How Should I Handle an Unjust Termination and Explain It to Future Employers?

1. I have joined a new company in an assistant role with a salary of Rs. 25,000 per month on the 19th of November, 2015. I received the appointment letter on the 18th of January, 2016. On the 22nd of January, 2016, I received my termination letter with no reasonable cause, and it was written as follows:

"You are hereby informed that your services are no longer required by the management with immediate effect. Consequently, you will be relieved from your services. You are advised to hand over your charge to Mr. X and submit your clearance."

Termination Clauses in the Appointment Letter

In the appointment letter, the termination clauses state the following:

Cl.4 - In case your services are terminated, you will be served with a 14-day notice or salary in lieu of the notice period. A similar notice or salary in lieu of notice will have to be given by you in case you wish to leave the services of the company. The company reserves the right, if exigencies so demand, to not relieve you before the expiry of the stipulated notice period. However, the employer is not required to give notice or salary in lieu of the notice period if your services are less than three months.

Cl.11 - Your appointment will be subject to the verification of your credentials, certificates, and proof of age. This offer is being made to you on the understanding that the facts furnished regarding your age, qualifications, and experience are true. In case it is found in the future that you had provided wrong information or tried to hide certain facts, immediate termination will be agreed upon from the services.

Cl.14 - If you are found under the influence of alcohol/drugs inside the company premises, your services will stand terminated with immediate effect.

I am not under clause 11 or clause 14 of the appointment letter in any way.

Meeting with Management

Before taking my clearance, I went to meet the management to ask for the reason, and thanks anyway for the opportunity they have provided me in this company:

(a) The first time I went there, the Chairman and JMD were together sitting in the same chamber, and I was wildly asked by the JMD to go out and wait outside and come after an hour.

(b) I was sitting in the lobby when the JMD was going for the site visit. After looking at me sitting and waiting for him, he angrily asked me to hand over all the papers to HR and said, "I am not going to meet you."

(c) Accordingly, I went for clearance, submitted all my clearance reports with the HR, and moved out of the company, feeling severely hurt.

Personal Sacrifices and Current Situation

I took all the pain to do this job, although this job profile was not my choice, and secondly, it was very far away from the place where I stay, and it wasted my three hours daily. Thirdly, I was appointed as an assistant, but there was no immediate senior to me in the same trade.

I used to wake up at 4:00 o'clock with my mother and wife, take the train at 6 o'clock, and reach my office on or before 9:30 am. I would leave the office place at or after 6:30 pm, reach home at or after 10:00 pm, go to sleep after dinner at 12 o'clock midnight, and wake up again at 4:00 am for my next day at the office.

This is my current situation. I am hunting for my next job, but I am not sure what to say about my termination orders to the next company because I don't want to lie. I have to tell the truth to the new company. What will be their reaction, and what impact will it have on my career?

Seeking Advice and Legal Action

My aim currently is to join a new company with the truth and file a suit for the above termination and ask for compensation as I feel that wrong has been done to me. I have explained my whole story. Please advise me so that it may be easier for me to join another company soon and file a suit to be compensated for all the effort I put into this company.

Please tell me how and where to file the suit and on what grounds. Am I heading in the right direction, or should I ignore it and move on with the current situation, looking for a job with the termination letter? Please respond to me at your earliest convenience.

Regards,
Amit Kumar

I can understand and relate to the kind of trouble you have faced in this company. What were you doing before you joined this company? From what I can gather, you worked only from 19 Nov 15 to 22 Jan 16—a short period of less than 3 months. You need to really think about any particular reason for this abrupt termination and the refusal of management to even speak to you. Seriously consider if anything done or spoken by you led to the termination. If you have not contributed to the problem, just take it that the company was being difficult. Have other employees been treated similarly? Taking legal action is not a worthwhile option here. Just forget and move on. This small gap can be covered up on your CV.

Termination and Its Impact on Your Career

The company has terminated you within three months, and as per the appointment letter, they are not obligated to give you any notice or compensation. Although termination is a harsh punishment, it is difficult to understand why the company took such a severe step against you. Moreover, the company's HR department has not provided you with any written valid reason.

In my opinion, pursuing a case against the company will only bring more pain and harassment to your family. You need immediate relief; try to secure a new job as soon as possible. Understandably, the word "termination" can have a negative effect on your career. You should remove it from your CV and move forward in your life. Try to identify any shortcomings, if any, and correct them.

Regards

Importance of an Appointment Letter

First and foremost, always demand an appointment letter on the date of joining (latest, within a few days, say 3-4 days). The appointment letter specifies all the clauses of the employment and forms the base of employment. This point is crucial for your future endeavors.

Understanding Employment Clauses

As claimed by you that you are nowhere dubious under clauses 11 and 14, it seems like this employer of yours has already made up their mind about termination, and hence all the clauses are cleverly mentioned, which goes in their favor, leaving no room for you to argue.

It is saddening that the efforts you've put into this job did not yield specific results as you planned. Nevertheless, it's only been a few months, and you still have a chance to make it up. Find a good job right away.

Dealing with Abrupt Termination

It is really difficult to analyze what could have been the reason for such an abrupt termination without giving any reasons. Generally, clause 11 manifests, but you are very sure of it, so there is no point in pondering all the whys and whats. Even legal action will be a waste of time and money for you. It is better that you invest this time and money in finding a good job.

Wish you good luck!

Hi all,

Please, what is the procedure to terminate without any reason? What are the benefits for working more than 2.5 years?

Thank you.