Dear All,
Can anyone explain in detail about a relieving letter? I have the following questions:
1) Does issuing a relieving letter to an employee have any specific time limit? If so, what is the maximum time limit an employer can take to issue it? My ex-employees say that their new employer is asking for the relieving letter within 21 days from the day they were relieved from my company.
Regards,
Vinodkumar.C
From India, Chennai
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4Can anyone explain in detail about a relieving letter? I have the following questions:
1) Does issuing a relieving letter to an employee have any specific time limit? If so, what is the maximum time limit an employer can take to issue it? My ex-employees say that their new employer is asking for the relieving letter within 21 days from the day they were relieved from my company.
Regards,
Vinodkumar.C
From India, Chennai
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Hello Vinodkumar,
Ideally, the relieving letter should be issued to the resigned associate immediately on his exit. The ideal practice should be to get the F&F settlement done on the last day of the associate's employment with the establishment and relieve him with an F&F settlement copy, relieving letter and/or experience letter (or a combination of both). Since the F&F settlement copy would have the associate's signature (as an acknowledgment), the establishment can pay out the dues to the associate within a couple of days (unless it's a termination case wherein you need to settle his dues immediately). In case the associate has to pay back to the establishment, he could be asked to submit a cheque on the last day of his employment, subsequently followed by the issuance of the required relieving and/or experience letter. This will enable him/her to submit the same to his/her new employer.
But you need to have your HR process in place to get this process completed on time. Moreover, the "Mr/Ms Responsible" (for this activity) would have to be quite proactive and assertive to get the deliverables in time, since it would require a lot of coordination with the different departments/Finance-Accounts/etc. It's an excellent HR practice (since it would speak very highly about the organization's excellence and professionalism) but it has to be driven from the top and that's where the role of the HR Head comes into play.
I know of a few MNCs who religiously follow this standard process, but these are companies with excellent HR policies and practices. However, I have seen many other organizations that either settle your account after a few days or even later to the associate's exit. In most of the Government (both state Govt and central Govt.) organizations, you would find the relieving/settlement process getting done days/weeks later.
Best Regards, A.B.
From India, Mumbai
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Ideally, the relieving letter should be issued to the resigned associate immediately on his exit. The ideal practice should be to get the F&F settlement done on the last day of the associate's employment with the establishment and relieve him with an F&F settlement copy, relieving letter and/or experience letter (or a combination of both). Since the F&F settlement copy would have the associate's signature (as an acknowledgment), the establishment can pay out the dues to the associate within a couple of days (unless it's a termination case wherein you need to settle his dues immediately). In case the associate has to pay back to the establishment, he could be asked to submit a cheque on the last day of his employment, subsequently followed by the issuance of the required relieving and/or experience letter. This will enable him/her to submit the same to his/her new employer.
But you need to have your HR process in place to get this process completed on time. Moreover, the "Mr/Ms Responsible" (for this activity) would have to be quite proactive and assertive to get the deliverables in time, since it would require a lot of coordination with the different departments/Finance-Accounts/etc. It's an excellent HR practice (since it would speak very highly about the organization's excellence and professionalism) but it has to be driven from the top and that's where the role of the HR Head comes into play.
I know of a few MNCs who religiously follow this standard process, but these are companies with excellent HR policies and practices. However, I have seen many other organizations that either settle your account after a few days or even later to the associate's exit. In most of the Government (both state Govt and central Govt.) organizations, you would find the relieving/settlement process getting done days/weeks later.
Best Regards, A.B.
From India, Mumbai
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Thank you very much, "A.B.," for your valuable information. I have one more question. Let's say, as per the NDA signed by an employee, his notice period is 60 days, and his designation was Executive. After a year, he got promoted to Senior Executive. In general, the notice period for Senior Executives in my company is 90 days. His revised compensation letter contains only the revised designation and CTC alone, but no changes or information about the notice period. In that case, what is the actual notice period of that employee? Does the employer have the right to ask the employee to serve a 90-day notice period?
From India, Chennai
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From India, Chennai
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"No," Vinodkumar. All the terms of employment need to be specified whenever there is any change or modification. So, unless you have stated the same in any kind of official letter issued to the associate (and that he has acknowledged it), you cannot compel him to serve a 90-day notice.
If you see, most of the promotion letters would always have a line stating (after the mention of the new designation/reporting/remuneration/etc details) that "All the other terms and conditions of your employment would remain the same as in the appointment letter." And that is where WE, as HR, make a mistake.
If your company has an Official Policy in place which clearly states the notice period for different levels of people, and that all your employees have easy access to them, then you can ideally add a line (in the promotion letter) stating that "All the other terms and conditions of your employment would remain the same as in the appointment letter except for those stated in the company policies, which become applicable in case of promotion/transfer/restructuring/change in designation/level/job location/function/work timings/etc."
Regards, A.B.
From India, Mumbai
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If you see, most of the promotion letters would always have a line stating (after the mention of the new designation/reporting/remuneration/etc details) that "All the other terms and conditions of your employment would remain the same as in the appointment letter." And that is where WE, as HR, make a mistake.
If your company has an Official Policy in place which clearly states the notice period for different levels of people, and that all your employees have easy access to them, then you can ideally add a line (in the promotion letter) stating that "All the other terms and conditions of your employment would remain the same as in the appointment letter except for those stated in the company policies, which become applicable in case of promotion/transfer/restructuring/change in designation/level/job location/function/work timings/etc."
Regards, A.B.
From India, Mumbai
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Appointment Letter to an Employee for fixed period.doc