When employees are fired for unlawful reasons, this is referred to as wrongful termination. Wrongful termination occurs when an employee is fired for a variety of reasons, including:
- Discrimination based on race, religion, caste, gender, age, reason, and a variety of other factors
- When a firm has set forth certain criteria for terminating an employee and those standards are broken, the organization faces legal action.
- If public policy is broken, the consequences are severe.
The method for dismissing an employee is defined in the Employment Contract signed by both the employer and the employee. The contract may or may not contain terms about the method for terminating employees; if it does, it must comply with labor laws; if it does not, the employer must follow state-specific labor laws. There are two sorts of employee terminations:
Contractual Termination: Employment contracts specify a specific method for terminating an employee. This is the most common technique of termination. A fixed-term employment contract, in which an employee is recruited for a certain amount of time, is more likely to result in this type of termination. The employee is automatically terminated if the employer does not renew the contract, which does not constitute wrongful termination.
Termination by Law: If there isn’t a particular provision for terminating an employee, the employer must follow state-specific labor laws.
Termination Procedures in India
Disobedience, theft, fraud, tardiness, taking a bribe, being dishonest, causing damage to the company’s property, and job negligence are all reasons for dismissal.
Ordinary termination: this is the most common method of terminating an employee. It stipulates that the employer must provide the employee with 30 days’ notice.
Employees’ rights to be protected from unlawful termination
In India, several labor laws protect employees from unfair termination, including the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, the Workmen’s Compensation Act of 1923, and the State Shops and Establishments Acts.
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947: The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, stipulates that if an employee has worked for more than a year, the employer can only fire him once a relevant government authority has authorized him. He must also give a valid cause for dismissing the employment and pay the employee severance compensation (equivalent to 15 days’ income) for the number of years he worked for him.
If an employee has been unlawfully dismissed by the company, the employee must first file a formal complaint with the Human Resource (HR) Department. If an employee has been unlawfully dismissed, the HR Department will usually settle the matter and restore the employee’s employment; however, if the HR Department does not act, the employee must send a legal notice to the employer seeking damages, such as:
- Back pay and benefits lost Out-of-pocket expenses
- Preliminary Injunction
- Damages for Punishment
- Compensation for Severance Package Retrenchment
- Provident Fund for Health Insurance
If a contractual obligation is broken, the employee has the right to launch a civil claim in the Labor Court. Employees can bring actions in both criminal and civil courts to initiate claims of criminal intimidation.
Conclusion
The employment regulations in India are intricate. Employers that unlawfully dismiss their workers are aware of the rules and procedures that employees might use to seek redress, and hence are aware of how to avoid culpability by using loopholes. Employees, on the other hand, must be aware of their rights, as well as what reasons or grounds constitute wrongful termination, to bring a wrongful termination lawsuit against the employer.
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