• Alleged misconduct with employers

I am a student of 21 years of age. I was an intern at a company and worked there for 3 months. In the offer letter, it was said that I would be provided with an internship stipend of 10000/month but after going to the company it was said to me that the whole amount will be transferred to me at the end of internship. After working and submitting my reports in the month of July i was informed i will be getting the money by August end. But the same got delayed for some reason. On 6th september (saturday) I had mailed the HR stating that issue again but no reply was provided. Then I asked my family member to call them on Monday to get the reply on the email to which they said they won't be replying on that mail. But soon after the call they have processed the money and have alleged that I misconducted with HR and had malpractice and they have mailed it to my respective college. My college has asked me to send an apology letter. 

Can this be taken legally by them against my family member who made the call? They are saying that they have the recording of the phone call. The call duration was of around 10 minutes and there was no abusive language used. There were two women HRs. After which they called me and threathed me saying that they will take this to the police because the HR was a woman. Can this be considered as harassment? 
The call was only made asking for them to reply to the email and inform us when the stipend will be released. 
Also can my apology be taken in a wrong way?
Asked 3 months ago in Labour

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8 Answers

It was your problem hence it should have been dealt by you only and not by your parents, therefore it was a mistake on your part by asking your parents to talk to the HR.

if you have not get reply from hr then you should have sent a legal notice to them demanding the stipendiary amount.

Of course, without any evidence they cannot take any legal action neither they can approach police because as there is no offence found in the conversation between them,. the police will not entertain the complaint.

You may issue a reply to college stating that there is no act of misconduct from your side hence you are not liable to seek apology to their un found allegations.

In the meantime you may send a legal notice to them demanding your rightful amount with the help of a local lawyer which will certainly make them to act at once either way

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87436 Answers
2348 Consultations

It is just to threaten you 

 

your family members were not abusive 

 

no case of harassment is made out 

 

no harm in tendering apology 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
97242 Answers
7852 Consultations

it is necessary to go through call recordings to advice 

 

even if they have call recordings  you were merely asking for your salary for work done by you 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
97242 Answers
7852 Consultations

When the act is considered as misconduct then you cannot justify it by giving any reason.

However nothing prevents you from taking legal action for recovery.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87436 Answers
2348 Consultations

- Since the offer letter is having clause of 10,000/- per month stipend then the said company is under obligation to pay the same. 

- Further, calling or reply through the email for the refund of the said amount by you or your family members not constitute any offence , and hence the said company cannot take any legal action against you or your family members on this ground alone.

- Further, as the said call was specially for the refund of the stipend and not for any enmity , then it cannot be considered as harassment against the said HR woman. 

- You and your family has legal right to ask for the payment of stipend. No need of worry , she cannot take any legal action. 

- However, you can email to the said company that your & your family members intention was only for asking the residue the stipend amount and not to insult any employee of the company including the HR. 

Mohammed Shahzad
Advocate, Delhi
14641 Answers
224 Consultations

It is a mater of trial if it is filed before court by either party, hence you may fight the case based on merits if at all there is any case filed against you.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
87436 Answers
2348 Consultations

Company should issue notice give you time to submit a reply and give personal hearing before taking any decision 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
97242 Answers
7852 Consultations

Dear Client,

In Indian law, several aspects need to be considered in your situation:About the delayed stipend, the organisation affirmed that, according to the offer letter, you were supposed to be paid ₹10,000 per month. If they agreed to disburse the stipend at the end of the internship but decided to delay it this maybe a clear violation of the contract.

You were entitled to follow up this payment and your attempts to get a reply is warranted in this case. It should also not be considered a violation whether your family member called the HR department demanding the delay in the stipend if he or she conducted such in a polite language without using abusive language.

If in a communication the call was recorded or the content of the communication was not abusive the matter cannot be considered as harassment or misconduct unless it involved threatening or intimidating communication. It is unimaginable that you or your family member is involve in the misconduct that have been alleges. It is usually the duty of such companies to come up with substantial evidence and also investigate before coming up with such allegations.

It has to be shown and cannot be done just by the company’s claims of the other party’s misconduct. If the company is making claims without a proper investigation, then their actions could be prevailed. As for the threats related to involvement of the police, of course, taking into consideration the fact that the HR representative was a woman, this could be considered as an overreaction.

Harassment is behaviour that is not wanted and is likely to result to distress. If the threats where made for no reason and where of a much higher magnitude than the situation is warranted they where a clear attempt at trying to scare the other party into submission rather than legal action. When writing an apology letter, it should be done with a lot of professionalism done of course. It should seek to clear any misconception, and declare your intention to address the issue out of the court. First, the apology has to recognize possible misunderstanding that may exist but deny the wrongdoing if it did not happen

If you think the company’s actions are unjust or probably unlawful, calling a labor lawyer may well enlighten you and assist you on handling any wrongful claims or discharge against you. 

Thank you.I hope the answer is fruitful.

Anik Miu
Advocate, Bangalore
10285 Answers
121 Consultations

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