Resignation & related issues
Piyush Jain
(Querist) 28 March 2008
This query is : Resolved
Hi,
My wife was working for a local company here in Bangalore, since last 2 yrs. In the first week of March, she had a strong verbal argument with her senior & top most management. She wanted a temporary reduction in her work hours as she was sick and wanted some load sharing. On this, the management shouted on her & accused her of being irresponsible, not replying to emails and of using company resources for her technical up-gradation. They did not even discussed her main issue. She is very sincere & hard working and was very hurt on these accusations and left the company premises.
I then asked her not to go back and look for another job. However, our mistake was that we did not send a resignation email that time itself.
Three days later, her manager mailed her stating that she is on unauthorized absence and her behavior is again irresponsible. To this, we replied that she is not wiling to join and is resigning. We also clarified on the accusations. This mail was cc'd to HR & Director.
To this, her manager replied that she cannot resign as she is under an agreement. This agreement was signed by her in Apr'07 & commits her to work till Apr'09 with her BE degree as surety and there are no monetary conditions in it.
Also, as per the offer letter, either she has to serve a month notice or payout a month notice pay. We have decided not to claim for the certificates and as her Feb' salary was still not credited, we asked the company to keep that as the notice pay. There had been no reply or response from the management to this email. We have mailed them again & again, but they haven't replied.
Its been three weeks now and they have not credited the Feb salary, so we are assuming that they are keeping it as notice pay.
Now, the top-most management have informed us "unofficially" through one of her colleague that they will follow legal course as she is bound by the agreement, or else we should pay them the money, the company spent on her training and her usage of company resources. They have quoted an exorbitant amount. There is no written agreement of any sort which states that if she leaves, she has to pay for these trainings.
My queries are:
1. The company is not acknowledging or accepting a hard copy of the resignation, So the only resignation proof we have is the email exchange we had with her management. Even in those emails, they have not accepted her resignation. So as per the Indian law, is there a time frame after which it is assumed that her resignation has been accepted?
2. What are the probable legal actions the company can take against her?
3. Is she is still bound by that agreement, even if we are not claiming for the certificates?
4. Are there any financial dues from her side? Can we give a declaration to future employers that she has no financial obligations to this company?
5. The company is not giving her relieving & experience letter (as they are asking for money). Will it matter legally, even if the future employers take her without these documents?
6. How will this affect her TDS, as she did not get paid for Mar'08 & there is no salary credit for Feb'08 also?
Also, if you know of any good company lawyer in bangalore, please provide the contact details.
Thanks,
PJ
Rajendran Nallusamy
(Expert) 17 April 2008
To answer the query in detail the agreement between the company and your wife needs to be looked into. Any as to what sort of training was provided to your wife.
You may contact my friend Sanjay Krishna, Advocate at Bangalore who can guide you through. His Mobile Nos. are 9740012001 and 9844075232. Please tell him that Y.Prakash, Advocate from Chennai referred the case. He will do the needful.
