Relieving letter: All you need to know about this document

Early career professionals building a successful career path tend to switch jobs as they look to grab better growth opportunities. However, make sure you get all the necessary documents from the organisation you have resigned before starting at a new company.

One crucial document you must collect from the previous company is a relieving letter. It is provided by the employer and says your resignation has been accepted and you have been relieved of all your responsibilities as an employee.

Employees may even get into legal trouble if they do not have a relieving letter from the previous employer.

Unfortunately, most new hires are not aware of the importance of the letter, what all it must contain, how it is different from an experience letter, and such important factors. Here is a quick explainer about a relieving letter.

Understanding the importance and relevance

Murali Santhanam, CHRO of AscentHR says,
“a relieving letter is a document proving that an employee had a smooth exit from an organisation and is ready for a hassle-free transition to another.

Prospective employers can take an employee’s inability to produce this document as a negative signal related to integrity, performance, behaviour, discipline or more.

Of course, there are organisations that might not ask a new employee for a relieving letter. In such a case, a red flag should go up about the entity’s HR practices. Also, it is safer and a professional practice for an employee to always have relieving letters from all the organisations she has worked with.

Some organisations that do not follow good HR practices may just not provide a relieving letter, or for that matter even an appointment letter” 

It is better to be wary of these organisations.

Santhanam says a relieving letter may not be relevant in certain situations such as short-term contractual employment and part-time employment. In such cases, it is recommended that employees request a contract or part-time work completion certificate.

A relieving letter is vital to show that an employee who has resigned has cleared all dues and has no work pending, says Sarbojit Mallick, co-founder, Instahyre, a job search platform. It also assists organisations to ensure that a person who has resigned is entirely released of their obligations and is not in possession of the company’s data or property.

Relieving letter v/s experience letter: What is the difference

A relieving letter should not be confused with an experience letter. Both are important documents and have their own standing in an employment process.

Santhanam explains that a service certificate or work experience certificate is normally addressed as “To whomsoever it may concern”. It provides the name of the employee with the position held and the employment duration. It may sometimes have a statement detailing that the employee’s character and conduct during the time of employment were satisfactory or good.

Relieving letters have more details. The document is given to an employee when he or she resigns from the company, says Mallick. “The HR department of the organisation validates the employee’s resignation letter and records the last date of employment in the relieving letter. The experience letter says what kind of experience the employee has.”

Elements a relieving letter must contain

The HR departments of most companies have their own formats for relieving letters. And a company with good HR practices would issue a comprehensive letter. But employees must know what the letter should have, so that it doesn’t cause any hurdles in subsequent employment opportunities.

According to Santhanam, a good relieving letter will clearly state the name of the employee in full, the employee ID, location of work, date of joining, position held at the time of leaving, and the last working day. It will articulate that the employee in question has been relieved from his employment with effect from a specific date. It will also highlight that the full and final settlement has been made and there are no outstanding dues from either the employer or the employee. “It could end with a goodwill wish. It must always be signed by an HR manager or HR head or CHRO as the case may be or an authorised signatory or the CEO, MD, etc,” says the CHRO of AscentHR.

Mallick says a relieving letter can be short and concise.

“It might just say ‘Dear XYZ, you have successfully completed your tenure at this company as this job title from this date till this date. We appreciate your efforts towards the growth of the company and wish you luck in your future endeavours’,” he says.

Can an employer deny a relieving letter to an individual?

In normal circumstances, Santhanam says a separating employee is entitled to a relieving letter. However, companies can deny relieving letter to employees found to be indulging in unlawful activities; performing an action in violation of the employment contract/appointment letter; or an action that is against a published policy that could be related to violation of a code of conduct, unethical actions, POSH, integrity, performance, behaviour, discipline, absconding from work, etc.

“Relieving letters are normally not issued to employees terminated for cause. In business parlance, termination is normally initiated by employers for violation or breach of a policy or contractual obligations,” he clarifies.

Some companies deny employee a relieving letter when there is employment termination, says Mallick. Unsatisfactory code of conduct, parting ways on bad terms, not serving notice period, or breaching the employment contract in some way are a few factors that can lead to refusal of the letter from an employer’s end, he adds.