Need Legal Advice: Employer Refusing Retention Bonus After Full Year of Service

I need advice on pursuing my case for a retention bonus with my previous employer on legal terms. My annual compensation had a component for a retention bonus which is paid upon successful completion of one year. I resigned after 9 months of employment and served a 3-month notice period, thus completing exactly 1 year and 7 days in the company. Now, during the Full & Final settlement, the employer is refusing to pay the retention bonus component of Rs. XXX. I have requested multiple times, but the employer is not ready to budge. So, I need legal advice to pursue the matter.

Details of Employment

Date of joining: 20th Jan 2015
Date of resignation: 6th Nov 2015
Date of leaving: 29th Jan 2016

Terms of Offer Letter

"Your total annual remuneration on a Cost to Company basis will be Rs. XXX, which includes Rs. XXX as a Retention Bonus paid upon successful completion of one year."

Regards,
[username]

Retention Bonus and Employment Terms

In this scenario, the management can withhold or forfeit the retention bonus because you have not completed the required period of service "successfully." This is a term that will always protect the employer. If the employer states that they are not satisfied with the performance of the manager, and thus whatever salary paid should only be regarded as the amount payable, with nothing additional to be paid when the service itself is not required, you cannot challenge it.

However, in the case of an employee who is neither designated as a manager nor given any supervisory function, the situation would be different. The labor law will protect such an employee if they have a different interpretation of the total salary or the amount to be released after one year of service.

Regards, Madhu.T.K