Stuck at Work: Why Won't Management Release Me When I'm No Longer Needed? Is This Legal?

I was working on a project, and my manager called and told me the client did not want my role and had said he didn't know what was next with me. Two weeks after this conversation, I resigned from the job and asked for an early release. The management said I could take the loss of pay for the remaining days (75 days) and would not release me early or give a buy-out option. Why is the management not relieving me when my presence is not required? Is it legal?

Employer's Notice Period Demands

Only greedy businessmen would act like this. If an employer no longer requires your services, they can terminate you or ask you to resign. Now, when you do so, the employer demands notice pay, and that too for a 90-day notice period. This should not be allowed.

First of all, a notice period or paying in lieu of notice applies only to an employer who wishes to terminate an employee. An employee is not legally bound to give notice when they want to leave an employer. When the employer has already stated that your role is no longer required, they should accept the resignation and allow you to leave immediately.

If you say that you are withdrawing your resignation and are ready to be part of the organization, what would be their reaction? Will they allow you to work and pay your salary? Suppose you are ready to work for three months; will they be willing to pay your salary for that period? Then how can they demand you pay 75 days' salary? Are they going to sustain themselves with the money recovered from the employees? It is absurd.

Therefore, you should talk to this employer and inform them of the law, insisting on immediate release. If they are not agreeable, proceed legally against them.

I resigned after taking the first legal opinion. I went ahead and sent a legal notice to the company. It's one of the top IT companies in India. You may guess, but no one replied to my notice. I called the HR, and he said I am going against the policy by not serving as per policy, and hence they will consider my resignation as absconding. They have called me to meet in the office and discuss with higher authorities - HR team, legal team, my senior managers, and me alone. God knows what's the next target.

Protection under the ID Act for IT Employees

You will get the protection of the ID Act provided you fall under the scope of the Act, even if the employer is one of the big IT companies in India. If they have a certified standing order that regulates the employee-employer relationship, let them show it. It should be a certified standing order and not a draft one that the employees should have acknowledged as read and agreed. There is no law that prescribes a notice period for a workman. In IT companies, all the techies are considered workmen, even though they receive a handsome salary. Even that 'salary' can be disputed because it would be based on a salary less than the statutory salary fixed by the government, which they would use to calculate gratuity when someone leaves. It might contain allowances just to circumvent the law.

I am interested in knowing what the legal opinion you received was and what legal notice you sent to the company.

All of those seem unnecessary. You could have simply resigned, asking for early relieving on the grounds that you were informed that you are no longer required. Once you have given a legal notice, the company is most likely going to take a tough stand and follow the law on everything, which includes asking you to adhere to the letter of the employment agreement.

Interestingly, the manager only informed you that you were not required for that specific project, and he did not know what your next assignment would be. He did not ask you to resign, nor did he mention that you would be downsized. It is possible that they were evaluating which would be the next project where your skills could be utilized.

It seems you have complicated things when it was not even necessary.