Worried About Legal Trouble for Emailing a Complaint? Here's What You Need to Know

Sir, I wrote a complaint email to the company's top management regarding the harassment of HR managers over payment issues and illegal transfer orders, and I included government labor department officers in CC. I just want to ask if, based on this behavior, the company can file a case against me for complaining via email.

You have already sent an email to the top management, copying the labor officer. You should have asked this question before doing so. If you have any grievances, you can escalate the matter to top management, but you should not involve the labor officer. While the management may not take legal action, you will be under constant surveillance. If there are issues such as non-payment or delayed payment of salary, the labor officer may intervene and conduct an inspection. If an inspection reveals non-compliance, the blame will fall on you. Sending your grievances via email may not lead to termination, but you can expect some form of punishment that may result in financial loss. The officer will not meddle in your transfer issues, but the management has the authority to transfer you. The officer may advocate for timely salary payments but not necessarily for a salary increase. Regardless, what you did was wrong.

Dear Mahesh Koli,

You have raised a query on this forum, but your post does not provide sufficient information. Please confirm the following:

a) In what department do you work? What is your designation?

b) What is the meaning of "harassment of HR managers for payment issues and illegal transfer orders"? Who is harassing the HR managers? What are the payment issues, and why do you say the transfer orders are illegal?

c) Was this your first email, or did you complain to the authorities concerned earlier as well? Was the previous complaint in writing or made verbally? If the complaint was made earlier, what was their reaction?

d) Why did you mark CC of the email to the labor department? What was in your mind while doing that?

There are many issues associated with your post. Please provide us with complete information. It would not be fair on our part to provide advice on incomplete information.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

If you engage in any actions beyond your role and responsibilities, it is against the company's guidelines and various policies. It may seem like you are trying to act smart, but now you regret the steps you took when the situation became difficult for you. Always think before you act and consult seniors about the implications. As our learned professional Mr. Madhu mentioned, you should have considered these factors long before you pressed the Send button!

Your actions and conduct fall under misconduct. I cannot say what your management is considering regarding this matter and the action they may take against you. You have been off-premises, as provided by my management, as that is the only option available to any conscientious management. This may seem like a harsh response, but it is a common course of action taken in such situations.

This time, management will not take any action against you, but they will act like a cat, meaning you will be under surveillance. If they find any reason, they will take unpleasant action against you.

Dear Sir, As your kind self is aware, I have been serving our reputed organization, "company name," as a Computer Operator for the past 18+ years alongside 7 other union workmen. I have diligently fulfilled my duties and responsibilities to the best of my abilities, maintaining a commendable track record in all aspects. I would like to bring to your attention that we have been working here since September 1997, predating the contract with "company name" which commenced in 2006. The agreement stipulates that the upcoming contractor must retain our services, and consequently, we have been part of the workforce for 26 years. Additionally, we are local residents from the city name area.

However, the current situation has become untenable as we are being harassed by your HR department, specifically by managers who are threatening and pressuring us to resign from our positions. Upon refusal, they have issued transfer orders to another state, a coercive and unlawful act considering the lack of formal appointment by your management.

Since February 1, 2024, access to the company premises has been denied to us and to other workers from a different union without justification. Furthermore, we have noticed a deliberate discrepancy in our salaries compared to those of other union workers, despite being under the same contractual terms and job category.

We suspect that management has purposefully withheld full payment since September 2021, potentially displaying favoritism towards a particular group of workers at the expense of fair treatment and victimizing us.

On behalf of my fellow workmen, I urge you to investigate this matter thoroughly and take stringent measures against the financial and psychological distress inflicted by the HR department. We request the immediate settlement of all outstanding dues owed to the seven Unionized Workmen concerned.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Yours Truly,

It may be true that the situation is not good in your company, and if HR has been antagonistic, you can definitely escalate the matter to higher authorities. However, as I mentioned earlier, you should not have included the Labour Officer in the email. While it is possible to escalate to that level, it should be done only after discussions around the office table have failed. The Labour Officer may ignore the email, but the management will take it seriously, which could close the doors for a friendly discussion to reach a conclusion.

As per your suggestion, MADHU TK, we already approached our MD two times regarding this problem and informed him about the situation. However, we have not received any relief from them. When the HR manager discovered that we had approached the MD about our problem, he called me and confiscated my ID in front of all office staff. For the next 12 days, I attended the office on a visitor pass. Later, when I sent an email to the MD and HR regarding this issue, my ID was returned to the security staff.

I want to ask if this is the right way to treat an employee who has been working for 26 years. I have all the necessary proof. Additionally, he is intentionally paying us less than our juniors despite having the same agreement and positions. We have also raised this issue through our union at the labor office ALC, but we have not received any relief on the payment matter. We cannot tolerate this treatment and have already left the company premises and stopped our biometric attendance since February 1st. Therefore, I have decided to file a complaint via email. I am not afraid of my decision and I am sharing this issue with all of you to be prepared for future actions.

Thanks and regards