Am I Legally Bound to Serve Notice or Pay Salary During My Probation Period?

Hi All,

Please see the below clauses provided in my offer letter:

1. You will be on probation until your successful completion of the probationary period is confirmed in writing. The normal probation period is 6 months but may be extended or confirmed earlier based on your performance and at your manager's discretion. At any time during your probationary period, either you or the company may terminate your service by giving 90 days' notice or basic salary in lieu thereof.

2. Upon completion of your probation period and confirmation as a regular employee, you or the company may terminate your service at any time by giving 90 days' notice or basic salary in lieu thereof. However, due to exigencies of business, the company may at its sole discretion reject the salary in lieu of notice and ask you to serve the entire or part of the notice period. You shall not be deemed to have been relieved of your services except upon issue of a letter by the company to that effect.

Please answer the below questions based on the above clauses:

1. According to Clause 1, I have completed 11 months in the company; however, I haven't received any confirmation from my employer whether my probation period is confirmed. I am assuming that I am still on the probation period. Am I legally correct?

2. Also, I have already resigned from my company. According to the notice period during the probationary period, I am required to serve 90 days or pay salary in lieu. There is no acceptance required from the employer for the "acceptance of salary in lieu of notice." Am I correct?

3. Can my employer hold my relieving letter in the above scenario since the clause for regular employees does not apply to me, as a written confirmation as required by the employment offer letter is not fulfilled?

Thanks

Hi,

1) As the employer hasn't issued written confirmation, your services are yet to be confirmed.

2) It is true that you must serve a 90-day notice or pay the basic salary in lieu thereof. However, there is a possibility that your employer may insist on the 90-day notice instead of accepting payment for the notice period based on work requirements.

It would be better to clarify the basic salary payment option with your HR rather than seeking advice from members of this forum. In most cases, it is at the discretion of the employer whether to accept notice or payment in lieu of the notice period.

Thanks, Lakshmi Narayanan, for your quick reply!

As per the appointment letter (Clause 1 in my question), during the probationary period, it is simply stated that "either you or the company may terminate by giving 90 days' notice or salary in lieu." However, in Clause 2, where it talks about a regular employee, it states "the company may, at its sole discretion, reject the salary." Hence, since I am on probation and the appointment letter does not state that the employer can reject the pay, in such a case, can I simply serve half the notice and pay half the salary? Is it correct?

Hi, Either full notice or partial notice along with pay for the balance period, I would suggest that you discuss this with your HR. You will receive different suggestions from members, but ultimately, it is your employer who alone can give you the final go-ahead option.

"However, due to exigencies of business, the company may, at its sole discretion, reject the salary in lieu of notice and ask you to serve the entire or part of the notice period. You shall not be deemed to have been relieved of your services except upon the issuance of a letter by the company to that effect."

The above is a standard clause in all appointment orders applicable to employees irrespective of employment status, whether on probation or confirmed. So, do not assume things by yourself. It's better to know and knock on HR's door to get things clarified.

The reason I have been asking these questions here is that I have not been getting any response from my manager or HR via emails regarding the reduction of the notice period. They have only responded on a call to serve the full notice period. However, my prospective employer is asking me to join within 50 days, for which they are providing a notice buyout option. My current employer is keeping quiet on my email requests. Also, my current employer has been quite negligent on multiple events during my 11 months of employment, given that I work from a different location than my primary office. This is the first time I have had to reach out to HR, but it has not been of any help and has not provided a good response. Hence, I have been thinking of leaving the company by serving half the notice and paying salary in lieu of the notice not served, by stopping logging in after the half notice period is served, considering myself a probationary employee.