Confused About Notice Period: Can I Leave After 30 Days If My Probation Wasn't Confirmed?

Hi All, I joined a company on 13th September 2021, and my offer letter agreement states, "You will be on probation until successful completion of the probationary period is confirmed in writing." The notice period during the probation period is 30 days, and once confirmed, it is 90 days.

I resigned on 20th September 2022, and my probationary period was neither confirmed before my resignation nor confirmed to date in writing as per the agreement. So, technically, I think that I can terminate my service by giving a 30-day notice period. However, as per the resignation acceptance email, my notice period shows as 90 days. Still, I cannot serve a 90-day notice period and want to serve only 30 days due to the requirement by my future employer and as per my existing company offer letter agreement.

I want to understand the legality of my notice period as per the offer letter agreement and the possibility of early release if my employer doesn't agree to any type of negotiation. Please advise.

Until and unless you are confirmed in service with a communication in writing, you are a probationer only, and legally you come under a one-month notice period category. However, the issue is that no HR manager or employer will accept it as long as the employee leaving is a good employee. On the other hand, if the employee is not a good performer, the employer will give one month's salary and ask him to go. You cannot move legally either because such a move will spoil your career, and no prospective employer would like to retain an employee who is fighting with his previous employer. That is the risk. Therefore, an amicable settlement is the only solution for this issue.

Thank you, Madhu, for your quick reply. If that is the case, then employers can always play around, right? Employees cannot do anything but accept even after being correct as per the agreement? The problem is that it is not so easy to convince the manager sometimes to negotiate an early release because the outgoing employee is useless to them. So, they won't go out of the box or make any efforts to release him/her early. In that scenario, the employee looks for options as per their agreement. Sometimes, there's only one option left: either accept the full notice period or discuss in the context of the offer letter agreement. I'm still wondering what negative feedback they will give when the debate was all about the notice period and not the code of conduct.

Please enlighten.

Thank you

In such a scenario, the only option left is to accept their new notice period policy. You can also try to negotiate the issue with the help of someone who is acceptable to the manager/employer. You can even try to get help from individuals from GST/IT/labour/Pollution Control, etc., who are always on "good terms" with the employers and vice versa.