Was My Termination Without Notice Fair? Seeking Advice on Withheld Salary and Benefits

Dear Sir, My name is Deepak Kumar, a Senior Executive in Operations at xxxxxx Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based facility management company. I joined the company in March 2010. Unfortunately, after working here for 10 years and 5 months, my employer terminated me on the 14th of August 2020 without any prior notice. The reason cited was that I had allegedly shared confidential business information, including strategies, techniques, and secrets, with a former employee. This was seen as a violation of our code of conduct, non-disclosure policy, and organizational rules and regulations, resulting in financial and reputational loss for the company.

The company has withheld my salary for June, July, and August 2020, as well as other benefits such as conveyances, bonus, gratuity, and leave wages. They claim that since I have been terminated, I am not entitled to a full and final settlement.

I seek your advice on this matter.

Thank you.

Dear Deepak Kumar, what has happened with you is unfortunate. Nevertheless, while uploading the post on this forum, you could have edited the Termination Letter by removing your company's logo, name, address, etc. By disclosing the details of your company on the public forum, you could not have achieved anything. You have approached this forum to seek a solution. Anyway, I have converted the PDF document into PNG and edited it further.

It appears that there must be compelling reasons for the company to terminate you. It is not just an ordinary termination, but the company is taking revenge against you by withholding your salary for the last couple of months. However, what exactly happened is something you would know better.

Does the company have material evidence of your collusion with their competitor? Why has your company taken such drastic action against a long-serving employee like you?

The last line of the first paragraph says that "you have admitted the aforesaid misconduct of yours." Does it mean that you were issued a "Show Cause Notice"? In response, did you admit your misconduct?

Solution: Your company should have conducted a domestic enquiry to prove your misconduct. Secondly, whatever the misconduct may be, they cannot withhold your salary for the last couple of months. Therefore, I recommend you put up the application for the pending dues. Address the letter to the MD of the company. Write in sequence all the dues pending to you. Send the letter by speed post with acknowledgment due. Preserve a record of the receipt of the letter.

If the company pays your dues, then well and good. Otherwise, the only remedy left with you is to file a civil suit. This recommendation is under the assumption that being a Senior Executive - Operations, a few employees were reporting to you. As you had subordinates, the provisions of the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 do not apply to you, and as these provisions do not apply, you cannot file a complaint to the labor office. Since you were employed in Chennai, you will have to file a suit in that city only.

If the company had conducted the domestic enquiry and it was conducted properly, then there is no point in filing a suit also.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Deepak Kumar, this is in addition to what I have suggested above. While sending the letter to the MD, attach Form 1 of the Employee Gratuity Act, 1972, duly filled with your application. You are eligible for the gratuity.

Before sending the letter, scan it along with all the attachments. After sending it via Speed Post, also scan the receipt from the post office and send the complete documentation by email to the MD. Remember to take a printout of the email and keep a copy for your records.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Admission of Charges

In case you have admitted the charges, then the admission will be a strong factor against you. If you choose to challenge it, the actual words used in the admission have to be seen. It would be better to consult a lawyer specialized in service law with all the documents.

Gratuity and Other Benefits

As regards gratuity, you can go to the Controlling Authority under the PGA (normally the Assistant Labour Commissioner) and submit an application after a month of termination of service, stating that gratuity has not been paid so far. Similarly, you can file an application for annual leave with wages before the Labour Inspector and use his good offices. You may also mention the non-payment of salary.

Greetings, Sir, regarding the above subject matter, I would like to clarify some doubts:

1. Since the date of joining until my last working day, I worked in Ranchi (Jharkhand) reporting to the Kolkata branch of the organization for the East Zone. (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and West Bengal states fall under the Kolkata branch - East Zone).

2. I asked our HR to share the name of the person to whom I have disclosed what kind of confidential information of the organization I shared, on the basis of which action has been taken against me. However, we have not received a reply to the email to date.

3. On Sunday, 21st June 2020, our reporting manager called me and inquired about the allegation (I was unaware if it was a domestic inquiry against me). During the phone call, I admitted that I had shared some unofficial information with that person, but it was not related to our company. After about 10 minutes of discussion, he requested me to send an email. He called me again and asked me to rewrite the email changing "Unofficial to Official Information." Subsequently, our salary was withheld. Despite sending several emails regarding my salary, I have not received a response from our seniors. Finally, I received an email from HR stating a termination letter after 2 months without any prior notice.

Please advise on how I can proceed to claim my dues. If the dues are not cleared even after addressing the MD in writing, where can I file a complaint?

Regards, Deepak

From your latest reply, it appears that neither a show cause was served to you nor was the enquiry conducted. Therefore, the decision of the management is challengeable in the court of law.

Nevertheless, as stated in my previous post, the first step is sending a proper letter to the MD of the company asking for all the dues. If you do not receive any reply or if the reply is not satisfactory, then you can go ahead with the lawsuit.

Approaching the Labour Office

For KK!HR: Sir, you have recommended him to approach the labour office of the city where he worked; however, with the designation of "Senior Executive - Operations" and that too with 10.5 years of service, I doubt he can be classified as a workman under the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

You need to defend yourself, and for that, you need to approach a good advocate as suggested by our learned member and super moderator. Tell him everything without hiding any details. Provide all the correspondence between you and the company promptly.

Let the advocate decide on the best course of action in your case.

Thank you.

Dear Deepak Kumar, I have reviewed the email you sent to me. You have acknowledged your fault, which is quite serious. However, you can still build a strong case against your company. You fall under the Payment of Wages Act, and the PF deduction made by your company is based on an incorrect assumption.

Questions to Consider

What is your nature of work? To whom do you report? How many subordinates do you have?

Next Steps

Send a legal notice to your company through your advocate immediately.

Can my employer refuse to pay my dues on the basis of admitting my fault by email to the reporting manager? My manager forcefully took the email. Neither was any domestic inquiry held nor was any notice sent to me before termination. Additionally, my salary was held for a couple of months before termination. I worked as a Senior Executive-Operations in a Facility Management organization, handling approximately 75 employees under my supervision, and reporting to our Deputy Regional Manager.

Regards,
Deepak

As you have admitted all the allegations made by your company against you in writing (by e-mail), it will be a difficult task for you to fight against the company.

Anyhow, as suggested by my friends earlier, you should ask for gratuity, then apply for PF (withdrawal), apply and obtain a Scheme certificate for your EPS, and you may write to the MD. Keep copies of all correspondence made by you.

If you do not see any results after writing to your MD, consult a legal expert and send a lawyer's notice to the company.

Dear Sir, once I send an email to our MD regarding this matter, if I do not receive a reply or am unsatisfied with the response, we will proceed. My company has its headquarters in Chennai, a branch office in Kolkata, and I am currently working in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The question is, where should we file a complaint - Chennai, Kolkata, or Ranchi? Additionally, what should be the expected expenses?

Thanks,

Regards,
Deepak