Facing Unfair Termination and Salary Deductions: How Should I Handle This Situation?

Employment Termination Without Notice

I would like to bring to your notice that I was an employee of a US-based company named Samiti Technology, based here in Noida. The company has a history of terminating employees even after good performance, without notice, citing non-performance as the reason.

The same thing happened to me. I was having exams and had approved leaves, but I was still working from home to ensure the organization didn't face any losses. While working from home, everything was fine. However, the day I went to the office, the VP was there, and he started giving reasons for my termination. He mentioned that I used to call on the phone, questioning why someone with an HR designation would not talk to consultants. Where else would I talk? He also said I took long breaks. This organization requires an email even for going to the washroom, which is very unusual. If the washrooms are occupied, we have to return and send the email again.

This organization didn't provide me with any offer letter; I only received an email on my email ID. On that day, the VP gave more reasons, such as me carrying the laptop home. He claimed there was a lot of dust, and it needed repair, and that my work was not satisfactory, even though it was considered good when I was working from home and had their property with me.

He asked me to leave at the same time, at 10 at night, without providing a cab. I requested assistance, but he didn't entertain it. I left on my own at night. He didn't give me any warnings or warning emails about my work not being good or mistakes in the Excel sheets. I had to chase my salary by calling them and sending emails.

I received my salary after a deduction of 5000 INR, which, according to him, was the cost to repair the laptop for MS Office 365 and the keypad. He provided me with a bill, but it didn't mention that it was bought for SAMITI TECH. How am I supposed to believe it was for the same laptop?

They are not giving me any notice or a month's salary. Moreover, they deducted an amount that was not mentioned in the terms and conditions of the letter of intent they provided me.

Clause in the Letter of Intent (LOI)

4. Your services are terminable with one month's notice on either side. The Company may, at its discretion, choose to terminate your services with salary till date in lieu of the notice period.

Additionally, there is no clause stating that if there is a virus in the laptop, they will charge it from my pocket. Why didn't they have a good antivirus?

I request everyone here to help me out with this issue, please.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Anjali Sharma

Understanding Your Rights Under the Industrial Disputes Act

If you are a 'workman' and have worked for at least a year (240 days), you can raise a dispute before the Labour Court under the Industrial Disputes Act.

It seems that your termination is illegal and bad in law. Even if someone is terminated for non-performance, a proper warning and show cause must be given before proceeding with a domestic inquiry and finally awarding a harsh punishment like termination. In your case, none of these procedures were followed.

Post-Service Benefits and Salary Deductions

The total amount of post-service benefits depends on the tenure of service, so details are required to give a fair idea.

The company cannot deduct the cost of repairing the laptop from your salary. First, they need to prove that the damage was due to your fault. Secondly, the amount (Rs5000) was, in fact, the amount spent on repairing the damage to the laptop caused by you. Even if all these factors go against you, your employer cannot deduct or adjust from your salary or dues. The only option left to them is to recover the said amount from you through a money suit.

For more information, check my blog www.labourlawhub.com

Regards

Legal and Practical Considerations in Employment Termination

The advice given by Riteshmaity is okay from the perspective of law, but it may not work practically. First of all, to be able to fight against illegal termination following the provisions of the ID Act, the employee should be a worker. Second, if he/she is a worker who has no reportee under him/her, he/she should be able to fight the case before the Labour Authorities or Labour Court.

Most companies that provide laptops to their employees and allow them to work from home have a laptop agreement or a laptop policy in which factors like repairs and antivirus matters are discussed in detail. An employee who leaves the company is expected to hand over all the assets belonging to the company in good condition, and failure to do so would attract penalization. I don't think that the decision to recover an amount to repair the asset would be unjustifiable. In employment contracts, the practice is to deduct the amount due from the employee from the amounts payable to him in F&F, and for which a money suit is not practical.

Termination During Probation and Performance Evaluation

It is true that terminating for non-performance without giving opportunities for improvement is illegal. However, termination without giving reasons can be legal during the probation period. Therefore, before we come to a conclusion, we should also know whether the employee was on probation or not. Moreover, performance is a relative term and can vary with changes in set goals/KRAs for the year. Due to this, a good performer in 2014 may be rated average in 2015 when given a revised KRA for 2015. An employee promoted in 2014 may be rated poorly the next year because he may not be able to showcase the best in 2015. Therefore, it is always difficult to prove before an employer that "I was great."

Advice on Legal Action and Employment Decisions

I personally feel that going legal on such matters would not yield any result. Just think that an organization that insists on mail communication for leaving the workplace to the washroom is not worth working for, and therefore, please do not continue there. Leave it right now and forget about the notice and amounts charged by way of penalties, etc. You can also advise your friends not to join the company. If you fight, you should win, and in order to win, you should have proof and time to spare. The second thing is very important because you may not get leave from another company where you join to appear for hearings, etc., and don't ever think that the matter will be closed in five years from now.

Regards,
Madhu.T.K