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UI work with a small startup since July 2023. It’s fairly niche and I report directly to the two founders. This Monday, I was called into the office to inform that this wasn’t working out and they will let me go based on performance. They said they would put me on garden leave during notice period (2 months) but will withhold salary till the end of 2 months. There was no mention of a severance as well. I will be allowed to resign on paper.
This was very sudden because the last discussion on my performance was in my performance meeting, initiated by me. I had requested a performance review last year in June, before completing one year which the co-founders kept pushing till September. I brought up several points including salary which had not been incremented (not even inflation adjusted) all this while. My roles and responsibilities had changed considerable since I joined and I wanted a revised title, which they agreed to at the time but later did not reach an agreement on the revised title. The meeting ended with how I can be more involved in the company and ‘perform better’. They later offered to a 5% hike with some increased responsibilities. I was not delighted but took what I was offered.
The reason cited on Monday had started with ‘we have bad news, the most recent task isn’t up to the mark’. I had spent the weekend working on it and had one-on-one meetings with both the founders on the task, on Friday and Saturday respectively. We were supposed to finish it on Monday and this happened instead. The task is also something I do routinely, and I have always put in equal amounts of efforts. I didn’t argue at all because I could see where this is going. There was no communication/feedback/warning regarding performance until Monday.
My biggest concern is them holding off salary completely ruins my finances. Also, isn’t it illegal? The contract says nothing about holding pay. There’s nothing about severance package in the contract either and based on their work ethic, I have no hopes. What are my options going forward?
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FSee if you can request that salary be paid monthly. Since they are giving you 2 months of leave + salary, it’s not totally hopeless. You can use this time to find a new job. And since you have full time, hopefully you will be able to get a job quickly.
If your notice period as per employment contract was 2 months or less, then there isn’t anything more that you can expect (unless you are eligible for gratuity on completion of 4 years and 6 months with the same org).
Sometimes young founders (who have not managed large teams or worked with big orgs) don’t understand how to give performance related feedback. They may have seen issues for long but kept pushing the tough talk. Your last performance meeting that ended in “perform better” and the 5% increment were enough warning signs.
As for legal action, I am not sure whether any legal action can be taken against the company or whether it will be even worth it. So long as they are paying the notice period salary, giving you exit documents you should cut your losses and move on. Don’t burn bridges unnecessarily, you may need their reference in future.
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