I was informed that my last working day is January 5, 2024, and I shared a simple email stating it as 5/1/2024. It was a termination, as confirmed by HR. However, they did not provide a termination letter on that day. When I inquired, they mentioned it would be shared, but the timeline remains uncertain. Typically, a termination should be accompanied by a letter outlining the reasons for the termination, correct? A show cause was issued in July 2023. Will the termination letter be provided after the full and final settlement? The termination was attributed to a previous instance of dual employment.
From India, Chennai
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From India, Chennai
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You know the reason for termination. It was your dual employment in the past. Then why should you get a termination letter showing the reason for termination? It is good if the reason is not mentioned because a termination letter with a reason would cause stigma to you and there is no use of it. Just ignore the letter. But ensure that you get a relieving letter which shows that you have been relieved.
Now there is a failure of procedure in your case. You were issued a show cause notice. You should have responded to the notice also. Then what happened? There should be some further communication, like informing you that your dual employment is misconduct and therefore, you are going to be terminated. There should also be a letter informing you of the decision of the appointing authority that your service would be terminated and if you need to give any reply, please show cause why your service should not be terminated. Without these steps, if the HR is terminating you, the termination will not be valid. You can challenge the termination before the appropriate authority. But do you want to defend it? Even if you defend, the authority will only say that there is a procedure lapse and therefore, complete the procedure but will not entertain the decision of termination. The reason for termination should be the concealment of facts and that could be proved. If you move legally, you will again lose your career.
One more thing connected with dual employment is that for any employer, what matters is whether the employee is employable or not. If he is fit for our requirement, nobody would unearth the past. In your case also, the employer had taken more than six months just to see whether you are fit for the organization and the real reason for termination is not dual employment but they do not need you, and for the sake of saying some reasons, they are saying that you have dual employment. If that is the reason, they should have terminated you right in June or July 2023.
From India, Kannur
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4526Now there is a failure of procedure in your case. You were issued a show cause notice. You should have responded to the notice also. Then what happened? There should be some further communication, like informing you that your dual employment is misconduct and therefore, you are going to be terminated. There should also be a letter informing you of the decision of the appointing authority that your service would be terminated and if you need to give any reply, please show cause why your service should not be terminated. Without these steps, if the HR is terminating you, the termination will not be valid. You can challenge the termination before the appropriate authority. But do you want to defend it? Even if you defend, the authority will only say that there is a procedure lapse and therefore, complete the procedure but will not entertain the decision of termination. The reason for termination should be the concealment of facts and that could be proved. If you move legally, you will again lose your career.
One more thing connected with dual employment is that for any employer, what matters is whether the employee is employable or not. If he is fit for our requirement, nobody would unearth the past. In your case also, the employer had taken more than six months just to see whether you are fit for the organization and the real reason for termination is not dual employment but they do not need you, and for the sake of saying some reasons, they are saying that you have dual employment. If that is the reason, they should have terminated you right in June or July 2023.
From India, Kannur
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For the show cause notice issued, I provided a clear explanation that I worked full-time for an educational institution and also gained freelance experience. Since the freelance experience was relevant to the field, I included it as experience, as the company issued an experience letter considering my tenure. I was able to move to the previous three companies with this relevant experience. However, here they denied it, concluding the call by stating that I worked for an organization full-time. (I was unaware that the same UAN number could be used for the current industry as well. I mentioned that my PF was closed, so the company at that time created a new PF account. Recently, I learned that the same UAN should be used.) They seemed okay during the discussion and disconnected the call. They didn't issue any reply after that for the show cause email. My client didn't release me initially in November as they needed me. In December, my manager informed me via WhatsApp that my last day would be January 5. The onboarding manager just sent an email stating that my last working day would be the 5th and asked me to surrender all client materials, which I did. Yesterday, they didn't issue any termination letter or anything. When I asked HR, they said it would be shared. I don't know when.
From India, Chennai
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From India, Chennai
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Should I ask for the exact termination reason?
Should I ask them for the exact termination reason? Will it help? Or will they corner me again? All these things they got to know since someone posted on LinkedIn and some social sites. (That person is from a company that offered freelance work).
From India, Chennai
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Should I ask them for the exact termination reason? Will it help? Or will they corner me again? All these things they got to know since someone posted on LinkedIn and some social sites. (That person is from a company that offered freelance work).
From India, Chennai
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Procedural Lapses and Termination Concerns
It is very clear that there are a lot of procedural lapses on the part of the management. Having more than one UAN is not a serious misconduct on the grounds of which an employee shall be terminated. In many cases, it would be the employer responsible for creating UANs. In your case also, you were ignorant that the same UAN could be used whenever you change employment. An employee having worked in two establishments during the same period before he joined the present establishment cannot be a burden for the employer. That is the case.
Challenging Termination
But how can we fight against it? Termination can be challenged, but why should we challenge the termination? Just to send a message that the employer cannot just terminate an employee. Yes, that is good. But what do we gain? We will get reinstated, but that will be for technical background, that the employer has failed to follow the procedures to be followed before terminating an employee. Obviously, he will again issue a show-cause notice with a charge that you had concealed some facts about your previous employment and asking you to explain why action could not be taken against you. Then you would be stuck.
Alternative Approach
Therefore, I think it is better to leave the issue. As they said, they would issue you a relieving letter in due course. Let us see what is written in it. If required, you can meet the HR person there and ask for a service certificate that does not mention that the service was terminated. You can also offer to resign based on which they can relieve you and issue a service certificate showing that you left the organization at will. Now, if the institution is so adamant that they did mention that your service was terminated, then we should take a call legally.
From India, Kannur
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It is very clear that there are a lot of procedural lapses on the part of the management. Having more than one UAN is not a serious misconduct on the grounds of which an employee shall be terminated. In many cases, it would be the employer responsible for creating UANs. In your case also, you were ignorant that the same UAN could be used whenever you change employment. An employee having worked in two establishments during the same period before he joined the present establishment cannot be a burden for the employer. That is the case.
Challenging Termination
But how can we fight against it? Termination can be challenged, but why should we challenge the termination? Just to send a message that the employer cannot just terminate an employee. Yes, that is good. But what do we gain? We will get reinstated, but that will be for technical background, that the employer has failed to follow the procedures to be followed before terminating an employee. Obviously, he will again issue a show-cause notice with a charge that you had concealed some facts about your previous employment and asking you to explain why action could not be taken against you. Then you would be stuck.
Alternative Approach
Therefore, I think it is better to leave the issue. As they said, they would issue you a relieving letter in due course. Let us see what is written in it. If required, you can meet the HR person there and ask for a service certificate that does not mention that the service was terminated. You can also offer to resign based on which they can relieve you and issue a service certificate showing that you left the organization at will. Now, if the institution is so adamant that they did mention that your service was terminated, then we should take a call legally.
From India, Kannur
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Termination from Employment.pdf