How Can I Claim My 3-Month Notice Pay After Being Relieved Early Due to COVID?

Hi, I was forced to resign due to the COVID situation. As per my appointment letter terms, I served a 3-month notice, but the company relieved me in 2 days after I was asked to hand over company belongings.

Notice Period Clause

As per Annexure Clause 2 of my Letter of Appointment:

Notice Period - Either party can terminate the contract of employment with 90 days' notice in writing or 90 days' basic salary in lieu thereof. The shortfall, if any, in the notice period equivalent amount of basic salary to that extent would be retrieved/paid. At any given point in time, the notice period would be as applicable to the Grade/Position in which you are placed and as per the organization's policy.

Since, as per the above clause, I am entitled to my 3 months' basic salary, but now the company is not paying.

So kindly advise what I can do further to get my 3 months' basic salary, since I have submitted my 90 days' notice period.

Since you submitted the resignation, you were required to give three months' notice and were prepared for it. However, you have been relieved after only two days and denied the opportunity to serve the remaining notice period. This constitutes a breach of the service agreement, and therefore, you should be compensated for it. As there is a provision for buyout in the service agreement, you are entitled to be paid for the remaining period of service. You should start by sending a notice demanding payment. If payment is not received, you may need to resort to legal means by sending a legal notice through an advocate and subsequently file a civil suit to claim the amount in the court of jurisdiction.

Did you clearly offer to complete the notice period when you resigned?

You mentioned that you resigned during COVID. Was the office closed? Did you have work from home, or were you required to go to the office for your work? In either case, did you clearly state your intention of completing the notice period?

From the query, it is understood that the poster is being made to submit a forced resignation, which essentially equates to a termination of their service. In this scenario, the company is obligated to pay the employee three months' admissible salary. It is advisable to try to arrange a meeting with a higher authority in person and draw their attention to the separation clause, along with requesting the owed salary.

If the sum of your three months' salary is a significant amount and if the management disregards your request, consider sending a legal notice through a lawyer, threatening them with legal action. However, prior to this step, send a formal request letter to the company via Registered Post Acknowledgement Due (RPAD), specifically mentioning the three months' salary owed as per the relevant clause and allow a period of 8-10 days for a response. If no action is taken within this timeframe, proceed with the aforementioned legal steps.

I 100% agree with you, but when an employee is giving their resignation, there is no question of termination. Both are different. When we talk about termination, it means the company is sacking the employee and needs to give a termination letter notice to the victim. However, if in the same case the company successfully obtains the resignation from the employee in any way, then this situation will not be considered termination. All benefits for termination will not be applicable to the victim in this scenario. Whether it is done forcefully or through any other means, if the company successfully secures the resignation, it will be treated as a resignation. This is because we cannot prove it as termination on paper.

Once you offered the resignation, the decision remains with the employer. You intended to serve the notice period, but the company preferred for you to be relieved without serving the notice. This is what your management has done as per their understanding, and they waived the notice period in your case.

Why does the notice period become necessary for both the employer and the employee?

(i) When the employer wants termination but the employee does not, the employer serves a notice or pays in lieu of that.

(ii) When the employee wants to leave but the employer does not, the employee serves the notice period or buys out the notice period.

In this case, the employee does not want to work, and the employer does not require the service of the employee due to work suffering from the pandemic.

You may claim compensation if you feel that justice has not been done to you. To justify your case, you should file the letter from the management in which they asked you to resign. It would be beneficial to get paid; there is nothing wrong with trying by filing a suit in court.