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UNeed advice regarding resignation during high-risk pregnancy, notice period buyout, and withholding of documents (India)
My wife works at a private school in India and is currently going through a very severe high-risk pregnancy with ongoing medical complications. She has been under continuous medical supervision, and due to the seriousness of the pregnancy, the school had officially approved her sabbatical/medical leave earlier.
Unfortunately, the pregnancy condition worsened significantly (hospital visits, fetal complications, possible NICU situation, etc.), and she became medically unfit to continue working. Because of this, she submitted her resignation purely on medical grounds — not because of another job opportunity.
Current situation:
– The school has acknowledged the resignation.
– She personally visited the school and submitted all official assets/laptop to the IT department.
– Medical records supporting her condition are available.
– Sabbatical/medical leave approval is documented.However, HR is now saying she must either:
1. Serve the notice period physically, OR
2. Pay notice period buyout.At the same time, the following are still pending:
– Experience/Relieving letter
– Salary slips
– Form 16
– UAN/PF details
– Full & Final settlementTimeline:
– Initial formal mail sent: 30 April
– Follow-up mail sent: 5 May
– Final escalation mail also sent recently
– No proper response from HR yet.My questions:
1. Can a company/school legally enforce notice period buyout when the employee is medically unfit due to a documented high-risk pregnancy?
2. Does approved sabbatical/medical leave strengthen her position legally?
3. Can they withhold Form 16, salary slips, PF/UAN details, and relieving documents because of a notice period dispute?
4. Would approaching Labour Commissioner/Women’s Commission/help through advocate make sense here?
5. Has anyone dealt with a similar situation in India?We are already under major emotional, medical, and financial stress due to the pregnancy complications and trying to understand the best practical/legal approach before escalating further.
Would really appreciate guidance from anyone familiar with Indian employment law or similar experiences.
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UIf you are not in a hurry to get another job, stay silent. do not pay. let them do their thing. After when you are looking for job, you can for letters and pay if needed. most likely they will relieve you.
otherwise goback and join. why bother about resigning now?
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UThis just seems like a normal process to follow when your employment offer comes with a notice period.
The employee either serves the notice period allowing the employer to find a replacement & plan training or under circumstances like yours where it can’t be served , the employee needs to buy out. It’s usually debited from the full & final settlement , in case there is not enough balance to debit – then the employee pays the balance to close the settlement. Documents like relieving letter will be released once the dues are cleared.Same applies if the school terminates you, they let you serve the notice period or pay the equivalent salary. It doesn’t seem like your wife is being treated unfairly, it’s just the employment terms your wife signed to when she joined the school, right?
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UI think she should not have resigned. Since she was anyway on sabbatical, she could have only focused on her health for now. Rejoining or not is a concern for later. She could have easily resigned post delivery with maternity benefits.
But legally, yes they can ask to either serve notice period (Physically or WFH depends on the job, i dont think teachers can WFH), or buyout.
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DLawyer here. Your wife’s documented high-risk pregnancy and serious medical complications are highly relevant factors, particularly since the school had already approved her leave. Although the employer may rely upon contractual notice period or buyout clauses, insisting upon strict compliance in a situation involving severe pregnancy-related complications may be viewed as unreasonable. While the school may separately raise a contractual claim regarding notice pay, withholding statutory and employment-related documents and legitimate dues solely because of a notice period dispute is generally not considered justified. PF-related compliances in particular ordinarily cannot be denied on that basis.
If HR continues to remain non-responsive, issuing a formal legal notice seeking release of pending documents and settlement of dues may be an appropriate next step, following which remedies before the Labour Commissioner, education authorities, or other appropriate forums may also be explored if necessary.
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