What decides the notice period
- The appointment letter or policy: usually 30 days for junior staff and 60 to 90 days for senior roles, and often shorter during probation.
- Standing orders: in establishments that must have them, they set notice for workers.
- The employer ending employment: for workers, retrenchment needs a month's notice or pay in its place, plus compensation of 15 days' wages for each year of service.
- The same notice both ways is usual and fair: if the employee must give 60 days, the employer gives 60 days too.
When notice is not served in full
If the appointment letter says so, the employer can recover pay for the days of notice not served, from the full and final settlement. Without such a clause, a recovery is hard to defend. The employer can also agree to release someone early, or ask them to stay at home on full pay for the notice period. Whatever you decide, put it in writing.
Can a resignation be refused?
No one can be made to keep working. The employer can ask the person to serve the notice the contract sets, try to keep them, or hold back nothing more than what the contract allows. Accept the resignation in writing with the last working day, so both sides know where they stand.
From resignation to the last day
- Receive the resignation in writing, and note when the notice period starts: from the day it is given, or from acceptance, as your policy says.
- Accept it, or talk first, and confirm the last working day and who takes over the work.
- Decide on leave during notice. Many policies do not allow planned leave, and adjust unused leave against notice only if the policy says so.
- Run the exit checklist: handover, IT, admin, accounts, company assets and the exit interview.
- Issue the no-dues once everything is cleared.
After the last day
- Full and final settlement within two working days of the last day, under the Code on Wages. Full and final settlement checklist.
- Gratuity, if eligible, within 30 days. Gratuity calculator.
- Leave encashment for unused earned leave. Leave encashment calculator.
- Relieving and experience letters, and Form 16 when it is due.
- PF: the leaving date updated on the EPFO portal, so the employee can transfer or withdraw.
Common mistakes
- Holding back the relieving letter or salary to force someone to serve notice.
- Recovering notice pay with no clause in the appointment letter.
- Waiting for the next payroll date to pay the full and final settlement.
- Forgetting to collect laptops, phones and ID cards before the last day.
- No written record of the last working day.
How HR Bingo handles it
Employees resign from the app or the web, and the approver accepts, holds or retains them with the last working day and who takes over. You set when notice starts, notice during probation and leave during notice. An exit checklist goes to each department, company assets still held are added to it, the exit interview and no-dues follow, and the full and final settlement is prepared before the last day. Letters are made automatically, and the leaver gets a private link to their documents. Onboarding and exit.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is the notice period for resignation in India?
Whatever the appointment letter or company policy says, usually 30 to 90 days. There is no single national notice period for private-sector staff.
Can an employer recover notice pay?
Yes, if the appointment letter or policy provides for it, from the full and final settlement for the days not served.
Can leave be adjusted against the notice period?
Only if your policy says so. Many companies pay unused earned leave in the full and final settlement instead.
How soon must the full and final settlement be paid?
Within two working days of the last day, under the Code on Wages. Gratuity has its own 30-day limit.