Confused About My "0" Payout After Resignation: Can I Request a Full & Final Statement?

My First Experience with Resignation

This is my first experience with resignation. The notice period at my company is 2 months. Upon discussion with my manager, I noted that he would require 40 days to release me. So, after the discussion, in good faith, I raised a formal request with that amount of days as my notice period. Before leaving, I was instructed by HR that the calculations would be shared with me, and only after my acceptance would the amount be credited to my account.

Issues with Full & Final Settlement

In the Full & Final settlement, they paid me nothing. Upon my query, they said it's a "0" payout. After about 20 days of back-and-forth emails, I escalated the matter. Within a day, they said that my leaves (11 days) have been balanced with the remaining 20 days of my notice period, and the rest was waived off. I was never told, neither by the manager nor by HR, that my leaves would be balanced against my notice period. I checked the documents provided to me during onboarding—no mention of it. I did not have any problems serving my full notice period; I thought the discussion with my manager was my notice period negotiation.

Questions Regarding F&F Statement and Gratuity

Can I ask for an F&F statement? My CTC also has gratuity mentioned, and no payout has ever been given in the monthly salary. Are those given back? (I resigned after 1.5 years). Apart from leaves, is there anything else that is paid in F&F? Can anything be done in this matter?

What I understand is that as a result of your discussion with HR, your originally fixed notice period of 60 days or 2 months was orally agreed to be reduced to 40 days. However, when the exit happened after the expiry of 40 days, your balance leave of 11 days was adjusted against the unserved notice period, and only the remaining 9 days were actually and officially waived off. The HR might have given such oral assurance in good faith to reduce the notice period to 40 days, but the management would have modified this proposal of waiver to only 9 days. Therefore, it seems to be correct, if not fair, based on HR's oral assurance. I don't think that your objection will have any validity vis-a-vis the actual notice clause of the contract of employment.

Regarding your claim for gratuity

My view is that your claim is totally untenable because you had not rendered the minimum qualifying service as per the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. Additionally, CTC is not a contract in itself or a part of the contract of employment but merely an indicator of the direct and indirect benefits of employment. As far as a statutory benefit finding a place in the CTC, its sanction is subject to fulfilling statutory conditions only. Mere mention in the CTC cannot entitle a claim for payment when the conditions are not met.

I hope this clarifies the situation.

Best regards,
[Your Name]

Hi umakanthan53,

Thank you for your reply. Could you also tell me if it's the HR or the manager's decision to balance my leaves? Also, can I ask for the F&F statement since none has been provided to me?

Thank you.

What you need to clarify here is the full and final settlement for your case, which includes payable salary, leave balance, and any other earnings such as a performance bonus, if applicable. Your leave balance was adjusted in the waiver as per your explanation and as rightly pointed out by the learned senior, Mr. Umakanthan.

What else is included in the full and final settlement for you to claim? If you have received your payable salary for the period, there might be nothing else to claim. It would be best to clarify this with your HR department either in person or through an email.