• Can my company force me to serve full notice period of 90 days

"The contract of employment can be terminated by either party by giving three months' notice in writing, subject however to the Company's right to pay basic salary in lieu thereof"
Above statement was written in the offer letter given to me. I have resigned on 09-Aug-2019 and I want to be released early. Also I am not in any project right now. I am on bench. But my company says I have to serve 3 months no matter what. Also they said there is no buy out option. What should I do? Can you please tell me the meaning of above statement.
Thank you.
Asked 6 years ago in Labour

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15 Answers

You can buy the notice period by paying the basic and waive the same

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
34721 Answers
250 Consultations

If the company terminates you without the notice period, then it can offer you 3 months salary as compensation. However the same does not apply to you.

which means you have to serve the mandatory 3 months notice period and there is no buy out available to you.

Kiran N. Murthy
Advocate, Bangalore
1298 Answers
194 Consultations

You can ask company as they have rights as per offer letter.

 

And on medical ground you have rights to take bed rest at home as per law.

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
13008 Answers
267 Consultations

Well, since there is a written stipulations as regards the terms of the employment both the employer and the eployee is bound by it.

In terms of the said job contract quitting or terminating the job is subject of 3 months advance notice.

Now since you have joined only in this month, you can not leave the job before the month of September, 2019.

Now if this would ruin your career then you can very well resign the job though the company may not accept your resignation.

 

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
23663 Answers
538 Consultations

3 months notice in writing. This clause has to be honoured. You have to be there for 3 months and serve the period even though you may not be working. The company can release you though. 

Regards 

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14114 Answers
65 Consultations

In simple terms no one can force you to do job for anyone. 

All you legally liable is to pay up for the Unserved period if any. 

Employment relationship ends instantly upon your submission of resignation letter. It must be received by them. You should not have any property or key documents of your employer  with you. 

Do not confuse it with relieving order which is no way related to employment relationship. It only discharge you from any sort of liabilities to your employer. 

Further note that you can join new job just upon tendering your resignation duly received by your employer. It does not require to be approved by your employer because it is an unilateral act on part of an employee. 

Kallol Majumdar
Advocate, Kolkata
2837 Answers
14 Consultations

It is at discretion of company to waive the notice period 

 

you cannot offer to pay salary in lieu of notice period 

 

you have to serve  the  notice period 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
100050 Answers
8169 Consultations

If there is clause of serving 90 days notice period before termination of service then you have to serve the notice period as per your contract. 

But If you want to leave early you can send them a notice for early relieving as they cannot force you to work for them if you don't wish to.

The buyout option is that you can pay the basic salary of remaining notice period and leave early.

Mohit Kapoor
Advocate, Rohtak
10686 Answers
7 Consultations

1. As per the appointment order reproduced by you,  you are entitled to get relieved from the company immediately by paying 3 months' salary to the management.

2.  However, the management is now saying that there is no buyout option, which is contrary to the clause in your appointment order.

3.  The meaning of this statement by the management is that the management is not honouring it's own clause/commitment of the appointment order by denying the payout option which was hitherto available to you, as per the clause in the appointment order.

4. This unilateral decision of management is against the Labour Laws.

5.  Complain against the management to the jurisdictional Labour Officer.

5.  Send a legal notice to the management, to honour its own clause as stated in its appointment order.

 

 

Shashidhar S. Sastry
Advocate, Bangalore
5641 Answers
339 Consultations

You are bound to obey the terms agreed in appointment order, company policies and procedures.As notice period is something which both the parties are agreed, a change in that also should be agreed by both the parties. One party can not take a decision and say the other to agree. 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19384 Answers
32 Consultations

See as per the agreement you have to serve the full term of the notice period, In meaning of the above written term both the parties have to give 3 month notice and only company can release immediately by paying 3 month basic salary. 

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25513 Answers
179 Consultations

Dear Sir,

They cannot you to force but they may refrain to release 3 months salary.

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While granting liquidated damages under the employment bond, Courts apart from going into the legal injury caused to the employer also take into consideration factors like actual loss suffered by the employer, period of service already completed by the employee under the contract and other conditions, if any, stipulated under the contract. Only after going into these factors, courts determine the loss suffered by the employer to reach a reasonable compensation figure. For instance, in the case of Sicpa India Limited vs Shri Manas Pratim Deb (MANU/DE/6554/2011), the employer incurred expenses, while imparting training to the employee for which an employment bond was executed. According to the bond, the employee was to serve the employer for period of three years or to make payment of rupees two lakhs to the employer. The employee left the employment within two year of signing the bond. To enforce the agreement the employer went to the court, which awarded sum of only Rs 22,532 to the employer as against the compensation amount of Rupess two lakhs stipulated in the contract. While coming to such conclusion, the Court relied upon the law laid down by Supreme Court regarding liquidated damages. The law with respect to liquidated damages have been crystallized by the Supreme Court vide two landmark decisions. First is the decision in case of Sir Chunilal V. Mehta And Sons, Ltd vs The Century Spinning (1962 AIR 1314), wherein it was held that liquidated damages are not in the nature of penalty and can be awarded as mentioned in the contract if loss from the breach of contract cannot be calculated for the remaining period of the contract. Whereas, in the case of Fateh Chand vs. Balkishan Das (AIR 1963 SC 1405), the provision of liquidated damages in the nature of penalty was held to be void, since the actual damages could be calculated and, thus the liquidated damages were held as the upper limit which are to be paid once the actual damages are proved. Since in the present case the damages could be calculated, Court considered the total expenses borne by the employer and the period of service completed by the employee under the contract and thus, divided the total expenses incurred into three parts for three years and awarded the damages for the remaining one year of the employment due to the breach of contract.

Therefore, from the above discussion, it is evident that employment bond stipulating a specified sum as payable by the employee in case of breach of contract is enforceable only if employer has actually spent money on the employee against a promise from the employee that he or she would not leave the employment for the specified duration and has consequently suffered a loss on account of the employee having received the training and leaving the employment before the stipulated period in breach of the employment bond / contract. With the employees in our country free to decide their employment these bonds play an important role to protect the interest of the employer and enable the employer, in appropriate circumstances, to recover the money spent or incurred by the employer in case of an early resignation by the employee.

 

Kishan Dutt Kalaskar
Advocate, Bangalore
6249 Answers
502 Consultations

Hi

It is company's discretion.

Bu out option means your prospective employer will pay the salary in lieu of your relieving early.

However, you may raise an objection against the company for its insistence.

 

S Srinivasa Prasad
Advocate, Hyderabad
2876 Answers
9 Consultations

The clause has sufficient ingredients so if you wants to serve the full period then serve otherwise drop a mail conditioning that I will serve such and such period and rest of the period I would not be able to serve so buy back the same if they hesitate or harass you then immediately file a complaint with the labour department for harassment under ULP.

Second one is serve half of the period and for rest of the negotiate with them and after that drop a mail that I have no work with me as I have completed all the projects or work pending so may kindly be relieved and don't go and after that if they don't settle F & F then file a complaint.

Koshal Kumar Vatsa
Advocate, Gurgaon
2282 Answers
3 Consultations

You can issue a legal notice to the company citing the law under reference in the form of conditions in the employment offer letter and seek relieving letter at the earliest based on your resignation letter and to settle your F&F simultaneously.

 

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
90253 Answers
2509 Consultations

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