An employer cannot compel an employee, who has resigned, to serve the entire notice period when he is willing to compensate the company, the Bombay high court has ruled.
Vivek Phadnis (name changed) and his colleague (name withheld) can finally bid adieu to their long-time employer Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) and proceed to their new jobs after buying out their notice period.
The court directed the RCF to accept the buying out amount paid by the two and let them to take up their new jobs.
Both employees had better-paying job offers from Qatar and offered to pay the salaries for their notice period. However, they were in a fix after the company insisted that they serve the full three-month notice period. Delaying their move to Qatar would have cost them their new job. They then decided to move court against their erstwhile employer.
Advocates for the duo, Jamshed Mistry and Amit Karkhanis, contended that denying their client the opportunity for a better job amounted to violation of his fundamental right.
The RCF, on the other hand, had taken a stand that being a government undertaking it was in public interest that Phadnis serves his entire notice period allowing the company the time to find a replacement.
However, even at a prior hearing, the court had observed that the RCF, a government undertaking, was “doing something very wrong”.
