You and redg. office of the company are in which state?
What is this establishment: Commercial or Industrial?
How many employees does it have?
What is your designation and nature of duties?
Does the establishment have its Certified Standing Orders (CSO) and has it extended it to your designation?
Is the act charged in termination order listed amongst misconducts in standing orders or service rules or conduct and discipline rules or service codes and regulations or HR policy etc?
The service certificate showing basic information e.g. tenure of service, designation, location etc and should be issued.
Upon receipt of the notice company should have supplied the acknowledgment of notice of resignation and its response on acceptance of resignation or non acceptance and exit guidelines, handover of charge and other formalities to be completed by employee.
In today’s market scenario all employers are aware about style and manner of terminations being effected.
You may apply all of your resources and convince the consultants and interviewers about the bad decision of termination and convince them and firm up the next venture.
Since the charge and termination can affect your future prospects therefore it shall be appropriate to approach a labor consultant/service lawyer in person and show the job advertisement, job application, interview call letter, appointment letter, standing orders (Certified/Model) applicable to the establishment and extended to your designation, service rules, conduct and discipline rules, service codes and regulations, HR policy etc and give inputs in person and understand the merits and proceed under the expert advice of your lawyer to contest the termination order and demand to call it back.
Employee should always remain vigilant and should also know how to behave during notice period.
At such moment employee should not panic, should organize all the evidence and record and provide inputs to his lawyer.
Employee should look for other avenues that might be available to generate funds and must attempt to settle an enterprise that may come handy in future.
Employee may utilize the time to add to his qualification.
You have posted that:
-----“ After few days, the organization has sent me termination letter via Legal Department ‘
It can issue if it is authorized to issue and sign order of termination, by board of the company.
If it is not authorized then it can not.
------“ the organization has sent me termination letter via Legal Department on the grounds of Information leakage to Competition on the basis that I was talking to other colleagues on the opportunities that directly are not under my business domain.”
These colleagues referred by you are within the same company?
The charge stated in termination order is to be understood properly.
Did the company serve any show cause notice before termination and allow fair opportunity of hearing and natural justice?
The right to hearing is a fundamental right (audi alteram partem). Under law, no person can be accused of anything without giving him proper opportunity of being heard.
In the court the legal advisor and employer shall have to establish what good interest of the organization was served, what are the compelling reasons for not having conducted the domestic inquiry and what the leading evidence is and how come it is misconduct?
The onus of litigation has already been shifted on you.
------“ the organization has sent me termination letter”
The termination is issued citing a charge/misconduct.........................hence company won’t agree to issue relieving letter easily citing some stupid internal policy.
Although the service certificate showing basic information e.g. tenure of service, designation, location etc should be issued.
Since it is created as a case of misconduct it won’t agree to tender notice pay as well.
The order of termination and misconduct shall remain in your personnel file and it shall be consulted during reference check..........................................and it can adversely affect you.
-------“ They had not given any acknowlegement to my resignation mail nor are they giving me relieving certificate thus enabling me to join another organization.”
Do you have the copy of the resignation mail?
------“the organization has sent me termination letter via Legal Department on the grounds of Information leakage to Competition...........................................”
Has it been stated in explicit terms in any of the rules and policies of the company that employee can not talk to colleagues in same company on matters that are not his business domain?
Is the allegation true and does the company have an evidence?
Can you establish that you have not leaked any information?
It is normal that when an employee resigns and joins another company the peers and colleagues discuss.
It is also known that abnormal, nosy, zealous, vindictive personnel in line management, HR etc pounce and perceive it as that other employees may also flock with employee that has resigned.
As the termination order has been issued by legal cell therefore the employer has sought the legal advice and legal advisor seems to have rendered a legal advice ( It should be a sound and valid legal advice) validating the charge and termination due to the charge and has issued the termination order.
Your lawyer may opine that has company has leveled a charge and thus this order may be stigmatic in nature.
If legal advisor has leveled a charge then before leveling the charge the legal advisor must have related it with list of misconducts in standing orders, rules and regulations, and should have granted an opportunity of hearing and should have lead the evidence and should have proved the charge.
Did you accept the charge in writing and did you tender any apology?
You may demand to supply you the copy of all notes of legal advice in this case and notes and flow of interactions between employer and legal advisor validating the charge and termination order.
You must demand to allow you to examine your personnel file and seek an appointment for it.
Your lawyer may opine that legal advisor can be charged by name.
Your labor consultant/service lawyer-law firm that has examined all of your docs and inputs can advice you the best.
