Struggling to Get My Final Settlement and Relieving Letter After Resignation – Need Legal Advice

Background and Resignation

I was working as an associate for XXXX for the last three years and resigned to pursue a career in the film industry. I requested an early release, which was communicated to my reporting manager on 23rd April 2019 during a meeting he called to discuss a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan). Based on his advice, I resigned on 24th April 2019, and he promised to work on my request for an early release from duty.

HR Involvement and PIP Meeting

Meanwhile, I received a request from the HR SPOC on 26th or 29th April 2019 (unsure of the date) to join the first formal meeting to discuss the PIP along with my reporting manager. HR pointed out during our discussion that there was no need to discuss PIP measures as I had already resigned. Nevertheless, HR insisted I sign the formal PIP letter dated 1st April 2019. (Note: I was on paternity leave from 30th March 2019 until 16th April 2019.)

Attempts for Early Release

The following week, HR and I had a discussion in her office about my resignation. During our discussion, I requested an early release for the second time. HR said that she couldn't help with my request and that my manager needed to decide. She advised me to talk to the manager. I repeatedly requested the manager for an early release, and he promised to arrange a meeting with the Sr. Manager on Monday, 13th May 2019. However, the meeting did not take place as promised. On Tuesday, 14th May 2019, the manager and I met, and I was told that the Sr. Manager refused to grant an early release and upheld the original decision to release on 7th June 2019.

Medical Emergency and NCNS Issue

After serving a three-week notice, I didn't report to the office from 17th May 2019 onwards due to a medical emergency of a family member. I couldn't answer the manager's call to report the absence; however, I sent an SMS stating I would call back. The same evening, I received a message from the manager stating I had been marked NCNS (No Call No Show). I explained the situation to the manager the following day about the medical emergency.

Further Discussions with HR

On 22nd May 2019, I called HR and met her at her office, explaining the reason for not reporting to work and requesting an early release again. She said she would relieve me in 30 minutes; however, she would need to involve the manager in the meeting. After an hour, a meeting took place at her office with the managers. Now HR said she could not grant an early release as promised earlier but offered two options: to go for job abandonment or serve notice until 7th June 2019. HR also asked me to take time until the following day and call by 12 pm to decide on the options provided. She took my email address and stated she would send details of the meeting to my email by the end of the day. However, I did not receive the email as promised.

Decision and Job Abandonment

As per the options provided by HR, I chose to go for job abandonment and communicated this to her the following day. She requested an SMS confirmation on the same. When I inquired about the effect of job abandonment on the Full and Final settlement, she said, "There shouldn't be any issue" and refused to provide further clarification.

First Call Notice and Communication Issues

Meanwhile, I received a "First Call Notice" letter dated 23rd May 2019, stating I did not report for duty from 14th May 2019 onwards. However, I was present on 14th May as per my schedule, and 15th and 16th May 2019 were my scheduled days off. I did not report for duty from 17th May 2019 onwards. There was no mention of the contact person or direct phone number, extension, or email address on the "First Call Notice" or the subsequent letters. However, there was one on the cover of the letter addressed as YY. I tried calling the aforementioned number several times and could not reach Ms. YY. I called HR to get the contact number or email address of YY and informed her about the incorrect mention of dates. HR was not of much assistance in this regard.

Clarification on Relieving Policy

I also sought clarification on the relieving policy, as a Sr. Associate was relieved early without serving the notice period. HR mentioned that the Sr. Associate approached her for help, and hence she assisted him with early relief. She stated that I didn't approach her for the same. When I reminded her about the earlier meetings with her and managers regarding the same, she became disrespectful and started sounding rude on the call, threatening to disconnect.

Second Call Notice and Termination

I also received a "Second Call Notice" dated 6th June 2019, which says "subsequent efforts to contact me have failed too." However, I did not receive any calls or emails from Human Resources. I could not get much help from the first point of contact (HR SPOC ZZ). Neither did she live up to XXXX values. I registered a formal complaint against HR with "Protector Line," a third-party agency that handles employee grievances. A week after the complaint, I received a call from XXXX to listen to my side of the story. I met ZZ, an employee relations officer, and explained the situation. She said she would look into the details and update me, but I never received any calls or replies to my emails. While the "Second Call Notice" letter mentions the second opportunity and advises to report for duty on or before 19th June 2019, a termination letter was emailed on 18th June 2019 (24 hours in advance).

Seeking Advice for Legal Action

I am unsure how to proceed further to obtain my Full and Final settlement and relieving letter. My last hope is to file a legal suit against XXXX. Please provide me with some insight on how to proceed.

Please check your employment terms on the separation clause. The waiver of the notice period, either totally or partially, is at the discretion of the employer. You could have served your notice period until 7th June 2019, which would have ensured a smooth exit. On the other hand, even HR didn't handle the situation properly. Now, you can approach your HR for proper relief with partial forfeiture of the shortfall in notice so that the interests of both parties are safeguarded. I don't think your employer will entertain the serving of the balance notice at this juncture.

Thank you for your response. But is it fair for the company to relieve another employee who walked into HR with an offer letter from another company and got relieved without a single day of serving the notice period? I am copying the separation and termination policy here!

Notice period for Separation

This contract of employment may be terminated by either Party by giving two months' notice in writing. The Company reserves the right to, at its sole discretion, substitute the notice period by paying you a basic salary in lieu of the notice period. Further, until the Company accepts your resignation letter, you will be deemed an employee of the Company, and the terms and conditions of your employment will still continue to bind you.

Termination

a. The Company may immediately terminate your services without any compensation or notice thereof if you are in breach of the Business Conduct Guidelines, information security policy, intellectual property violations, confidentiality, and/or other rules and regulations of the Company. The Company shall also be entitled to initiate appropriate legal action for the above breach.

b. The Company is also entitled to terminate your services immediately without compensation or notice upon you being guilty of any misconduct or being convicted by any criminal court, being involved in fraudulent acts, etc., or committing any act which, in the opinion of the Company, is likely to bring the Company any disrepute, whether or not such act is directly related to the affairs of the Company.

c. If any earned leave is due to the employee, basic salary in lieu of such leave will be paid, subject to the limits laid down in this respect.

d. On termination of this contract, you will immediately give to the Company, before you are relieved, all correspondence, specifications, formulae, books, documents, cost data, market data, literature, drawings, effects, or records, etc., belonging to the Company or relating to its business and shall not make or retain any copies of these items.

I talked to the HR who called me after hearing my complaint through the Protector Line. I met her in person and explained the situation. I sent an email statement as per her request along with the requested document. However, she is not picking up my calls or replying to my emails. I have been calling the Protector Line to check if there has been any response from the employer. So far, I have made 3 calls, but the employer has not responded to the Protector Line either.

I have gone through your appointment terms. You are supposed to serve a 2-month notice. At times, HR tends to make decisions on a case-by-case basis depending on the workflow, but we may not be aware of what occurred behind the scenes. The other employee you mentioned, who was relieved on the same day, might have compensated the company by paying a salary in lieu of notice. I am not sure about this.

The point you presented does not seem to be in your favor:

"As per the options provided by HR, I chose to go for job abandonment and communicated this to them the following day. They requested an SMS confirmation, which I provided. When I inquired about the impact of job abandonment on the full and final settlement, I was informed that there 'shouldn't be any issue' and no further clarification was given."

You have admitted that you decided and confirmed to HR about your choice of job abandonment. They might use this as a trump card, considering it a confession from your side.

You may choose to continue following the Protector line. Simultaneously, try to contact HR for a solution and work towards resolving the issue amicably.

Yes, the other employee did buy the notice period, and he was on a PIP too. He quit 3 weeks after me.

HR's Options and Concerns

But the question was, why would the HR give an option to choose between "job abandonment" and "serving notice period"? She was instigating! From an HR point of view, "Job abandonment is not an option at all"; she should have only asked me to serve the notice period or face the consequence. Why would she give an option and give time until the following noon to respond? Why should the company give me time to resume duty by 19th June, terminate me on the 18th, and send me a confirmation that afternoon?

I will follow up with Protector Line as suggested! But HR has not responded to email or phone call so far.

Thank you for your time.