I was working with a large conglomerate out of Bombay about 4 years back. After seeing no opportunities for growth I decided to leave the company in the month of May. While leaving I was asked to get clearance from all departments on the clearance sheet so that no dues are remaining. That was done and we mutually parted ways.
After two months I received a mail in which all my last working months salary was deducted and I was being asked to pay over 3 Lacs as claim to the company, they have simply mentioned the figure in the F&F without any explanation as to why it is so. Also till the time that due is cleared they will not issue the service cert.
Now I have moved on from then, I did not pay heed to such intimidations and now about 4 years hence, I have applied for a new job from my current company and they require the service certificate from my last to last company as well.
I know legally it is my right to have the service certificate. I want to know two things, since the HR was disagreeing to give me the cert or waive off the pending amt. Is there a way to get them to issue the cert and also since they are not being very clear on why and how they came to this figure, is there any law which states that I will have to pay them this absurd amount.
Also will the statute of limitations (3 years) apply to any claim they may file against me.
I checked some labour law and it said you can only deduct for damages done to company equipment or for notice period not served (I did not serve the 3 month notice period, 15 days) and some other special cases.
"Deductions are permitted from an employee’s wages, but only for specified reasons (eg, on account of fines, deductions for damage to or loss of goods expressly entrusted to the employee and recovery of loans or advances). Deductions are generally permitted only up to 50% of the employee’s wages."
Is this true ???
What legal recourse do I have?? If they refuse to provide the certificate.
