Is It Legal for HR to Withhold My Salary After Resignation? What Should I Do?

Salary Withholding After Resignation

Hey, my name is Jai, and I worked as a technical support executive in a certifying authority. I informed my HR about my resignation on 1st May and sent a dedicated email regarding the resignation. The notice period in that company was one month. I informed HR that I would not continue this job from 1st June and resigned. I completed the notice period. However, my salary for the month of May has not been credited to my account, and HR is saying that they will transfer it next month, i.e., July.

So my question is, is it legal for them to hold my salary? What do I have to do in this situation? Please help.

Claiming Your Salary After Resignation

You can claim your salary after you have submitted a 'No Dues Certificate' from all the related areas of work as per your organizational practice. Once you submit the certificate, the organization cannot withhold your salary under normal circumstances.

Try to ascertain how it was dealt with previously. HR telling you as a matter of routine that it will be paid only in July is unreasonable and clearly not acceptable. As per the law, the previous salary and other dues are payable within two days of separation of service (See Proviso to Section 5 of the Payment of Wages Act 1936).

Payment of Wages Act in India

The Payment of Wages Act that applies to all offices in India requires that all salaries and wages should be paid by the 7th of the next month (10th for offices with more than 1,000 employees). Wages in case of termination of employment (which includes resignation) must be paid within 2 days from the last working day in most states.

So you should definitely be paid by the 7th of June. Delay beyond that is against the law.

Filing a Complaint

If your salary is less than ₹21,000 a month, then you have the option of filing a complaint with the Labour Commissioner. In other cases, you can only file a civil case. So in most cases, you may have no option but to wait and hope it is paid by the end of the month.