Facing Salary Withholding After Leaving a Job: What Steps Can I Take to Resolve This?

Dear all, the company is not paying my full and final amount. However, in the last month when I was relieved, they provided me with a salary slip, an experience letter, and all formalities from my side were completed. In the first three months, 10% of my salary was deducted, amounting to 4500, and 10 days' salary of 5000 is pending, totaling 9500rs. Please help me. I have contacted them, and they say they will not pay this. Kindly provide me with suitable steps for the next course of action.

Hi, you have not provided full details of your employment, nature of establishment, whether it is a shop/factory, etc. You are required to file a complaint under the Payment of Wages Act 1936 before the shop inspector/labour officer of your area for making unauthorized deductions, delayed payment of wages, and not making full and final payments. Please provide your location, year of service. If you need any help, contact RL Dhingra, Advocate, Labour Law Consultant. Email: rld_498@rediffmail.com.

My current location is Mohali. I was last working in an IT company. I joined this company in Dec '14, and after 5 months, there was a problem, and they fired 15 people from the software department. So, almost all recruitment stopped. At that time, I took a 30-day leave without pay.

In May '13, I visited the company again, and my manager told me that they wanted to increase the HR team immediately. He suggested I look for another opportunity or wait for some time, and then they would continue with me. Five days later, I decided to resign.

They provided me with everything, including an experience letter, the last 2 months' salary slips, and completed all formalities. However, my last month's 10 days' salary and the security amount for the first 3 months are pending. They have refused to pay this.

The company's name is Impinge Solution in Mohali, and their website is www.impingesolution.com.

You were on leave without pay for 30 days, 4 months after joining. Then you came back, and after 5 days, you resigned. I think you left without notice. So where does the 10 days' salary come in?

Further, what is the security deposit, and what does it refer to? When was it given, what for, and how much?

When I come back to rejoin, they say they don't want to continue with me and ask me to look for another job. I then decided to ask for five days to search for and find a new job, and then requested to be relieved.

However, in the experience letter, they mentioned my relieving date as April 10th. Therefore, they are currently not paying me my full and final settlement.

My current location is Mohali. I was last working in an IT company. I joined this company in Dec '14, and after 5 months, there was a problem, and they fired 15 people from the software department. So, almost all recruitment stopped. At that time, I took a 30-day leave of absence without pay (LOP).

In May '13, I visited the company again, and my manager told me that they did not want to increase the HR team at the moment. He suggested that I should look for another job or wait for some time, and then they would continue with me. It was clear to my manager that I should search for a job, so they didn't allow me to join on the 13th of May. He said they would provide everything, but now they are refusing to pay the amount owed.

After five days, I decided to resign. They provided me with everything, including an experience letter, the last two months' salary slips, and completed all formalities. However, my last month's 10 days of salary and the security amount for the first 3 months are still pending, and they are refusing to pay. The company's name is Impinge Solution in Mohali, and their website is www.impingesolution.com.

Clarification on Termination and Salary Issues

In April, the company fired many people. Everyone received an email about this, but I did not receive any notification. Instead, the HR department sent the termination email to my friend, which my manager intervened and stopped. However, I had some urgent work and needed to take leave. My manager advised me to take a long leave (LOP). I informed my manager that I would update the leave in PMS and also sent an email in the evening requesting approval. I mentioned that if there was no work opportunity, I would start looking for another job.

After 20 days without any updates, I contacted HR, but they did not provide any information regarding my release or other matters. So, after 30 days, I visited the company and spoke with my manager. She advised me to seek opportunities elsewhere. I requested a five-day notice for my release to allow me to search for other opportunities. Consequently, on May 22nd, I decided to resign from my job, although the company's official documentation stated that they had relieved me on April 10th. Notably, when I visited the company on May 13th, my name was still listed as an active employee at the security gate.

On May 22nd, the company provided me with my last two months' salary slips and an experience letter. However, my salary for the 10 days of April remains pending. Additionally, there was a 10% deduction in the security amount for the first three months.

I am concerned about receiving my salary. Some have suggested that cases involving salaries of 50,000 or more are handled by labor courts. Should I file an FIR in this situation?

I seek your guidance. If you wish to discuss further, please feel free to contact me at [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons] or [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]. Kindly provide a missed call, and I will return your call.

Best regards,
Bhagat Sharma

I do not think there is any easy way out for you. Your position is weak. You went on leave without pay at a critical time, and upon returning, you resigned. The resignation has been accepted. Your manager had already indicated that you needed to search for a new job. You should have acted immediately.

Anyway, now one thing you can do is request the manager to give you a relieving letter of the current date. Forget the salary for the 10 days which you didn't work (or even if you did work, you are not likely to get it). Instead, ask them to clear your security deposit.

If they don't agree, what can you do?

At best, you can go and complain to the labor officer/commissioner in the area. They may be able to do something. But I suspect your company has a good defense, specifically that you went on LWP (without approval - oral approval they will deny) and that you resigned immediately upon joining and left without notice. Still, it's worth a try.

Labor court? Waste of time unless the Union is supporting you and giving free lawyers.

FIR? What is the criminal offense you plan to file an FIR for? Again, of no consequence.

Ok, thank you for your advice. But I did not go on long leave from my side. My manager informed me that if I wanted to take leave, I could. So, I sent her an email from my Gmail account. I wrote to her asking to revert to me if there was no chance. If I took unplanned leave, why did they not contact me, even though I emailed them? Is there a way to get my security amount or salary?