I was working as a data analyst in a web marketing company in Bangalore since February 1st 2010. I was the first employee of the company & took care of not just the data analyst job but also the HR & admin related work including interviewing, recruiting, training & payroll. Initially 4 girls were appointed & after a month 1 of them was asked to leave without any notice as my boss felt her performance was not up to the mark. On completion of 2 months another girl was sacked in the same fashion & then 4 guys were sacked on different dates without giving any valid reason. Some of them were fired after a week or 2 of their joining dates for no apparent reason.
On July 5th 2010 i sent my resignation letter to the MD giving 1 months notice as per the contract agreed upon. (The contract requires the employee as well as the employee to give 1 months notice or 1 months’ salary in lieu of notice). The resignation was given on medical grounds since I had severe backache due to a bulge in 2 of my discs. I even produced the MRI scan report. Everything went on well & he accepted the resignation & even told me that I could join back once I recover completely. But on 9th of July I was out for lunch break for an hour (Usually tea breaks are 15 minutes in the morn & evening & lunch break 30 minutes. Since I do not take tea breaks & also because I work overtime sometimes till 8:30 pm(Office timing is 9am to 6pm) & on Sundays without demanding any extra pay, some days (may be thrice in 5 months) i took 1 hour lunch break. This fateful day another employee accompanied me for lunch & when I got back I received a call from the MD saying it was not right on my part to go out for lunch break. I apologised & later that evening I received a mail from him saying that I need not attend office from the next day onwards since I took a one hour lunch break & also because another employee accompanied me.
So I happened to be the 7th employee to be terminated in 5 months. Having worked so hard & sincerely for 5 months & being the first one to reach office & the last one to leave, I cannot condone this kind of practice. He is also refusing to pay me my salary. Am i eligible to salary in lieu of notice period? If so, how do I go about it? I have the employment contract stating the notice period & my employer's mails as proof. Will that suffice incase i need to go legal?
Thanks in advance,
Nishi
