Stuck Without a Relieving Letter: How Can I Join My New Job After Resigning Abruptly?

Hi,

I am Neha Singh. I worked with a software company for 6 months, but due to some problems, I resigned immediately without serving the notice period. Now, I have to join another organization, and they are asking me to submit my relieving letter. However, my previous employer is not providing me with the letter, and the company is not allowing me to join without it. Please help.

Neha Singh

When you resigned, you should have thought about the subsequent consequences. Now, you will probably have to politely and humbly request your previous employer to be considerate and issue these documents. You can offer to give the notice period salary now.

I have tried to do this. They are not giving me the required letter.

The other company is not allowing me without these documents.

Dear Neha,

If you don't serve the notice period, then your organization can only deduct wages as per their Resignation policy, but they cannot deny giving your Experience Letter. You should visit the Labor office and seek help from the Labor officer. You can also file a written complaint at the Police station (know which police station covers your office). I hope your problem will be solved. Best of luck.

Issuance of Relieving Letters

As a practice, every organization needs to give a relieving letter to an exiting employee irrespective of tenure. Whether the company issues you an experience letter or not is at the discretion of company policy. Many organizations do not issue an experience letter if the employee is in a notice period or on probation.

However, in ideal circumstances, they should issue you a relieving letter unless you have absconded. I would request you to speak to your previous manager or HR manager in a respectful manner and sort out this issue.

P.S. If you have absconded, then please complete all exit formalities as per company policy and leave them on a good note. Do not burn bridges as it's a small world, and you may end up working with the same manager or colleagues a few years later.

Thanks,
Yashodhan

You may not like this, but your post suggests a clear possibility of some conflict that led to your quitting. What does "some problems" mean? You are essentially asking for advice without revealing the full facts.

Irrespective of the problems, as Nathrao mentioned, you should have been ready for the consequences of your action. Did you expect any new company to welcome you without any documents?

The suggestions given by some members regarding the Labor Officer, Police, etc., seem to have been given with the best-case scenario in mind—meaning without considering "what preceded your leaving" aspects. My feeling is that you will only aggravate the situation if you go down that path in this situation... forget about resolving the issue at hand.

Just because an option exists doesn't mean you can use it in every situation. Every choice has its own set of pros and cons.

The only options you seem to have are what Madanagopalaswamy suggested: (1) admit your mistake with your previous company and get your documents, or (2) start looking for another job as a fresher.

Or the third option could be to look for a company that doesn't insist on relieving documents, which frankly, could be quite tough if you want a professional setup.

Learn from this experience. All the best.

Regards,
TS