Navigating Resignations via WhatsApp: Legal Concerns and Best Practices for Employers

Dear All, please help me clarify a few things. If an employee submits their resignation via WhatsApp or any social media platform:

Should we accept the resignation? If so, what legal complications might arise from the employer's standpoint?

What happens in the event of a dispute? What happens in the event of a dispute with an employee regarding their Full and Final settlement?

Admissibility of social media communications Are communications between employees and employers through social media admissible in labor courts?

Good practice in business communications Is it considered good practice to conduct business communications with employees using social media platforms in companies?

Regards, Abhishek

To the best of my knowledge, resignation through social apps or websites is not acceptable. At the time of joining, the employer issues the offer letter or appointment order directly to the candidate as a physical document on paper and not through a social website. If the employer accepts such a resignation, there are possibilities that the same employee may approach the Employer or HR the next day and claim that someone submitted the resignation using his app or social website without his consent or knowledge.

Therefore, it is advisable that such communications be documented on paper or, in the worst case, through email as a Word attachment. Most companies do not approve of using social apps or websites for official communications.

If any employee resigns through social media, the employer can always send an official communication to the employee referring to the social media post and ask for an explanation. It will help the employer to make it official and use the letter as evidence against any unforeseen event.

It will also help the employee if someone has misused his social media details to generate this issue.

Admissibility of Electronic Evidence in Judicial Forums

In matters not of serious issues, there could be some flexible approach exercised by different administrators at their own discretion. However, when disputes are dealt with in quasi-judicial and judicial forums and courts, evidence in electronic forms is not admissible. The Supreme Court in Anvar P.V. v P.K. Basheer, (2014 10 SCC 473) clarified the position. The Court held that for any electronic evidence to be admissible in its secondary form, it is necessary to meet the mandatory requirements of Section 65-B, which includes giving a certificate as per the terms of Section 65-B (4), at the time of proving the record and not anytime later. Failing to do so will render the electronic record inadmissible.

Please read the summary of judgments on the subject as attached.

Social Media and Legal Implications

However, quitting from social media platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook is a different matter, which is governed by the terms and conditions of service.