Can Employees Travel During Their Notice Period? Navigating Legal Precautions Together

Employee Travel During Notice Period

Is an employee allowed to travel during the notice period? If travel is permitted, what precautions should we take to avoid any legal issues?

Ensure there is a single line break between paragraphs.

Dear Rajesh S,

Submitting a letter of resignation and on-duty outstation travel are two independent activities. How does one activity affect the other? Why is there confusion or doubt? On-duty travel during the notice period is outside the scope of labor laws.

I recommend you follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) applicable to employees for outstation travel. Otherwise, upon completion of the outstation tour, the employee should submit the TA/DA bill. As a professional organization, you have the responsibility to clear the bills before the employee's last working day.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Can you explain what the potential legal problem would be if an employee on notice period is traveling for work? His employment has not ended, and he is still required to perform his regular duties. If you have any specific concerns, please specify them so that it is easier to provide an answer.

An employee, while on a notice period, is expected to complete the notice period. There is no restriction on traveling as part of their duty. Leave is not allowed during the notice period since the employee has to complete the number of days of the notice period as per employment terms. Hence, any leave taken means the employee will have to stay until the completion period. The employer has the right to recover the salary for leave taken during the notice period. However, it all depends on the relationship of the employee with the management.

Dear KK Anirudhan,

The second paragraph of your post states: "Leave not allowed during the notice period since the employee has to complete the number of days of the notice period as per employment terms. Hence, any leave taken, the employee will have to stay till the completion period. The employer has the right to recover the salary of leave taken during the notice period."

Why is leave not allowed during the notice period?

Why are employees not allowed to avail of leave during the notice period? Why do you mention that the notice period gets extended proportionately if the employee takes leave? On what grounds have you proposed this? Would you mind quoting the provisions of the relevant act or law?

Request for expert opinion

For Mr. Madhu T.K. - Can you please provide your expert views on the above?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Thank you for considering me to provide clarification on the mentioned points. The post relates to official travel during the notice period, and the same has been well addressed by all the members.

Leave during the notice period

The question of leave during the notice period is a matter that requires clarification. I would say that leave is both a right for employees. At the same time, the employer may refuse to grant leave on business grounds. Simply put, we should remember that no leave can be claimed as a matter of right, nor can it be simply rejected on the ground that the employee will not be with the employer in a few days from now. There should be some genuine reason for refusing the leave, whether it is an employee who is still in service or a person who has submitted their resignation.

The law states that when an employee is refused leave, the same number of leaves refused shall be allowed to be carried forward and accumulated beyond the maximum prescribed limit. This implies that leaves cannot be rejected if they are applied for genuine reasons.

In the case of employees serving the notice period, the same principle applies. To ensure a smooth handover, the employer can ask employees not to take leaves. If the leave applied for is refused, then it should be allowed as encashment or surrender at the time of relieving. If the employer marks the leaves taken as unpaid leave/loss of pay, then the same amount should be paid as leave surrender at the time of relieving, along with the full and final settlement. Therefore, per se, there is no legal validity for the statement that no leave shall be allowed during the notice period.