Laid Off but Asked to Serve Notice Period: Is This Normal After Redundancy?

Notice Period After Redundancy

I have recently been laid off by my company. In some cases, they have released the employees immediately by providing retrenchment allowance, notice period, and other benefits. However, in some cases, they have asked employees to serve the notice period.

My question is, why are they asking us to serve the notice period when our jobs have been made redundant? I received a redundancy letter on 1st Aug, and being asked to serve the notice is quite surprising. If my job is no longer required, then why serve the notice period?

Please advise if the company can ask employees to serve the notice period when their job is made redundant.

Dear Vinod, when you joined the company, your company must have issued an appointment letter. Please confirm the verbatim of the separation clause mentioned in the appointment letter. Unless we know the contents of this clause, further comments cannot be given.

What was your notice period? If you were given a redundancy letter on 1st Aug 2020, then by now the notice period must have been completed. So why bother about the past?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Let me check the details of the appointment letter and I will share it with you. Meanwhile, my notice period was two months, and I was waiting for my full and final settlement, which I recently received, before raising this concern. Also, if you can share what India Labour Law suggests in case of retrenchment, can the company ask employees to serve the notice period? Can the company follow two sets of rules, like asking some employees to leave immediately while others are asked to serve the notice period?

Dear colleague, Regardless of clauses in the appointment letter on separation, the company appears to have resorted to what can be regarded as illegal and unjust acts. If a redundancy notice was served on you in August '20, then after the expiry of this notice, the company is bound to pay you retrenchment compensation, notice pay, and other legal dues, and you cannot be discriminated against. In these matters, all employees have to be treated equally, and different compensation being given to the same set of employees is patently illegal.

After serving a redundancy notice on you, demanding notice from you is patently illegal, and you shouldn't oblige by doing it. You can write a polite and persuasive letter, though, giving the above facts and pointing out the discriminatory treatment being meted out to you.

If no reply or a negative reply is received, approach the Labour Commissioner's office with a suitable representation and request his intervention.

Regards, Vinayak Nagarkar
HR and Employee Relations Consultant

Hi Vinayak, the company sent me a redundancy letter and asked me to serve the complete notice, which I think is not legitimate and unethical. Please advise.

Different Procedures for Employees

The company has followed a different procedure for some employees as they were not asked to serve the notice.

Clarification on Redundancy and Termination

Now, when I am checking this with HR, they are referring to the appointment letter. However, in the appointment letter, there is no clause for redundancy, and it talks about termination. Are redundancy and termination the same? Please confirm.

Dear Vinayak, I am already in discussion with HR, and they are giving unnecessary excuses. Here is what he responded to in my last email:

"As per the terms of your appointment letter, the notice period can be reduced by mutual agreement. In your case, the requirement to work the full notice period was waived following your request to leave early and start your new employment. You have been paid all dues owed to you, including for the notice period worked. I am unable to provide a letter as per your request, as it would not be accurate."

Is termination considered as redundancy?

My appointment letter only talks about termination conditions but nothing about redundancy. That's why I am asking: Is termination considered as redundancy? Henceforth, will my redundancy follow the appointment letter conditions?

Can we talk?

Regards,
Vinod

Just one piece of advice:

Termination Clause vs. Retrenchment

1. Is the termination clause mentioned in the appointment letter the same as retrenchment?

Redundancy and Notice Period

2. If someone has been served with a redundancy letter, can they be asked to serve the notice period as per the appointment letter?

Please advise.

Redundancy Notice and Serving Notice Period

After serving a redundancy notice on you, demanding notice from you is patently illegal, and you should not feel obliged to comply.

@nagarkar vinayak ji: Is it a law, or can a company ask you to serve notice after issuing a redundancy letter? Please advise.

Legitimacy of Serving Notice Period After Redundancy

Can a company ask an employee to serve a notice period after issuing a redundancy letter? Is it legitimate?