Navigating Internship Challenges: Is a Notice Period Fair and How to Discuss Stipend Expectations?

I am doing a 5-month internship with a startup in Pune. I was supposed to get a project in the company as discussed during the interview. However, once I joined the company, there was no such project, and things were disorganized. I was not formally onboarded, and it has been about 1 month without any training.

Therefore, I applied for an internship in another company and got selected. Upon informing my current company, they mentioned waiving the 1-month notice period but not paying the stipend. I would like to know if a 1-month notice period is applicable to a 5-month internship.

Understanding the Offer Letter

The offer letter states, "Under normal circumstances, either the company or you may terminate this association by providing a notice of 30 days without assigning any reason. However, the company may terminate this agreement forthwith under situations of indisciplinary behaviors." What does 'normal circumstances' stand for?

Negotiating Stipend Expectations

Additionally, I have never signed any bond with them. After some negotiation, they agreed to pay partially and asked about my expectations. Can you kindly suggest the proper amount I should ask for if my monthly stipend is 20,000?

Regards

In India, labor laws do not specifically outline notice periods for internships; however, the terms of the offer letter or internship agreement usually govern such matters. Based on the clause provided from the offer letter, it states that under normal circumstances, a 30-day notice can be given by either party without assigning a reason. The phrase 'normal circumstances' typically refers to regular situations where either the company or the intern wishes to end the association with proper notice.

Regarding the compensation amount, since you have a monthly stipend of 20,000, here is a practical way to calculate the compensation you can request:

- Calculate the total stipend for the remaining months of the internship (4 months) = 20,000 * 4 = 80,000.
- Since they have waived 1 month of the notice period, deduct one month's stipend from the total: 20,000.
- Therefore, the amount you can reasonably request as compensation would be 60,000 INR.

You can present this calculation to the company as a fair request for compensation considering the circumstances of the situation.