Company Holding My Certificates After Resignation: How Can I Get Them Back?

I have been selected for a company one month ago. I submitted my original documents. After joining, I worked for only three days. Due to some reasons, I could not continue and submitted my resignation. However, they have not yet returned my certificates. There is no bond or any agreement, but they are still holding my certificates. What should I do now?

Notice Period and Document Return

If there is any notice period you have accepted, then you have to serve that period before being relieved. An organization is not a revolving door place; you enter through one and exit through the next. The organization's rules and regulations have to be duly followed.

You have to pursue them to return your certificates since a significant amount of time has elapsed after you left. You need to issue a notice asking for the immediate return of documents. I hope they haven't paid you; then they cannot insist on the notice period. But if they have paid you, there is no escape from serving the notice period.

The Importance of Retaining Original Certificates

The organizations that keep the original certificates of employees under their custody are not professional organizations. There must be some wrong intention for those organizations.

It is a caution to employees that under any circumstances, original certificates should not be left under the custody of the employers. Employers may ask for those certificates only to cross-check with the photocopy. The owner of the original certificates is the concerned employee, not the employer.