Stuck Without Original Certificates: How Can My Friend Reclaim Her Documents from a Past Employer?

Dear Sir/Madam,

One of my friends was working for a small firm, XXX Technologies. Upon joining, they retained her original certificates. However, after starting the job, she discovered that the company was not employee-oriented, had a poor culture, and offered a salary that was insufficient to survive in Bangalore, considering her family's poor condition. Despite these challenges, she persevered and worked for the company for 2 years. Unfortunately, she had to take a break due to health issues and later got married.

The mistake she made was informing the company of her resignation over a phone call instead of via email. Six months after leaving, she returned to the Bangalore office to retrieve her original documents and return the company laptop. To her surprise, the management demanded payment for the laptop rental before discussing the return of her certificates.

They are now insisting on a payment ranging from 60,000 to 100,000 rupees. Due to the ongoing pandemic situation, she is unable to pay even a single rupee. It has been almost 4 years since she left the company. To complicate matters, a fraudulent lawyer got involved, causing disruptions at the Bangalore office. This lawyer has now disappeared, leaving her in a precarious situation with no means to retrieve her certificates.

The management is threatening action against her due to the lawyer's disruptive behavior. She feels hopeless about recovering her certificates. Is there any recourse available? How can she reclaim her original documents? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

Now there are two issues. One is to retrieve her certificates. In the circumstances explained in the query, it looks like she can only appeal to the good sense of the management and seek pardon. Can she join them back? Explore the possibility; then the issues can be sorted out amicably.

The next issue is dealing with the Advocate. I suggest making a complaint to the Bar Council of India and the Bar Association of the locality. Before that, send a letter to the Advocate threatening to proceed against him.

Hi, Your friend should have communicated through RPAD about her resignation when she was sure of not continuing. Also, holding a laptop for such a long period strengthens the employer's position. Instead of hiring a lawyer, she could have directly requested assistance from the employer.

Holding original certificates is not legal for the employer. Now that the issue has worsened with multiple facets, it needs to be dealt with diplomatically. Make an apology to the employer and try to retrieve the original certificates with minimal or no payment.

Do you have any proof of payment made to that lawyer? Normally, they only accept cash payments. I am not sure how much support the Bar Council can provide without proper proof or records.

Thank you, Mr. V.M. Lakshminarayanan, for your valuable suggestion. On the employer's side, they are not going to provide any proof regarding the certificates. If she submits the laptop, it means she doesn't have any proof to get back her certificate. That is the reason for keeping the laptop. In every conversation with the employer, he was mentioning only the laptop and money. He is not even talking about certificates. The payment mode she used was online for the lawyer.

Thank you, Mr. KK! HR, we have been trying to reach management and requesting them continuously, but they are not responding to her emails and phone calls. She doesn't want to continue in that company anymore because she was the only girl in the office where she is not comfortable working with them.

Hi, When submitting original certificates to employers, it is important to provide an acknowledgment specifying the number of original certificates submitted in a serial number-wise manner. It is advisable to personally visit the employer, speak with the HR representative, politely request the certificates, and avoid unnecessary delays.