Facing Forced Resignation: Can My Wife Fight Back Against Her Employer's Tactics?

Hello all, I am new to this forum. I reviewed and found most of the discussions interesting. Kindly, could somebody clarify the following?

Background of Employment Situation

My wife was working with a Pvt Ltd company for the last 10½ years. This company was run by 2/3 partners. Suddenly, they sold it to an MNC from Spain. The new employer orally assured all the employees that they would have job security and none would be terminated or removed from services after the takeover. They issued fresh appointment orders and salary revisions 6 months before. My wife is one among them, and she is a permanent employee with 13 years of service left.

To our surprise, within 6 months, they have started terminating senior staff one by one by collecting their resignations. The reason cited is that there are more employees in each department, and they are reducing extra staff as per their company policy. The new employer is paying the notice period salary as per the agreement (after takeover). The affected staff are mentally disturbed. Only in July 2014, my wife had submitted her yearly appraisal with positive remarks, and there is not even a single black mark in all these years of service.

Questions and Concerns

Kindly advise:
1. Whether she can refuse to accept their request to resign?
2. Whether she has the right to claim a VRS option, duly considering her remaining 13 years of service, instead of just submitting the resignation and getting 3 months' salary?
3. Whether she can seek remedy through the court or Labour Commissioner?

Also, kindly clarify that if she refuses to submit the resignation and wants to continue her job or go on VRS, but the management does not accept it and terminates her forcibly, then what is the solution? Can she file a suit against the management for breach of their oral assurance?

Regards

Dear maniviji,

Recently, there was a discussion on similar lines. You may click the following link to refer to it. Reading that thread of discussion will help solve some of your queries:

https://www.citehr.com/514200-after-...anisation.html

Replies to Your Queries

Kindly advise:

(1) Whether she can reject accepting their request to resign?

Comment: - Yes, she can resist the attempt by employers for forcible resignation. But beyond a point, this will not work as management may remove her on the grounds of "services no longer required." As such, they are ready to pay as per the terms of employment. Therefore, they are not violating any law.

(2) Whether she has the right to claim VRS option duly considering her leftover service of 13 years instead of just submitting the resignation & getting 3 months' salary?

Comment: - Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) is generally run by government organizations to cut down the flab. This scheme is also run by other infra or heavy industry companies. However, VRS is not an ongoing scheme. This scheme has to be declared by the employers. Have your wife's employers declared this scheme?

(3) Whether she can seek a remedy through court or the Labour Commissioner?

Comment: - If she has more than years of service, then she must be holding a senior position. Provisions of the ID Act 1947 may not be applicable to her. Therefore, little purpose will serve if she approaches the Labour Commissioner. Nevertheless, she may visit the office of the Labour Officer (LO) of her area. Possibly, the LO may be able to point out some loopholes. But there could be new challenges in the wake of litigation. Judicial redressal is very slow in India. Please note.

Can she file a suit against the management for a breach of their oral assurance?

Comment: - Oral assurances have no value in the court of law.

Final Comments

While working in any company, the trust of employers is of utmost importance. Once one's seniors do not trust a particular employee, then there is no point in continuing. Neither litigation will serve a purpose. It will bring additional mental burden. Why is your wife interested in continuing with this company only? If she is good at her job, then she should be able to handle her job at any other place too. Therefore, my suggestion is to reconcile with the situation and move on.

The biggest problem with your wife appears to be mental inertia. She is so attuned to a particular set of environments and she is reluctant to come out of it. For the time being, imagine the opposite. In the last ten and a half years, suppose she had changed jobs every three years. In that case, she would have been in her fourth job. In that case, she would have left the job instead of clinging to the current employers.

She has transitioned from Front Office Executive (FOE) to the Purchase Department. This goes on to show that she is willing to explore new areas. However, this transition was within the defined limits of the company. This time she has to transit beyond the boundary.

I understand that leaving a job after ten and a half years in one company is too difficult. There could be a few loans and EMIs staring at both of you. But then the career is part of life. Nothing is certain in life. How the circumstances will change, nobody can predict. Take the example of Mr. Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways. For the sake of the survival of his company, he had to remove his wife from the board. Can you imagine how difficult it would have been to bite this bullet? Let your wife take it as a challenge. She will tide over the crisis, but then she has to show confidence in herself and nothing more.

All the best to her!

Regards,
Dinesh Divekar

Demand for Resignation and Forced Resignation

Demand for resignation or forced resignation can be termed an offense. Forced resignation can be deemed termination.

While in employment, she must capture evidence of the demand for resignation (audio/visual/witness) and keep it safely for use at the appropriate time in the appropriate forum.

Layoff/Retrenchment Compensation

Layoff or retrenchment compensation can be found in service rules and conditions. An able Labor Law Consultant or Service Matters Lawyer can help you understand.

Designation and Employee Coverage

The designation alone does not determine if a person shall be covered as an 'Employee' under the (Name of the state) Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, or as a 'Workman' under the ID Act. Your able Labor Law Consultant or Service Matters Lawyer may ask a set of structured questions and may opine that she shall be covered.

Separation and Compensation

If she separates, she may receive compensation as per the service conditions applicable to her, as stated in, for example, the appointment letter, HR policy, Service Rules and Regulations referred to or mentioned in the appointment letter or corrigendum, notice pay, Gratuity, Bonus, etc., as per her eligibility.

Notice of Resignation

She must not resign with immediate effect and should tender a notice of resignation with the full notice period applicable to her. She can decide, after understanding the merits and remedies from her lawyer, whether she should mention in the notice of resignation that on a specific date, Mr./Ms. asked her to submit resignation.

It would be appropriate to firm up her next venture in a better organization, at a better position, with better remuneration.

Thank you, Mr. Dinesh Divekar, for your detailed response. Also, thanks to DDOABA for your hints. Yes, she is mentally upset to come out of an environment where she had settled for over 10 years. Moreover, it was her expectation to receive a hefty compensation (say around 8-10 lakhs) similar to her factory workers who were sent out during the migration of their factory from its last location to the present one. Of course, they were members of a Union which secured those benefits, but my wife, being a senior management staff, should not have expected that much.

As per her company's latest revision increment papers, they are ready to offer her 3 months' basic pay + gratuity, etc. Her employers had not announced any VRS Scheme now, but they are sending out employees of the previous employer in batches.

She is worried because at the age of 43 (despite having 20 years of total experience, which includes the present 10+ years), she may struggle to find a new job. For your information, major players like Nokia and Foxconn have closed doors, leading to the eviction of over 10,000 employees, while Renault Nissan had let go of 200 employees. Recession is prevalent in Chennai now, and many youngsters are struggling to find employment. Can she compete with these freshers/youngsters?

As you rightly mentioned, financial commitments towards our sons' education (costing lakhs per annum) and EMIs for my two properties (20K per month) are causing us both some concern. Consequently, she is upset.

I pray to the Almighty to grant HIS grace so that she secures a good job with a reasonable salary to alleviate our burden. We do not have high expectations, nor do we expect the same or higher salary as the last one. Let's hope for the best.

I fully understand the situation and will advise her to submit her papers and move forward.

Best regards and happy new year!

Regards

Members have provided appropriate remarks and advice in the present circumstances. What is required now is to cool yourselves, plan, and pool your resources with the backing of a forthcoming settlement. With prudent financial planning, you can overcome the threat facing you. Coupled with drastic cuts in your expenses, you may have to resort to some sacrifices, though temporarily, to manage within your means. However, the world is not over yet. You can always take a new job, however low the remuneration may be. What is required now for both of you is 'hope' for a reasonable future. I don't think you'll face serious problems provided she gets a job immediately using her experience. The job market is open for both freshers and experienced individuals. Imagine there is only approximately a 20:80 ratio (freshers vs experienced); it may appear to you as if more freshers are getting employed compared to experienced individuals seeking reemployment, that's all. Use the internet to post your CV and apply to suitable vacancies appearing in the newspapers. Definitely, your efforts will bear fruit. Don't worry, be happy; a bright future beckons both of you. If necessary, approach the lender (bankers) to reschedule your EMIs to suit your convenience; they will surely help you out.

All the best.