Facing Unfair Termination After Challenging Unrealistic Targets: What Should I Do Next?

Hi all, please advise me on what I should do. I was working with an application-based company like Ola Cabs and Uber Cabs as a team leader. I had a team of 10 individuals, including myself. The issue arose when I completed the probation period of 3 months as per the offer letter, and our manager set impossible targets for each team member. Given my six months of experience, I knew that the new targets were unattainable. Consequently, all executives, including myself, requested the managers to review the targets chart as it was impractical. However, the managers insisted that we had to work according to their expectations, and if we disagreed, we should start looking for new jobs. In response, we submitted a notice period of 60 days, as per the offer letter, to HR and reporting managers on October 9, 2015.

Subsequently, the HR manager called me, attempting to persuade me to resign; otherwise, she threatened termination unless we resigned individually in writing. We maintained that we were requesting a notice period, not immediate resignation. Unfortunately, no effort was made to understand the situation. Following October 9, we continued to report to the office and marked attendance. However, we were not given any duties or work. When inquired, we were informed that we had been terminated, and termination letters had been sent to our addresses. Several days later, we received termination letters stating that we were being terminated with immediate effect from October 9 due to non-compliance with the employee code of conduct. It was noted that all dues until October 9 would be cleared by the 20th. I seek advice on what steps I should take next. Should I pursue legal action?

Better address individual industrial disputes under Section 2A of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Hi Jass, you are not clear on your point, "We said okay, we sent an intimation email of the notice period of 60 days as per the offer letter to HR." I.e., whether all of you sent resignation notices individually or collectively through a single email to the manager, and also, whether all of you wrote individually with your desire that the management should issue a notice of 60 days for termination of all of you?

If a single resignation notice was submitted collectively, that was quite irrelevant. Also, if you desired collectively that the management should serve you a notice of termination, that was also irrelevant. Individual notices were required to be served by all of you separately, as all the cases are dealt with individually in the HR department. Moreover, if you desired the management to send a termination notice instead of calling for resignation, you were justified only after referring to the instance of the manager having asked you to tender your resignation, that too through individual emails or letters by each of you.

So, make it clear what is what about your above-quoted statement?

Thanks, sir, for your reply. We wrote a single email on behalf of us, but the thing is that nobody tried to talk with us. One more thing, today I talked with one of the HR and finance department. In what manner they are going to clear dues. He said that whoever has cleared 60 days will get basic pay of two months. But what about termination? Still, they are not giving an experience letter.

Writing a single email on behalf of 10 staff is not an appropriate or professional approach. Whatever problems you faced, you should have voiced them out individually or in a group to the higher authorities and waited for their reply. However, you chose to send a mass resignation instead, which is inconsistent with the employee code of conduct.

It would be better to meet with the HR, HOD, or reporting manager, apologize for any wrongdoing, and then try to convince them to consider your plea.

In your earlier post, you stated, "after that HR manager gave a phone call to me and tried to convince me," but now you stated, "but the thing is that nobody tried to talk with us." Why such a difference in the statement?

Grounds for Management Engagement

By the way, on what specific grounds do you feel that the management should come down to talk to you when all of you went collectively to harm the interests of the organization? Your individual representations to vent your grievance could be justified, but not collectively. You should know, any collective action, if not at the level of a recognized union, is taken as deliberate misconduct on the part of the employees en masse and can also be treated as an illegal strike to stall the work of the organization leading to loss to the organization.

You may better, if liked, try to understand that for future guidance, so that misconduct in employment is not committed in any organization you work for. You have the right to represent your own cause and grievance, but the right of collective bargaining vests with the recognized union only if that is willing to undertake representing the cause collectively for the majority of employees at their level.

Like Saji & PS Dhingra mentioned, giving a single email of resignation is NOT valid and moreover can easily be construed as an act of instigation of employees against YOU as the Team Leader, which seems to have been so.

Also, PS Dhingra has a valid point when he asked, "In your earlier post you stated, 'after that HR manager gave a phone call to me and tried to convince me,' but now stated, 'but the thing is that nobody tried to talk with us.' Why such a difference in statement?"

There seems something amiss in your statement "And our manager set impossible targets for each individual." Going by what happened subsequently, DID anything happen PRIOR to the targets being revised? I have a feeling something happened and the raising of the targets was just a ruse to escalate the issue with you/your team to lead the situation where it NOW is.

Best regards,
TS

Shri TajSateesh has raised a very vital point by making his observation, "I have a feeling something happened & the raising of the targets was just a ruse to escalate the issue with you/your team to lead the situation where it NOW is." Your description of the problem seems to miss some very vital facts behind increasing targets and resultant stern action by the management.

Ensure there is a single line break between paragraphs.