Full and final settlement after resigning

>>> For a proper response, While initiating such queries the querist should post the basic information e.g;



You may post the exact extract from appointment letter on termination/resignation.
 

What is your designation  and nature of duties in offer/appointment letter and on record/ in practise? Did you have any power to sanction (not just recommend) leave/increment/appoint/terminate? Could anyone cancell/amend your recommendations?


You were in which state (noted; Gurgaon) ?


What is this establishment; Commercial/Industrial.

Does it have Certified/Model standing orders and does it apply to your designation?

Are you a member of employees/trade unions?


What was your last drawn salary.

You were under probation/confirmed?

What is the notice period mentioned in appointment letter?

Do you have acknowledgment of notice of resignation and its POD?

Did they state it in writing:'In my exit interview they promised to do so and now they refuse'?

Do you have copy of exit interview and notification dated;  17 or 18 Feb?

Did you tender final resignation? Did you write to appointing authority/MD etc that on dated................Mr/Ms..................stated that...................(In my exit interview they promised to do so and now they refuse.)?

Do you have salary slips of all months, last month,PF a/c slip of each year, Form16, FnF statement?

Do you have it in writing;'My appraiasal cycle was Jan 2015-Jan 2016. They always delay their appraisal and payment process else it should have been paid on 1 feb'?

Has employer supplied anything to you in writng, till date?

Did you record the calls etc?

What was the max. number of employees this company had any point of time?

Just to add :

I have no clause of notice period in my appointment letter but they asked me to serve 2 months though I served only 6 days notice. I haven't been paid for Feb 1- Feb 16th, 2016.

Also, they have asked me to pay for 1 month notice and 1 month has been waived off by my manager. I was working with a commercial unit with more than 1700 employees. Though, I never signed any document which says that they have 2 months notice period or so. Sadly, I don't have any recordings or any written communication which says that they will pay my bonus. But, it was mentioned on my last appraisal letter that is Rs 37,000 (performance based)  and that my aprraisal cycle is January. 

I was a good performer for the year as I have written printed appraisal notes by my manager too. 

PS :

Can I claim my bonus sum ? Secondly, should I pay them for short notice though I haven't signed any document which states that I have to serve 2 month notice at resigining.

Naina 

For a proper response, reply pointwise to all points.

You iuuse shall be addressed.

Is there any hitch in replying?

What is your designation  and nature of duties in offer/appointment letter and on record/ in practise? Did you have any power to sanction (not just recommend) leave/increment/appoint/terminate? Could anyone cancell/amend your recommendations?

Worked as a Sr marketing associate 

You were in which state (noted; Gurgaon) ?

Gurgaon

What is this establishment; Commercial/Industrial.

Commercial / MNC

Does it have Certified/Model standing orders and does it apply to your designation?

Not sure

Are you a member of employees/trade unions?

NO

What was your last drawn salary.

27k

You were under probation/confirmed?

Confirmed

What is the notice period mentioned in appointment letter?

No, notice period was mentioned on appointment letter but was still asked to serve notice of 2 months out of which 1 month was waived off and they asked me to pay for the short notice too that is 24 days as i served for 6 days only.

Do you have acknowledgment of notice of resignation and its POD?

Yes, I have a mail & I have relieving letter from company. POD ? Not sure what it means

Did they state it in writing:'In my exit interview they promised to do so and now they refuse'?

It was a verbal conversation

Do you have copy of exit interview and notification dated;  17 or 18 Feb?

No as exit interviews are verbal. I have a copy of mail in which I paid them 9,900 for short notice.

Did you tender final resignation? Did you write to appointing authority/MD etc that on dated................Mr/Ms..................stated that...................(In my exit interview they promised to do so and now they refuse.)?

Yes, I wrote a mail to which my HR VP doesnt responded. But, senior HR did and she said we have change in policies. SO, we have decided not to pay.

Do you have salary slips of all months, last month,PF a/c slip of each year, Form16, FnF statement?

Yes. I don't have FnF as it is under disputes due to bonus and notice,

Do you have it in writing;'My appraiasal cycle was Jan 2015-Jan 2016. They always delay their appraisal and payment process else it should have been paid on 1 feb'?

I have in writing that my appraial cycle is JAn 2015- Jan 2016.

Has employer supplied anything to you in writng, till date?

I have email conversations

Did you record the calls etc?

No

What was the max. number of employees this company had any point of time?

1500

Thanks a lot for your help.

You have not replied to all points.

Pls reply to leftover points.

You have not posted relevant clauses from appointment letter.

POD is Proof of Delivery.

Inquire and confirm about standing orders (Model /Certified). Employer should display ata conspicious place e.g. notice board and supply certified copy to employee even if against a cost say Rs10/. Employee can approach Certitfying Officer e.g DLC at location of Redg. Office of the company and ask for certified copy  even if against a cost say Rs3/page.

If there is no condition of notice period/pay then you may cite the relevant clause and caim that NO Notice period/pay was applicable and hence no notice pay should have been levied.

The employer might have inserted in appointment letter that...................the service rules/conditions as amended from time to shall apply' etc

However such service rules/conditions shall kept in employee domain and circulated to employee for acceptance.

Employer should not behave as Street Magician and produce things from thin air.

Gossip, rumor, hearsay is not rules, policy, law.

What is its line of business; say IT, banking?

Did they ask you tomserve notice period of 60days, tender notice pay Rs.9900/ in advance, issue its receipt, waived off notice period of 30days,  in writing? {"No, notice period was mentioned on appointment letter but was still asked to serve notice of 2 months out of which 1 month was waived off and they asked me to pay for the short notice too that is 24 days as i served for 6 days only."}

Did they write to you that your salary for period is withheld? Earned wages/FnF wages shuld be paid on LWD, say within next 3days or max. by usual payday.

You may demand to supply FnF statement shwoing earned wages/leave encashment/bonus/OT/incentives/reimbursments etc and adjustiment of notice pay of Rs.9900/ ( Must) and final amounts payable................salary slips of all months, last month,PF a/c slip of each year, Form16, NOC/NDC, acknowledgment of handover of charge/assets, service certificate, acknowledgment and acceptance of notice/final resignation, acceptance of resignation,...........................etc

Once you have everything and FnF statement, decline to accept it due to errors, point bout the errors and demand to refund notice pay, and pay bonus. 

Don't remain entangled with HR and escalalte to good offices of appointing authorit,MD (under proepr acknowledgment) and exhaust the internal remedies, and mention that you have contributed..................highlight achievements, awards/rewards, and you have never been accused of any misconduct, and no SCN was ever issued....................and request to provide relief, say within next 3 days.

Better to be member of employee's/trade unions.

You have not replied to all points.

Pls reply to leftover points.

You have not posted relevant clauses from appointment letter.

POD is Proof of Delivery - I have relieving letter from the company.

Inquire and confirm about standing orders (Model /Certified). Employer should display ata conspicious place e.g. notice board and supply certified copy to employee even if against a cost say Rs10/. Employee can approach Certitfying Officer e.g DLC at location of Redg. Office of the company and ask for certified copy  even if against a cost say Rs3/page.

I didn't get it. What standing orders here means ?

If there is no condition of notice period/pay then you may cite the relevant clause and caim that NO Notice period/pay was applicable and hence no notice pay should have been levied.

I have said that already.

The employer might have inserted in appointment letter that...................the service rules/conditions as amended from time to shall apply' etc

However such service rules/conditions shall kept in employee domain and circulated to employee for acceptance.

Employer should not behave as Street Magician and produce things from thin air.

Gossip, rumor, hearsay is not rules, policy, law.

What is its line of business; say IT, banking?

IT / SAAS Company

Did they ask you to serve notice period of 60days, tender notice pay Rs.9900/ in advance, issue its receipt, waived off notice period of 30days,  in writing?

Yes, I have a mail for same in which they have sent me the break up stating how much I have to pay in order to get relieving letter.

{"No, notice period was mentioned on appointment letter but was still asked to serve notice of 2 months out of which 1 month was waived off and they asked me to pay for the short notice too that is 24 days as i served for 6 days only."}

Did they write to you that your salary for period is withheld? Earned wages/FnF wages shuld be paid on LWD, say within next 3days or max. by usual payday.

Yes, it is written salary will be docked.

You may demand to supply FnF statement shwoing earned wages/leave encashment/bonus/OT/incentives/reimbursments etc and adjustiment of notice pay of Rs.9900/ ( Must) and final amounts payable................salary slips of all months, last month,PF a/c slip of each year, Form16, NOC/NDC, acknowledgment of handover of charge/assets, service certificate, acknowledgment and acceptance of notice/final resignation, acceptance of resignation,...........................etc

Once you have everything and FnF statement, decline to accept it due to errors, point bout the errors and demand to refund notice pay, and pay bonus. 

Don't remain entangled with HR and escalalte to good offices of appointing authorit,MD (under proepr acknowledgment) and exhaust the internal remedies, and mention that you have contributed..................highlight achievements, awards/rewards, and you have never been accused of any misconduct, and no SCN was ever issued....................and request to provide relief, say within next 3 days.

Better to be member of employee's/trade unions. - There are not any.

What legal action can i take to get my bonus and to get relief from paying the notice amount ?

I have been trying to solve this issue from past 2 months. They do not revert to my mails. They have straightaway denied to pay bonus and have asked me to pay certain sum as a part of short notice served to get my experience letter and FnF done. Else, they will hold the documents.I have already tried talking to VP's in the company. They do not revert back.

1. You have not replied to all points.Pls reply to leftover points, e.g;

"What is your designation  and nature of duties in offer/appointment letter and on record/ in practise? Did you have any power to sanction (not just recommend) leave/increment/appoint/terminate? Could anyone cancell/amend your recommendations?"

Your reply is required for further response.

You might be covered by the def. of 'Workman','Employee'

2. You have posted that it is:  'IT / SAAS Company'!

You have not elaborated what is SAAS compnay.

IT companies are covered by the Shops & Estbs Act.

Harayna follows: The Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act  

https://hrylabour.gov.in/docs/labourActpdfdocs/The_Punjab_Shops_and_Commercial_Establishments_Act_and_Rules.pdf

You may go thru:2(iv) (vi) (vii), 3,16,17,20,23

You may also go thru:

THE PUNJAB SHOPS AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS RULES, 1958

If you are covered by the def. of 'Employee' in the Act then its provisin shall prevail upon appointment letter.

The Max. Notice period is 30 days.

3. "I didn't get it. What standing orders here means ?"

"You were under probation/confirmed?  Confirmed"

These are service conditions that NO employer can violate. These shall prevail upon any private agreement that employer has drafted and signed with employee e.g; appointment letter, contract of employment, HR policy etc

The Max. Notice period is 30 days, if Model Standing Orders apply.

If certified standing orders apply, then look into these. 

Your HR is shrewd and has redcuced the notice period to 30days.

However you may still continue to press clause from appointment letter that NO Notice Period is applicable.

4. "What was your last drawn salary.27k"

You may check the Break up and post it.

5. "Did they write to you that your salary for period is withheld? Earned wages/FnF wages shuld be paid on LWD, say within next 3days or max. by usual payday. Yes, it is written salary will be docked."

Earned wages have to be paid by the usual pay day or employer can be penalized.

Did they however supply the salary slip of Feb in time?

6. "Better to be member of employee's/trade unions. - There are not any."

You are wrong.

There are.

There are many.

There are even IT/ITeS female employees unions.

The unions have even affillaited with trade Unions.

7. "Yes, I have a mail for same in which they have sent me the break up stating how much I have to pay in order to get relieving letter."

The earned wages for 16 days of Feb was app. Rs.13500/.

The notice pay as per unproved claim (as per your post) of the company was Rs.9900/ 

Hence by common sense also, compnay should not made any such condition and ( minor fraud/blackmailing) and must have adjusted notice pay and released FnF statement and paid  Rs.3600/

Have they made a comment about perfromance/conduct in relieving letter?

You should have got a positive comment.

Have they issued 'Service Certificate'?

8. "Don't remain entangled with HR and escalalte to good offices of appointing authorit,MD (under proepr acknowledgment) and exhaust the internal remedies, and mention that you have contributed..................highlight achievements, awards/rewards, and you have never been accused of any misconduct, and no SCN was ever issued....................and request to provide relief, say within next 3 days.'

Have you written to good offices of appointing authorit,MD (under proepr acknowledgment)/

 Have you consulted an able counsel specialzing in labor-service matter? What is your counsels opinion?

Pfa:

The Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act 

THE PUNJAB SHOPS AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS RULES, 1958

If you have any document to show that you were entitled to bonus, then you can claim it. First you can claim it through a letter/ legal notice. If it is not paid, then you can file a case for such recovery. 

Regarding the illegal claim of notice pay, if you did not have any clause of notice period in your appointment letter, then you are not required to servce the notice period. 

However, you can cosult a lawyer dealing with labour matter and give a proper/ well drafted reply claiming the bonus as well as denying the payment for notice period.

You have not posted relevant clauses from appointment letter.

If conducive you may attach th copy of appointment letter.

You may erase the names etc to maintain confidentiality.

Just to add: 

The appoinment letter says that it is "discretionary variable bonus" dependent on your and company's performance? It is a part of my Total fixed compensation. Still can i claim it or is there a catch in this statement too?

Another query, how much time does case filing and legal procedure in such cases takes?

Awaiting for a revert. Thanks

1. You have not replied to all points.Pls reply to leftover points, e.g;

"What is your designation  and nature of duties in offer/appointment letter and on record/ in practise? Did you have any power to sanction (not just recommend) leave/increment/appoint/terminate? Could anyone cancell/amend your recommendations?"

No power to saction. No one can cancel amend my recommendations.

You might be covered by the def. of 'Workman','Employee'

2. You have posted that it is:  'IT / SAAS Company'!

SAAS- software as a service company

IT companies are covered by the Shops & Estbs Act.

Harayna follows: The Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act  

https://hrylabour.gov.in/docs/labourActpdfdocs/The_Punjab_Shops_and_Commercial_Establishments_Act_and_Rules.pdf

You may go thru:2(iv) (vi) (vii), 3,16,17,20,23

You may also go thru:

THE PUNJAB SHOPS AND COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS RULES, 1958

If you are covered by the def. of 'Employee' in the Act then its provisin shall prevail upon appointment letter.

The Max. Notice period is 30 days.

3. "I didn't get it. What standing orders here means ?"

"You were under probation/confirmed?  

I was a Full time employee

"These are service conditions that NO employer can violate. These shall prevail upon any private agreement that employer has drafted and signed with employee e.g; appointment letter, contract of employment, HR policy etc

The Max. Notice period is 30 days, if Model Standing Orders apply.

If certified standing orders apply, then look into these. 

Your HR is shrewd and has redcuced the notice period to 30days.

However you may still continue to press clause from appointment letter that NO Notice Period is applicable.

4. "What was your last drawn salary.27k"

You may check the Break up and post it.

5. "Did they write to you that your salary for period is withheld? Earned wages/FnF wages shuld be paid on LWD, say within next 3days or max. by usual payday. 

Yes, it is written salary will be docked for 16 days. They took 9,900 for 8 days from me which includes three days leaves deduction too. 7200 +2700. Now they are demanding from me for rest of the days and two days leaves deduction more. 

Earned wages have to be paid by the usual pay day or employer can be penalized.

Did they however supply the salary slip of Feb in time?

Not yet received. 

6. "Better to be member of employee's/trade unions. - There are not any."

I wasn't aware.

You are wrong.

There are.

There are many.

There are even IT/ITeS female employees unions.

The unions have even affillaited with trade Unions.

7. "Yes, I have a mail for same in which they have sent me the break up stating how much I have to pay in order to get relieving letter."

The earned wages for 16 days of Feb was app. Rs.13500/.

The notice pay as per unproved claim (as per your post) of the company was Rs.9900/ 

Hence by common sense also, compnay should not made any such condition and ( minor fraud/blackmailing) and must have adjusted notice pay and released FnF statement and paid  Rs.3600/

Have they made a comment about perfromance/conduct in relieving letter?

You should have got a positive comment.

Have they issued 'Service Certificate'?

No not yet. They will hold it as said by them if I don't pay them the money. 

8. "Don't remain entangled with HR and escalalte to good offices of appointing authorit,MD (under proepr acknowledgment) and exhaust the internal remedies, and mention that you have contributed..................highlight achievements, awards/rewards, and you have never been accused of any misconduct, and no SCN was ever issued....................and request to provide relief, say within next 3 days.'

Have you written to good offices of appointing authorit,MD (under proepr acknowledgment)/

No, I am not aware. Good office of appointing authorit. Please elaborate.

 Have you consulted an able counsel specialzing in labor-service matter? What is your counsels opinion?

It is felt that querist has changed the name.

You may demand to supply FnF statement showing earned wages/leave encashment/bonus/OT/incentives/reimbursments etc and adjustiment of notice pay of Rs.9900/ ( Must) and final amounts payable................salary slips of all months, last month-Febyrary,PF a/c slip of each year, Form16, NOC/NDC, acknowledgment of handover of charge/assets, service certificate, acknowledgment and acceptance of notice/final resignation, acceptance of resignation,...........................etc

The amounts mentioned in CTC ( annual/montly pay package)  are promised amounts.

Pefromance bonus is like wages fruit of labor.

Good offices means person that has signed appointment letter,and mD is Managing Director.

Engage an able counsel specialzing in labor-service matters and let your counsel now draft your communications. 

Originally posted by : Pia Sharma
	Just to add:  The appoinment letter says that it is "discretionary variable bonus" dependent on your and company's performance? It is a part of my Total fixed compensation. Still can i claim it or is there a catch in this statement too?   Another query, how much time does case filing and legal procedure in such cases takes? Awaiting for a revert. Thanks

It seems you are entitled to variable bonus based on performance and it is not per Bonus Act. If it is the case, then you cannot claim it as your right until and unless there was some extra performance/ achievement by you for which bonus was announced.

It is very difficult to tell a time frame. Depending from situation and also the capablity of your opponent, a case can run for 3-5 years in a lower court.