Can an Employee Be Fired for Complaining During Probation? Exploring Legal Options and Next Steps

Employee Termination During Probation: Can Employers Do This?

During the probation period, an employee raised complaints to the company CEO (who is abroad) about a manager who was asking the employee to perform irrelevant and extra work that was not part of the job description and was never discussed during the interview. The manager's approach was described as ordering and unprofessional. The CEO was convinced by the employee's concerns and assured them that action would be taken to resolve the issue. However, when the manager learned about the complaint, he called the employee and started shouting, questioning why the complaint was raised to his boss. He then immediately asked the employee to resign if they were not happy with the work. When the employee refused to resign, the manager warned them of termination and proceeded to terminate the employee on the same day, citing non-performance as the reason. Despite the employee's hard work during the probation period, there was no prior warning, Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) letter, or any email regarding non-performance.

Questions Arising from the Termination

1. Can the employer do this to the employee?
2. Should the employee take any action against the employer for damaging their career with bad remarks due to an ego problem?

This incident occurred three months ago, and the employee left the organization on the same day they were terminated. The employee has not taken any action to date and is struggling to find a job because of this situation. What can be done now? Termination is a common occurrence in this organization, often justified by labeling employees as non-performers or absconders. They extract all the work during the probation period and then dismiss innocent employees. However, this case is different because it involved a complaint.

Considering Legal Action or Letting It Go

Should the employee leave this matter or take action against the manager and employer? I understand that the company has a clause for terminating an employee during the probation period and even after confirmation if the employee is found to be against the code of conduct, exhibiting suspicious behavior, or misusing confidential company information. However, there should be a valid reason or proof for termination. An employer cannot hire and fire employees at will. Even during probation, there should be a legitimate reason to terminate an employee. They cannot play with employees' careers. Can we take some action?

Understanding Employment Laws and Termination During Probation

The laws of our land apply to anyone and everyone on its soil without any distinction or discrimination. Thus, they govern start-ups and established establishments registered under various laws, chiefly the Industrial Employment (SO) Act or Shops & Establishments Act and Rules alike.

As far as termination or cessation of probation is concerned, both the employers and the probationers have the privilege or prerogative to inform each other about a decision to end the employment contract during the probationary period. However, the employer shall not exercise his/her discretion "arbitrarily," as implied in your post. The employer is liable to inform the probationer of its intent to terminate the probationary period prematurely, with self-sustaining/supportive materials on record related to unsatisfactory work performance and/or unsatisfactory workplace conduct/behavior, which led to the employer's decision to end the probationary period.

The aggrieved person is free to seek and secure justice against the arbitrary decision of the employer without cause or evidence to substantiate the hard yet arbitrary decision that has been made. For injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Regards, Kritarth Team

I appreciate your response. I am currently feeling very low and unable to confidentially apply for other jobs. They have not released my experience and relieving letter, which prevents me from showing my experience to a new company. This creates a question mark during interviews. During my time there, I never received any intimation of poor performance from anyone. How could they suddenly send a termination email and ask me to leave on the same day? Despite being hardworking and making many improvements during my probation period by putting in extra effort beyond my regular work hours, I felt very insulted in front of my colleagues. This was all because I spoke up against my boss's attitude, which he used as a reason for poor performance and my termination.

Did you receive the wages for the period till termination? If not, you can lodge a complaint before the labor authority claiming unpaid wages under the Payment of Wages Act.