ArunRaja.b
I am working for a private IT company and applied for resignation on Jan 11 due to chronic back pain(slip disc caused by bad chairs provided by the company and they are being replaced fast now ) and was serving a np of 45 days which is uploaded to end on Feb 26th. On Jan 25th my mother suffered a heart attack and also suffering from severe case of H1N1(swine flue) and admitted to ICU for 7 days and i left to attend her informing my HR and sent an official email by 1st Feb and informed that I will be back only by Feb 13th. Also kept the HR updated on the status.
But now the management had sent serious of emails claiming that I have been ABSCONDING from WORK and my work had always been poor and I have very poor code of conduct with other employees(if yes why they hadn't informed earlier) and had with held my Jan salary and I will have to pay any damages to the organization because of me absconding.
Please help me with the situation because I don't know how to react.

From India, Chennai
Suresh Rathi
89

Dear ARUNRAJA.B, Presuming that you have stated facts, consult a lawyer and send them a legal notice. In case of no reply or reply refuting your charges, approach court. Best Wishes, Col.Suresh Rathi
From India, Delhi
riteshmaity
243

Kindly give a proper reply to the email denying all the allegations and charges. Specifically deny that you are not liable to pay any damages to the company. And only on those score, the company cannot withhold salary, so demand salary.
I have not gone through the exact content of the letter. But if it is very serious in nature with serious allegations and demand of damages, it is better to get the reply drafted by a lawyer on your behalf. If you do not properly deny the allegations at this stage, the company may try to use such allegations against you at a later stage, if required.

From India, Kolkata
ArunRaja.b
Thanks for the quick responses.
I am currently looking to draft a reply myself since I am still with my mother and will be resuming duty on 13th.
Not sure if it is OK to ask the below question in this forum, but let me.
If I have to approach a civil lawyer and take a case later(if needed), what would be proceeding costs and on a minimum scale, how long will the case go on.
Also I am little worked on if it turns into a civil case, how will affect my future career with other companies.
P.S.
I have nearly 10 years of experience and have worked for 3 companies(2 billion dollar MNCs and a start-up) for a minimum of 2 years each, and have always had good repo with all the companies, with one company having offered huge stock options and I had given that up to work for this start up.

From India, Chennai
riteshmaity
243

you should hire a lawyer who deals in labour matter and industrial disputes. not all civil lawyers can deal with it. visit the labour courts and tribunals in your area to find out the specialised lawyers.
and regarding cost, it depends on the seniority of the lawyer and place of practice. and time of court cases cannot be predicted, frankly speaking. it depends on various factors.
legally civil cases wont put any impact on your professional life.

From India, Kolkata
ArunRaja.b
"This is extremely unprofessional of you and as a direct result of your irresponsible behaviour you have brought the entire development work to a standstill resulting in substantial losses and damages to this company.

The quality of your output as a direct consequence of you not taking your job seriously is very poor. There is virtually no documentation of any of the work that you have done and there are critical deliverables which you have been promising over a period of time (some over 3-4 months) have still not been delivered resulting in substantial delays and financial losses to the company. The code is of extremely poor quality and virtually needs to be rewritten.

Please note company reserves the right to terminate your services during the notice period as we do not think you intend to serve your notice and will recover all dues owed to the company by way of notice not served and any other dues owed to the company.

Please note that notwithstanding the termination of your services, the company reserves the right to pursue legal action to recover any monies owed and claim any damages incurred as a result of your poor quality of work and absconding from work."

Above is the email from the management and on second reading, I believe they might have already terminated me.

Now I have following questions

- while I am in notice period, can the employee consider me absconding from work after I have given proper email explaining my status and the date by which I wouldnreturn

From India, Chennai
ArunRaja.b
Missed other questions in the above post.
- can company claim damages due to poor performance when until that date I had never faced such allegations from management even after working for 4.5 months.
- without informing me, my official account is locked and I can't login to the same and then send all allegations email and claim I didn't respond back and forward those emails to my personal ID
- claiming that I am harassing employees for calling HR and next senior in line person before all these barrage of emails of accusation started
Also, please suggest how I can find the labour commissioner email id for Bangalore?

From India, Chennai
rdsyadav
142

Dear Arun,
You need a job is your top priority.Please search out small, big any thing and join assumimg that this company will not give you any relieving certificate. Second important advise to you is instead of sending your reply of mail sent by your employer, please consult a Lawyer, as a precaution time ahead so that lot of reactions came upfront so for .and at later stage possible also , they are legally defend-able and you are not at any unsafe that time.
Regds.,
RDS Yadav

From India, Delhi
riteshmaity
243

@ARUNRAJA.B

The email of the company sent to you though contains charges/ allegations against you and even proposes punishment like termination and subsequent recover of dues from your, yet it cannot be called a termination letter technically.

Your queries are replied below:

- while I am in notice period, can the employee consider me absconding from work after I have given proper email explaining my status and the date by which I wouldnreturn

In the above email there is no charges of absconding but only related to non/ poor performance. From where did you find the charges of so called absconding? Moreover, under labour law, there is NO term as absconding. If you remain absent without permission, it is called unauthorised absenteeism. If you have proof of intimating the company regarding your absence and genuine ground/ medical reason then you have a good case to defend yourself.

- can company claim damages due to poor performance when until that date I had never faced such allegations from management even after working for 4.5 months.

Before claiming any damages which is directly attributable to the action of an employee, the employer has to give reasonable opportunity to employee before claiming such damages. But broadly speaking employer cannot claim damages for poor performance. It may depend from case to case though. E.g. if you lose you lose a mobile phone of your company due to your negligence, then they might recover the amount from you. But if you are unable to convince a customer/ client for some deal, then though it may be treated as poor performance but for that damages cannot be recovered.

- without informing me, my official account is locked and I can't login to the same and then send all allegations email and claim I didn't respond back and forward those emails to my personal ID

Since there is a bitter scenario at this stage, it is better to communicate in writing only with the management. Instead of emails, try communicating with letters through registered/ speed post.



- claiming that I am harassing employees for calling HR and next senior in line person before all these barrage of emails of accusation started

How they are claiming that? Instead of verbal discussion, use written communication in order to avoid any allegations.

Also, please suggest how I can find the labour commissioner email id for Bangalore?

I am not sure but you can google or ask a labour lawyer/ union etc for details.

From India, Kolkata
ArunRaja.b
@riteshmaity

Thanks for quick replies, really appreciate it.

I was going through the emails fwd’d by the management and find something very suspicious.

Management said they had earlier(I believe before 2nd Feb) emailed 3 mails(Formal notice for being absconded from work, Warning for Disciplinary issues, and my performance and deliverables are completely useless) to my official id(Gmail for Business), and since I cant login to my account(they blocked it by the way), they forwarded the same to my personal email id.

What is suspicious from that is, I have my official email account is setup in my mobile and they are updated in my mobile up until 3rd Feb and I haven’t found any such mails from them.

Also, from the emails forwarded by them, “From address is empty, Date is also empty”, which can be done only by editing the message before forwarding to the respective address.

I cannot prove it nor I can, until I have access to my official account.

But if indeed the emails forwarded by the management to me are in anyway manually edited by them with false data, will it have any impact in proving that indeed all my managements allegations are false and get my due salary?

P.S.

I am meeting with a civil/labor lawyer tomorrow as a consultation to assess the gravity of the situation.

From India, Chennai
Community Support and Knowledge-base on business, career and organisational prospects and issues - Register and Log In to CiteHR and post your query, download formats and be part of a fostered community of professionals.






Contact Us Privacy Policy Disclaimer Terms Of Service

All rights reserved @ 2024 CiteHR ®

All Copyright And Trademarks in Posts Held By Respective Owners.