Hi Respected Members,
I have been employed by an IT company based out of Mumbai as a Technical Recruiter. Three days ago, while I was working from home (WFH), they blocked my account, and HR called me and informed me that I have been terminated due to a business decision.
Today, I received the termination email, and an excerpt of that is below:
"As per clauses 5 and 6 of your appointment letter, we regret to inform you that your services from Chenoa have been terminated. An extract of which has been mentioned below.
Clause 5 (extract): The term of this Agreement is “at-will.” Either party may terminate for any reason or no reason, with or without cause.
Clause 6 (extract): “The company may, at its discretion, terminate your services immediately by paying one month’s salary in lieu of the notice period.”
In my opinion, this termination is illegal for the following reasons:
1. They have violated the principles of Natural Justice.
2. I am a workman under section 2(s) of the Industrial Dispute Act 1947.
3. The ID Act 1947 will apply to the company since it is well-settled that an IT company is an industry.
4. The reference to clause 5 of the appointment letter citing an agreement 'at will' and termination for any reason or no reason, with or without cause, is not rational and does not seem to be a legal contract.
Kindly enlighten me with your wisdom on my legal position and the legal remedies available to me.
Thanks,
Rahul
From India, Patna
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I have been employed by an IT company based out of Mumbai as a Technical Recruiter. Three days ago, while I was working from home (WFH), they blocked my account, and HR called me and informed me that I have been terminated due to a business decision.
Today, I received the termination email, and an excerpt of that is below:
"As per clauses 5 and 6 of your appointment letter, we regret to inform you that your services from Chenoa have been terminated. An extract of which has been mentioned below.
Clause 5 (extract): The term of this Agreement is “at-will.” Either party may terminate for any reason or no reason, with or without cause.
Clause 6 (extract): “The company may, at its discretion, terminate your services immediately by paying one month’s salary in lieu of the notice period.”
In my opinion, this termination is illegal for the following reasons:
1. They have violated the principles of Natural Justice.
2. I am a workman under section 2(s) of the Industrial Dispute Act 1947.
3. The ID Act 1947 will apply to the company since it is well-settled that an IT company is an industry.
4. The reference to clause 5 of the appointment letter citing an agreement 'at will' and termination for any reason or no reason, with or without cause, is not rational and does not seem to be a legal contract.
Kindly enlighten me with your wisdom on my legal position and the legal remedies available to me.
Thanks,
Rahul
From India, Patna
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I want to add that I am permanent employee of that company with 1.7 yrs of experience.
From India, Patna
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From India, Patna
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From the facts narrated and the extract of the termination clause in the service agreement, it appears to remind us of the infamous Henry VIII clause. The Supreme Court of India, in the celebrated judgments in Brijonath Ganguly as well as Desh Bandhu Ghosh cases, has firmly held such clauses to be arbitrary and unconstitutional. It appears you have a strong case to challenge the termination.
From India, Mumbai
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1656From India, Mumbai
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Hi KK!HR, Thanks for your valuable inputs. Can you please elaborate how I go about proving that clause 5 is unlawful hence employment contract itself is illegal? I would be grateful to you.
From India, Patna
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From India, Patna
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Kindly refer case laws namr in full so that I can search on indiakannon and read it myself. Thanks.
From India, Patna
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From India, Patna
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The process of proving the illegality of clause 5 is through the Courts of law. You will have to avail the services of a competent advocate practicing in Labour & Service matters and move the Court. I feel you have a good case.
The details of the case law I referred to are given below. These are from the 1980s and your advocate would be able to provide you with many more:
1. CENTRAL INLAND WATER TRANSPORT CORPORATION LTD. & ANR. ETC. Vs. BROJO NATH GANGULY & ANR.
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 06/04/1986, 1986 AIR SC 1571
2. WEST BENGAL STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD & ORS. Vs. DESH BANDHU GHOSH AND ORS.
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 26/02/1985, 1985 AIR SC 722
From India, Mumbai
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The details of the case law I referred to are given below. These are from the 1980s and your advocate would be able to provide you with many more:
1. CENTRAL INLAND WATER TRANSPORT CORPORATION LTD. & ANR. ETC. Vs. BROJO NATH GANGULY & ANR.
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 06/04/1986, 1986 AIR SC 1571
2. WEST BENGAL STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD & ORS. Vs. DESH BANDHU GHOSH AND ORS.
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 26/02/1985, 1985 AIR SC 722
From India, Mumbai
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Hi, good day.
Clause error! That company may correct that in the future.
On what grounds can a company terminate you? Kindly check that reason with a mail or letter format as it acts as proof.
Because the company's point of view matters. If you breach any contract, you can't proceed to the next level.
If you didn't breach any company's policies, then you can lead this case.
Policy errors are highlighted only for policy correction; they won't help you regain employment.
If the company emphasizes strong confidential data and highly secured, strong policies, then the case will be drawn out once again.
From India, Chennai
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Clause error! That company may correct that in the future.
On what grounds can a company terminate you? Kindly check that reason with a mail or letter format as it acts as proof.
Because the company's point of view matters. If you breach any contract, you can't proceed to the next level.
If you didn't breach any company's policies, then you can lead this case.
Policy errors are highlighted only for policy correction; they won't help you regain employment.
If the company emphasizes strong confidential data and highly secured, strong policies, then the case will be drawn out once again.
From India, Chennai
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Hi Azfar,
Thanks for your valuable suggestion. HR called me and informed me that "you are being terminated due to business call." I have documented this and sent them a summary of our discussion, looping in the company CEO, who did not contest it. Please, do not forget that they did not follow the principles of Natural Justice. Terminating a worker will likely result in an "Industrial Dispute." According to sec 25 (F) of the Industrial Dispute Act 1947, before terminating a worker, they must submit an application to the appropriate government and provide a copy to the employee they intend to terminate. Therefore, they have made a mockery of all due process of law and procedures established by law.
They first disabled my account and then called me to coerce me into resigning. In doing so, they have violated article 21 of the Indian Constitution. They cannot simply terminate a worker based on their whims and fancies.
From India, Patna
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Thanks for your valuable suggestion. HR called me and informed me that "you are being terminated due to business call." I have documented this and sent them a summary of our discussion, looping in the company CEO, who did not contest it. Please, do not forget that they did not follow the principles of Natural Justice. Terminating a worker will likely result in an "Industrial Dispute." According to sec 25 (F) of the Industrial Dispute Act 1947, before terminating a worker, they must submit an application to the appropriate government and provide a copy to the employee they intend to terminate. Therefore, they have made a mockery of all due process of law and procedures established by law.
They first disabled my account and then called me to coerce me into resigning. In doing so, they have violated article 21 of the Indian Constitution. They cannot simply terminate a worker based on their whims and fancies.
From India, Patna
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And moreover, Afzar, I don't feel there is any need for me to email the company about the reason for the termination. It's abundantly clear that they didn't want to provide any reason since in the termination email they clearly mentioned that "you are being terminated as per clause 5," and clause 5 clearly mentions termination with or without a reason.
From India, Patna
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From India, Patna
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Termination-emp loyment_563.pdf
Termination letter.doc