[manolin]

1) there is no labour law on this. IT employees are not industrial workers; the provisions of those laws are not applicable to them.

2) The terms of notice, notice period, notice period are all contractual in nature; based purely on the terms of the employment contract. The Company does not have any over-riding statutory right- it is just a contractual right- if employee has agreed to the give the company the power to decide his releiving date in his employment contract and is breaking it (by not coming to office even when the company is requiring him to (within the notice period)), he is liable to pay damages (loss caused to the company because of violation of the contractual term by the employee). If the job of the employee is of a personal nature i.e. the job is such that it can be done only by him (in legal books the example generally given is that of a contract for performance for X no. of nights at a theater by a specific singer) then the company can sue for specific performance by the employee (that is the company can ask the court to direct the employee to come to office). However it is a strict test, and the company will have to prove that payment of damages won't be the sufficient relief; it is very unlikely any company will be able to prove this.

hope this helps.

[kadurRacer]

My wife is working for an IT company, where the notice period is 3 months. As the company is in Whitefield and we reside near Meenakshi Temple, Bannerghatta Road, she was in search of a new job near home mainly in Electronic City. (Shifting my home is not an option, it’s our own house)

Now she has landed up with a very good offer from a company in EC but the new employer is not willing to wait more than 45 days.

Agreement with the current employer says that Employee can buy notice period but the final decision lies with the company. We are ready to buy the notice period of 45 days but the current employer is not budging and forcing my wife to serve 3 months’ notice.

She has already put down her resignation and the notice period negotiation is going on. The new employer is not willing to extend the date of joining at any cost. What are the option we have?

[Kool_Kid]

Originally Posted by COUGAR;

Actually there is. And if you actually bothered to read your terms and conditions you would see it. The final call on when to relieve the employee remains that of the employer irrespective of the offer to buyout the notice period. The employee can buyout the notice period IF the company agrees to an earlier relieving date. but the call is of the company. And if you talk to a labour lawyer, he will tell you the same thing.

The terms which you are stated are usually one sided, which says that company can do whatever they want ( even increase the notice period) , however as told to me by my uncle ( high court judge) these if pulled in court will not stand at all.

I can get any one who is desperate for job to sign on any thing ... but if will be null and void in court if the other person can prove that the agreement were one sided .

I just want to inform you that you should not take theses agreement in the literal sense. you might be surprised !!

[kadurRacer]

Originally Posted by Kool_Kid

The terms which you are stated are usually one sided, which says that company can do whatever they want ( even increase the notice period) , however as told to me by my uncle ( high court judge) these if pulled in court will not stand at all.

I can get any one who is desperate for job to sign on any thing ... but if will be null and void in court if the other person can prove that the agreement were one sided .

I just want to inform you that you should not take theses agreement in the literal sense. you might be surprised !!

Does this mean, I can approach the labor court against the current employer and get the judgement in my favor?

[vivekiny2k]

I fail to understand why relatively new and innovative companies have such long notice periods. Do they truly believe the employee is going to deliver for next 3 months at his/her full potential? It's like paying for next 3 months to an unwilling employee for sitting in office and passing time. Here in US 2 weeks is the norm only for knowledge transfer. Laid off workers are sent out with security for the fear of sabotage.

[amitoj]

Most of the big companies in Bangalore have accepted and embraced the 3 month notice period wait. They have even removed the option of a buy out.

[mm403]

In fact in Pune also most of the companies have a 3 month notice period since last year. Not sure how effective this is as the employee is already disconnected

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by kadurRacer

She has already put down her resignation and the notice period negotiation is going on. The new employer is not willing to extend the date of joining at any cost. What are the option we have?

With whom is the negotiation going on? The manager or HR? I had faced a similar issue leaving my first company and realized only later that it was the manager who was playing tricks. Got the HR involved and I was let go after 45 days and buying out the remaining 45.

IMO it is generally the managers who are to be blamed. They try to somehow retain the person thereby saving them potential work of finding and training a new resource. Even on the day I was leaving, the manager told me that I could take back my resignation . Thank god I left that place for good.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by Kool_Kid

The terms which you are stated are usually one sided, which says that company can do whatever they want ( even increase the notice period) , however as told to me by my uncle ( high court judge) these if pulled in court will not stand at all.

This is exactly what I was told by a very senior HR professional when my bro was being hassled for his 3 month notice period.

Frankly speaking, I don't understand this concept of 3 month notice period. Looks like the the so called knowledge companies have colluded to prevent people from looking out.

If an employee has decided to leave, and the company doesn't relieve him, it could be detrimental to the company:
- You can bring a horse to water, but, can't make him drink. What if employee writes code, but of extremely bad quality?
- Spreads negativity, solicits more people to "come along".

From a manager's POV, it is not always possible to have back-ups for all roles (especially those with niche skills). But, once someone has decided to leave, no point in dragging it on. I have seen enough of this industry to say that very few people (if any) are indispensable.

As a manager, it is important to not take someone's decision to quit as a personal injury to your (or your company's) ego: You should've prepared for this. If not, at the very least, cope up with it gracefully!

[ak916]

If you are looking for rules, there arent any. It is a free for all in most places since the manager or HR can execute their own interpretation of the "rule".

Just tell the manager.. "live n let live. my in-laws have threated to lock me out of the house if i dont stop working within 45 days". Funny as it may seem, it works.

AFAIK, there arent any IT jobs that I know of that cant do a KT in 45 days.

[ritz3645]

May I add one cent to this discussion.

Managers/HR/companies tend to retain allmost anyone & everyone, why higher the employee turnover, lesser the stacks, on which bonuses are paid or the cream, in take home salary.

Will some senior person shed more light on this please, especially from big IT ones, please.

[singleton]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

I fail to understand why relatively new and innovative companies have such long notice periods. Do they truly believe the employee is going to deliver for next 3 months at his/her full potential? It's like paying for next 3 months to an unwilling employee for sitting in office and passing time. Here in US 2 weeks is the norm only for knowledge transfer. Laid off workers are sent out with security for the fear of sabotage.

I do not think only "new and innovative" companies do that. Even the MNCs based out of US/Europe who have their operations in India follow different policies in their own turf and in India. One of my friends who work for RBS in India had to let go of an offer from another firm just because RBS didn't budge to let him go before 3 months though he was ready to buy-out his notice period. Think about it - guys who are not happy in the organization most likely have to put down their papers first, wait for a month or 2 and then start looking for jobs??

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by singleton

I do not think only "new and innovative" companies do that. Even the MNCs based out of US/Europe who have their operations in India follow different policies in their own turf and in India.

I meant to say that in older culture it was like this, but it's inexcusable for the "new" companies who place value on actual work being done to have such long notice periods.

I am guessing it has something to do with incentive to stay, because hire and fire is not that easy in India, specially for the company's image.

[reignofchaos]

Any manager with half a brain would not hold back someone who is hell bent on leaving. It just absolutely makes no sense to get someone to do that simply because neither would he be very productive, nor would he care about the work being done. In fact, if he has an axe to grind, he might end up compromising the system with backdoors. These can later be exploited in various nefarious ways. Holding the person back is simply wasting everyone's time.

I also fail to see this reasoning of knowledge transfer. If a project is being done properly, there's no such thing. Everyone in the project should already know what is going on and everything should be documented. If the manager can't get his reportees do this, he's just not fit to be a manager. If a project is documented at every stage with regular code reviews, this knowledge transfer process is redundant.

[kadurRacer]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

With whom is the negotiation going on? The manager or HR

It's not about the manager or the HR. The company as a while has decided to relieve any one even a day before notice period ends. They have made it a policy these days.

A mother of a 2 month's old baby was made to come back from Vizag and work for 8 remaining notice period days and made her sit on bench with no work to do. That's the level they have come down to.

If a company with 25k employees can stoop down to this level, don't understand where we are heading to.

Can I take any legal action?