Anonymous
Hi.

I was employed with a private firm in a position of 'sales engineer'. I got another opportunity & decided to resign.

I requested to release me in a week's time while submitting resignation over mail.I was even ready to lose a month's salary.

They instructed to handover my current assignments to my colleague but dropped me a mail that my resignation is not accepted, as I fail to comply with the following contractual terms of my appointment letter:
“If you are entrusted with any special assignment you will not be allowed to leave the organization without implementing the same in the company to the satisfaction of the Company”.

However I was trusted with no special assignments & when I countered them, they told they will interpret the same as per their way.

However I served them a notice period of 25days & due to my next-assignment joining date, it might fall short of few days. Hence I requested them to adjust the same with my leaves due,

A day prior to my last employment day, I got a mail from admin that if I don't collect outstanding payments from clients prior to release,they can move to court.
The liability of collection is not restricted to me only & I cannot be held responsible exclusively. I have discontinued with their employment without release letter & final settlement.

My questions are : 1. can they issue legal notice, if so on what grounds & what could be their demand? 2. what could be the aftermath/damage to me?

Looking forward to your prompt responses.

From India, undefined
Section 27 of Indian contract act says that a contract agreement cannot restrict you to join another company, even to a competitor company, breaking that so called contract. Most of the clauses mentioned in the agreement will be not as per Indian contract act.
They may issue you the legal notice. But do not worry about that. They should keep a back up that a company should not depend on the single employee. Employee is bound to leave and join in any company. None can restrict them.
The damages would be they may not provide you the service certificate. But as per the appointment order, you need to pay the 5 days notice period salary, as said you have served 25 days out of 30. And you can demand for the service certificate.
All the best.

From India, Chennai
Anonymous
Thank you so much.
As told, they have dropped me a mail a day prior to my release, that if I don't collect the outstanding payments from clients, they may take necessary legal actions against me. I have not replied to that mail yet, do I need to respond to the same?
And I would like to know what could be their claims/demands in case they sue me a legal notice, & on what ground?

From India, undefined
If it is only your duty to collect dues from your clients, you will be held responsible for not collecting them. However it is understood from your statement that your employer and you are jointly responsible. In this case, you should have completed your part of work.
Regarding bond agreement, none will restrict your future trade, business, employment wherever you choose, whomsoever you choose with.
But the damages the company incurred because of your breaking of bond will be claimed. Such damages will be 5 days notice pay, any other dues if arise, which are legal, in the issue of your client.

From India, Kolkata
Anonymous
I was working as sales & service engineer. We were in trading activities. Supporting front-end sales personnel with price support,quotation,technical support,customer visit etc was my major role.
Collection was definitely a part of my job-profile but other sales & service persons were equally responsible.Yes our company was permitting credit sales as a policy.
There was no bond agreement, I only accepted the appointment letter signing the same.
I am ready to pay for 5 days notice. Please help me understand what you mean by "any other dues if arise, which are legal, in the issue of your client."

From India, undefined
Anonymous
I wish to join the new organization. its already 30days i have resigned. Am i eligible to join? is there any legal non-compliance? please help with your suggestions. I need your advice to get rid of my anxieties.
From India, undefined
Anonymous
I have received a notice from the law firm hired by my ex-employee yesterday. They have claimed that they have never asked me to handover my responsibilities neither the same has been done. Moreover they have told since the outstanding collection was my responsibility, I should join their service else they will sue criminal/civil cases against me. How I should proceed? I will definitely seek a lawyer's advice. But just to do away with my anxiety, I want to know : What could be the damage they can do to me?
From India, undefined
Anonymous
I have replied to the notice that i received from the law firm hired by my ex-employee.

The ex-employee have claimed that I was given to handle special portfolios of clients & the outstanding are due against the invoices raised in line with business transaction with those clients. So collecting the outstanding was my responsibility, hence I should join their service else they will file case to recover the due outstanding (amounting to 3 crores) from me. since in my absence & unavailability of my expertise, these dues may become bad debts.

Please be informed the order booking was approx 16.5Crores plus & there were many people involved on & off from different regional branches & Head Office of the ex-employee.

Also note they have asked us to withdraw my lawyer's reply to their legal notice.. Why they are asking to do so & what is the impact??

How I should proceed?

Please note I was handling general sales & services & the firms to whom credit sales have been extended are all customers of the firm. They are not special portfolios but definitely important customers.The clients will never refuse to pay their dues since all are government PSUs, MNCs & will definitely make payments as per payment terms in purchase orders.

please help..

From India, undefined
Hi,

There is a very important statement here in your post, which is sidelined in the discussion:

"... They instructed to handover my current assignments to my colleague".

Have you done that?

Do you have any record of it? (ISO standards require such responsibility handover minutes as quality records. If your firm is ISO certified, then you must maintain such records).

If you have the record, does it include the list of outstanding collections & their credit limit periods?

Was this record also shared/informed to your supervisor in writing to support your proper handover completion?

If you have not maintained such records & delays have been observed in outstanding collections, then the loss due to this delay (Not the actual due amount) can result in "any other dues" due to your non-fulfillment of duties.

Also, if any sales order loss, due to not timely follow-up in this period (If can be proved due to improper handover), can result in similar dues.

You are now ready for payout for the 5 days missing notice period, but did you try to push a cheque / e-mail to HR with instructions for this deductions, on your last working day (Before you left the job).

It is very important that you have full disclosure with company before leaving & do not wait for threats from HR before showing the reasonability.

On a little different note:

Have you now joined a competitor of your previous employer? Is there a threat to divert their old customers to your new job?

If yes, then the handover & relieving activity records are very vital. A company can go any length to not lose the customers with the leaving sales personal & you may end up damaging your reputation in the new employment & industry, if such is proven.

Before making any hasty decision, please make it certain that you have cleaned your hands from all connections & responsibilities from the previous employment.

Best Regards,

Amod Bobade.


..... Since when does a Sales "Engineer" held responsible for a collection of 16.5 Crores plus rs. amount? I wonder then what the managers are doing??
Their legal notice must be saying "respond within given timeline or...". Now how can they ask to withdraw the response.... What do they expect the person to do exactly then??
Also, if they deny the handover instructions, then that means this is a question of "rejection of resignation". It would be interresting to know from the experts on this forum, what the law says if the resignation is rejected (Is it kind of bonded labour?).
If the employer rejects the resignation, but employee wants to leave; what are steps an employee should take to avoid getting in such scenarios (Records, Payouts, etc).
Thanks in advance experts for your responses.
Best Regards,
Amod.


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