my resignation and provided my last working day, which was August 8, 2014. Two days later, I requested a reply from management regarding my relieving date. The response was, "Please adhere to company rules." A few days later, I was verbally informed that my last working day would be August 11, 2014.

On my last working day, I was asked to wait as my relieving date was postponed due to pending work left by an employee five months earlier.

Postponement of Relieving Date

How can a company postpone the relieving date on the last working day without any notice or prior information?

I agreed verbally to the 2-3 day extension and supported in completing the work. On August 14th, I inquired about my last working day, but the company did not respond.

On August 20th, I emailed HR stating that to the best of my knowledge, all pending work had been completed, and I considered that day my last working day.

Lack of Official Handover

I was not provided with a clearance form to hand over my laptop and admin items, and I left the organization without an official handover.

Concerns About Full and Final Settlement

My concern is, based on the above circumstances, can the company withhold my Full and Final settlement? If yes, what is the solution? If not, what should I do next? From my perspective, the extension and added workload seemed to be a tactic to keep me without paying my salary or to delay it.

Please share your valuable comments and advice.

Dear Pankaj, What is the official rule regarding the notice period? What does your appointment letter say? Why have you taken a verbal extension of the notice period, or more importantly, why did you not reply to the management through email regarding the verbal discussion you had with the management or HOD? Have you prepared the handover documents, and was the work left pending by an employee five months before assigned to you when he left/absconded? Please answer these queries so that the forum is in a better situation to help you.

Regards, Ashutosh Thakre

Notice Period and Last Working Day

Officially, the rule regarding the notice period is one month. During a verbal discussion, they mentioned that it was up to me to decide my last working day. I understood this to mean that as soon as I finished my work, I could consider that day my last working day.

I followed this understanding—all the work done was forwarded to the Head of Department (HOD) in writing. On the last day, I clearly mentioned in my email that since the work was completed from my side, I considered the 20th of August as my last day. HR asked the HOD to confirm if everything was okay, but he did not reply.

Handover documents were already given before; only my laptop and admin stuff were pending. During the verbal discussion, HR clearly mentioned to my HOD not to let me take my laptop home. I suggested keeping my laptop and other official items inside my cabin, locking it, and handing over the keys to the HOD daily. This was agreed upon.

Concerns About Full and Final Settlement

I want to know if the company can withhold my Full and Final (F&F) settlement and what other actions they can take.

Additionally, I would like to add that I had a joining date on the 18th of August with another company, and this was communicated to management. However, management refused to relieve me and extended my notice period further. On the 20th of August, I received a message from the other company stating that they had canceled my appointment and were exploring other options.

I communicated the same to management—now that I am unemployed, who will be responsible for this? Did I ask the right question?

Regards.