Employee Resigned and Joined Another Company Early: How Should We Respond?

Employee Resignation and Early Relieving

An employee has resigned and is requesting early relieving, but the company is not permitting it. Meanwhile, the employee has joined another company. What action should the company take?

If the employee has been working as a manager with managerial duties and responsibilities, the act of joining another organization without proper handover should be treated as a serious offense. In such a case, you can postpone the exit in the official records of EPF until he submits a convincing reply. You can also hold his service certificate and give him a message that he will not be getting favorable remarks in the background verification. If he was not having any such major responsibilities to be handed over, leave it.

Hopefully, you have not accepted the resignation so it can be rejected as the employee has not waited to be formally relieved before joining the new place. Therefore, you can take action for abandonment of employment and ask the employee to deposit the notice period salary. You may also consider informing the new organization where the employee has joined about the abandonment of service and ask them to direct the employee to complete the relieving process (if you have the particulars).

Notice Period Recovery

Only the notice period can be recovered, and nothing else. This is because he is resigning, and as per the appointment letter or standing order, the same can be recovered if the employee/employer fails to complete the notice period.

EPF Exit Date

Secondly, currently, EPF has given an option to the employee to mention his/her exit date. Hence, it is advisable to mention the date of your exit.

Industry Norms

Why are you so sad? This is a normal process in the industry. People come and go. You should consider what would have happened if you had fired someone without giving notice; you would have only paid the notice pay.