Faced Health Issues and Resigned: Now Company Wants Recovery Payment After 1.5 Years—What Should I Do?

Hi mentors,

I joined Small Finance Bank in 2016 as a CSO and worked there for 1 year. During that time, I unfortunately faced a serious health issue and had to resign from my job. I submitted my resignation to HR in 2017 along with all the medical documents, and they confirmed that my request had been submitted.

Now, when I asked them for a relieving certificate, they are requesting a recovery payment after 1.5 years. What should I do in this case?

If you had medical issues and were deemed "unfit to work," what is the purpose of a relieving certificate? If your resignation has been confirmed, wouldn't that serve as your relieving document?

I had submitted all documents and resigned in August 2017. Since then, I have been communicating via Gmail, but they haven't approved or confirmed it. Meanwhile, the HR staff was replaced.

I have been continuously communicating with them for my relieving or experience certificate, and they always reply the same way, stating "your request has been forwarded." Just yesterday, they emailed me a PDF, which is attached below.

In this letter, they mentioned that I resigned on September 30, which is not true. They also provided me with a backdated letter.

What should I do?

Dear friend,

You are bound to serve notice as per the terms of your appointment, and genuinely your employer has asked for notice pay. They remained quiet for 1.5 years, and it was you who woke them up to do so. Now, you should send a notice to your employer stating that you can only pay by cheque upon the issuance of the experience and relieving certificates.

Dear Prabhat,

Do you mean I need to pay them? Is it mandatory?