Illegitimate termination of services
Yuvi
(Querist) 29 July 2011
This query is : Resolved
Dear Experts,
This is a re-post of my query which was initially posted in the month of June 2011.
I am re-posting the query with a simple hope of getting more comprehensive and detailed inputs from the highly learned experts' group of this forum.I would be highly obliged if you find it proper to provide your gracious expert comments on the following matter:
One fine day I, an Area Manager in a Private Life Insurance company whose services have not been confirmed, suddenly got a telephonic intimation from my reporting manager that my services stood terminated with immediate effect. As my appointment letter says “During the probation either party may terminate the service by giving 15 days notice” and “After confirmation of your service, either side may terminate the appointment by giving one-month notice or salary in lieu thereof”; I was shocked with the above mentioned message from my boss. I discussed with him the said clause of my appointment letter but as he was not listening to anything I requested him to provide me a copy of the said termination letter on an immediate basis so that I could discuss the issue with the senior most officials of the organization. But even after my repeated requests I could not be provided a copy of the said letter. I raised the issue to the senior most officials of the organization including The Head-HR, but even then there was absolutely no response from any of the concerned officials. However, afterwards, on one fine day I found my official system ID (Employee ID) as disabled. I again wrote a mail to the senior most managers of the organization intimating them the said development and non receipt of the so called termination letter. I also informed them regarding no-response from the concerned officials on my various related mailers and requested them to look into the entire matter from their side in order to get the same resolved. But again there was absolutely no response from any of the concerned officials. Subsequently, I also forwarded the matter to the Whistleblower committee of the organization and requested for a thorough investigation and resolution of the entire matter. Shockingly, again there was no response from the concerned officials. I kept on writing on an almost daily basis but couldn’t receive any response on my mailers and also couldn’t get any copy of the said termination letter either. When almost 3 weeks were gone since the above mentioned tele-con of my reporting manager and I couldn’t get either the said termination letter or any response from the concerned officials on my various mailers; I wrote a mail to them with the following statements “It is absolutely painful to note that even till now you have not considered it proper to bless me with your kind response on the said matter. Although each of my senior managers concerned, through their various acts in the context of the said matter, have tried in every way to shatter the same; I still have all the confidence in the system of the organization and believe that the whole matter can entirely be resolved 'in-house', without taking the same to the courts of law. Therefore, I once again request you to kindly intervene into the said matter on an immediate basis and arrange for a resolution for the same.” This time the concerned officials came into action and despatched the so-called termination letter. When the said letter was delivered at my place it was found that there was a gap of 22 days between its issuance and despatch. It was evident that either they backdated the said letter or they kept the letter with them after its issuance and still disabled my employee ID and blocked my salary. As the manner in which the concerned officials had acted in the entire matter and the reason stated in the so –called termination letter was entirely objectionable; I again requested, for their kind responses on various specific issues pertaining to the said matter, by sending them another mail. But, again there was no response from the concerned officials. However I continued to send them request mails. After waiting for a few more days, when I didn’t get any response from the concerned officials I requested them to make their stand precisely clear on the entire matter so that I could chart out my future course of action. As a result of this mail of mine I received a couple of communications from the concerned officials stating that they were looking into the matter. Later on, I was instructed to have a telephonic discussion with a senior official of HR dept. I did the same. During the discussion with the said senior official of HR dept, he throughout maintained that nothing wrong was done by any concerned official in the entire matter. He also maintained that there was nothing wrong in the entire process and the said termination was legitimate. Immediately after the said discussion I again wrote a mail to the Whistleblower committee and the senior most managers asking for there comments on the assertions made by the above mentioned official of HR dept and also wanted to know asto whether the said assertions were the official communiqué of the Whistleblower committee/Organization. But again there was no response to my mail. I kept on writing request mails for a related response. After a few days the same official from HR dept. wrote me back stating that whatever was to be said to me had been communicated and also instructed me to not to write any more mails to any company officials. I immediately responded to his that mail and requested him to let me know asto why he was not responding to the various specific issues independently if every thing done in the context was legitimate and correct. I again wrote to the Whistleblower committee and other senior most managers of the organization requesting them to respond on the entire matter. But none of them responded. I kept on requesting all of them, for related responses, by writing mails on an almost daily basis. But the concerned officials didn’t respond. Gradually, in the course, I communicated the entire matter till the level of the MD of the organization and thereafter till the level of Group CEO as well. But none of the concerned officials ever responded. Additionally, I would also like to mention that after asking me to not to write any more mails to any company officials, the organization also started blocking my different personal mail IDs from delivering any mails to it. It has been almost 14 weeks now since I first wrote to the senior most managers of the organization requesting for intervention into/response on/ resolution for the said matter but not even a mere proper response has ever been provided to me.
Approximately a month back a legal notice, on the entire matter, was served to the organization/its concerned officials, through a learned advocate, on my behalf. But the organization/its concerned officials have not yet responded to that notice even.
Therefore I would like to request all the respected experts to kindly help me out in understanding the entire matter from legal point of view. Haven’t I been tortured by the organization/its officials? From law point of view what violations have been committed by the organization/its officials in the entire matter? How should I take the matter forward? Which are the forums I should approach? What relief and remedies I can get?
K.S.Srinivas
(Expert) 29 July 2011
A condition is stipulated in your appointment letter that a non-confirmed employee's services can be terminated by giving 15 days notice and confirmed employee's services can be terminated by giving one month notice or one month's salary in lieu of it. Your service is not yet confirmed that means your service can be terminated by giving 15 days notice. As you said your service is terminated without giving 15 days notice. I sincerely suggest you that in case the company is not interested in your service, you need not bother about it and better you search for another job instead of legal battle against with the company.
Yuvi
(Querist) 29 July 2011
Dear Bansal Sir,
I would be highly obliged if you can elaborate a little more on your kind suggestion.
Thanks & regards.
Guest
(Expert) 30 July 2011
Dear Yuvi,
You case is not simple to enable to get solution on a casual approach through these columns. You need to apprach a services expert immediately along with all documentary evidences pertaining to your appointment, termination, agreement and other correspondence and get systematically start making serious correspondence with your employer. So, you should not waste any time through such queries here, if you are really serious in regaining your employment.
Phonic termination has no validity. Evidently, the company officials may be compelling you to make yourself show absent on record so that they may get the plea of your unauthorised absence to terminate you on account of your misconduct of being on unathorised absence.
