Feeling Helpless After Sudden Job Termination: Can I Take Legal Action?

Dear Sir/Madam, My job was terminated by my employer last year without any prior notice to me. I asked for an explanation from HR soon after I came to know of this, but every time I was told to approach various people in the company. Now, it seems the company has no explanation to offer beyond saying the matter will be taken care of by them. I am now feeling helpless and don't know how to tackle this crisis to save my career.

Seeking Advice on Job Termination

Could you tell me how to deal with this situation? Can I take any legal action against my employer to act on this issue and provide me relief?

Regards,
Pradhan

Dear Pradhan,

The information that you have provided is not adequate. Please confirm the following:

a) What was your designation, and how many persons reported to you?

b) For how many months/years did you work in the current company? Were you a probationer?

c) Did the company conduct any domestic enquiry before the termination? Presumably, the enquiry was not conducted. Before your termination, did you receive any warning letters regarding your poor performance? Did you receive a warning/show-cause notice for any other reason?

d) Who informed you that you had been terminated? What was the mode of communication?

e) Upon receiving information about your termination, did you complete the normal process of separation? Has your Full and Final Settlement (FNFS) been completed? Did the company issue a Service-cum-Employment certificate?

f) What do you think is the cause of your termination? Did you breach any security protocols? Did any female employee complain against you for sexual harassment?

g) How were your relations with your managers? Why did you not receive support from your manager?

h) How did you correspond with the HR professionals of your company after termination? Did you send them emails, or was it through telephone communication? Do you have any evidence of your communication with HR?

There are numerous questions, gentlemen. Please confirm their replies. Meaningful suggestions can be given upon receipt of your replies.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Hi Dinesh, thanks a lot for the quick response. Please find details below:

Designation and Team Reporting

My designation was "Lead Engineer." Let me give you the background of this issue. I was deployed onsite last year. Then the client requested me to visit offshore and set up a team in Bangalore. For this assignment, the client agreed to pay me on the US payroll as long as I would be deputed offshore. So, on this assignment, I came to Bangalore and set up and trained a team of 6 people. Unfortunately, before I could return to the US, I was diagnosed with a major ailment that required me to later undergo surgery. Due to this setback, I spoke to management to consider deploying me offshore and expressed my unwillingness to return to the US. After this development, I was expected to be released from onsite and transferred offshore. However, it didn't happen, so I emailed HR and requested to get it done. HR asked me for clarifications on many things, and I had to contact the onsite HR team to guide the offshore HR to get the transfer completed. Unfortunately, this coordination never happened, and I was stuck in limbo for about 4 months. In the meantime, my salary was blocked, and I could not report to any work location because the transfer never happened. Then I had to undergo back surgery, which prevented me from actively pursuing this issue with the company. During this time, when I was recuperating, my wife contacted both offshore and onsite HR teams many times to take care of this issue, but they did not take any action beyond a casual acknowledgment to her that they would take care.

Now I am in better health and able to take up this issue again. In my latest email, I got a phone call back from one of the HRs and was promised action, but I did not hear any update. So I called back again and got the same answer. It seems to me that everyone is quite aware of my case, even though it's been a while since I last spoke to them, but no one wants to help.

Employment Duration and Probation Status

I worked for about 8 years in the company.

Inquiry and Termination Process

I don't think any inquiry was ever conducted. I did not receive any notice at all before the termination. As I have described, I was not deployed to any project when this happened due to the pending request for a transfer offshore.

Notification of Termination

I was never informed about the termination. I found out when I could not log on to the company website and was told on further inquiry that I was discontinued, and my employment status was "withdrawn."

Separation Process and Documentation

I was never asked to complete the normal process of separation. Most importantly, the company has not even provided my Service-cum-Employment certificate and my EPF documents.

Cause of Termination

I have not had any complaints against me on the above points. The termination happened shortly after I asked for my W-4 to file for federal returns from onsite HR. So it seems there are certain issues that became difficult to handle due to the negligence of some individuals in the company, which has resulted in this delay to get me transferred. Maybe someone is trying to cover their faults.

Relationship with Managers

I had a good relationship with my manager. Since I worked onsite, I could not approach him for any help immediately. Moreover, I did not realize then that this would become such a huge issue. Later, when my wife wrote to him elaborately on my plight, he did not respond.

Communication with HR

I have communicated mostly through emails and a few times through the phone. I have all the emails in my inbox.

Regards,

Your termination is illegal as it is contrary to Section 47 of the AP Shops and Establishment Act since your work establishment is in AP, and no reasonable cause of termination is shown by the employer. Make a complaint to the inspector under the Act and explain any delay in making the complaint. Could you please inform whether any employees worked under you? If none did, you are also protected under the ID Act.

Thanks,
Sushil

Sushil, thank you for the reply. Could you elaborate on which authority I need to approach to file this complaint? Do I need to hire any professional help to do so?

You have not replied whether you were working in the capacity of a supervisor or at the grassroots level as a software engineer. If you worked as a supervisor, then make a complaint to the Assistant Labour Commissioner under Rule 25 of the Karnataka Shops and Establishment Rules, who is empowered to hear appeals against dismissal under Section 39 of the Karnataka Shops and Establishment Act. The appeal has to be filed within 30 days of removal, and if a delay has been caused, it has to be explained. It is better to engage a professional if you can afford it.

Thanks,
Sushil