You are in which state?
The HO/redg. office of the company is in which state?
This company is an Industrial or Commercial Establishment?
Does this company have its certified standing orders and does Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act/Model Standing Orders apply to it?
Has this company displayed CSO etc on its notice board and has it circulated/supplied its conduct and service rules, email policy, document policy, secrecy policy etc to employees OR has it kept any such policy in the knowledge domain of the employees?
Gossip and rumor can not be policies and rules………………………..
Employer should not act and behave as a street magician and produce things (read rules/policies) from thin air………………………..
Employee is not a fifth grade school student who shall go to teacher asking for a pee break……………….( ask to keep a copy of the document which is to be signed by him and on top of that which shall bind and or suffocate him and limit his rights)……………
Has the company leveled any charge, issued any memo/show cause notice, conducted any inquiry, provided opportunity to explain/defend, and has it stated the reason for termination in its order of termination?
Have you submitted any reply?
You have posted that:
------“they accepted my resignation, ‘
You must be having copy of the acceptance. This document becomes an imp. document on record.
--------“suddenly one day the management decided to sign on Employee agreement form with all the employees including me.”
What is this agreement: Non disclosure, non compete, service agreement etc……………….?
How many copies of the document were supplied to employees?
How was it supplied: soft copy of hard copy and was it a circular or addressed to individual employee?
What is date on document and within which date or within how much time it was to be submitted back to office or within which date or within how much time the response/reply by the employee was to be submitted to company?
How much time was granted to submit a signed and accepted copy, in writing and by verbal mode in office? Did the line managers/HR asked to submit back on the spot?
Did the company allow sufficient time to study the document, take it out for consultation with elders in the family, legal consultant, trade unions/leaders for opinion to understand the additional/new conditions and its implications and thereafter to negotiate, submit acceptance, partial acceptance, partial or full declinature………………..?
It might have been stated in the appointment letter issued by employer that company can introduce T&C from time to time and new conditions would be applicable and acceptable to employee.
Still it does not mean that employer and its line managers/HR/superior officials will start pushing the documents and conditions down the throat…………………………………
If the employer and its line managers/HR/superior officials, designated as authorized personnel to deal the matter, did not allow to keep a copy for discussion/opinion, or did not allow the document to be taken out for this purpose: it is bad conduct, or for that matter attempt to conceal the document from having subjected to legal scrutiny/opinion from attorney/advisors/trade union of the employee, and even labor officials/lawful authority……………..
It is also intentional and willful attempt to extract forced acceptance……………………………………..within premises of the company.
Another point is that the document which is to be signed by employee
/signed by employee, becomes property of the employee as well, and employee has full authority to posses a copy.
What is wrong if employee was being forced to sign/not allowed to take copy……………………………..and with a genuine intention to defend his rights/obtain consultation employee has taken a copy………………
If company was indulging in extracting an acceptance/without providing a copy to employee or snatching the right to employee to take a copy for consultation, study etc……………….the conduct of company is unlawful, and attempt of employee to take a copy should not be termed violative of any rule/policy/law………………………………………………..
In such a case employee has not indulged in any unlawful activity by taking a copy…………………………
If employee is not allowed to take a printed version/copy, what else an employee can do other than taking a copy on his own in a manner that is possible including taking a snap shot?
The document enforcing some new service conditions and binding the employee with some suffocating conditions, is not containing any information related to defense of the borders of the nation and can not be titled as “Classified”…………………..
The employee who has to sign a document can transmit the document by any means to any agency for an opinion……………………………….like the company can transmit any document transacted between employer and employee to any lawyer/law firm, agency it deems fit.
WHAT I SATED IN THE DOCUMENT THAT THE COMPNAY WANTS TO CONCEAL…………………….ONCE THIS DOCUMENT COMES IN THE DOMAIN AND KNOWLEDGE OF LAWYER/TRADE UNIONS/LAWFUL AUTHORITY/MEDIA/ PUBLIC THE FACTS SHALL BE KNOWN AND CONDUCT OF THE EMPLOYER AND HIS EXECUTORS IN LINE MANAGEMENT/HR SHALL BE KNOWN……………………………….AND THIS MAY BECOME THE DEFENCE OF THE EMPLOYEE AS WELL……………….
Since so many employees are involved and getting affected, al employees should join hands and be witness to each other……………………………………….and all should become member of some trade union.
The trade unions know the precise way on how to deal such matters.
Designation alone does not decide employees is covered as “Workman” as in ID Act……………”Employee” as in (Name of State) Shops and establishments Act………………….
Your lawyer may ask you a set of structured questions and may opine that you are covered by such enactments or you shall have to agitate in a civil court.
It shall be appropriate to approach a competent and experienced labor consultant/service lawyer and also a lawyer specializing in criminal matters………………………………show all documents…………….give inputs in person………………….spend quality time with lawyer………………….understand the merits……………………and proceed expert advise of the lawyer.
Let all communications/representations be now structured and drafted by the lawyer……………………
You may proceed as deemed fit at your end.
Valuable advice of learned experts/members is sought.