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I have worked for 3 companies so far (all in India), with the following work history:

  • 1st company (an MNC (multinational corporation)): Jul 1, 2014 to Feb 3, 2015
  • 2nd company (a startup): Feb 4, 2015 to Jul 30, 2016
  • 3rd company (a startup): Aug 1, 2016 to present

My 1st company gave me a relieving letter that shows Feb 6, 2015 as my last working day. Now my current company has asked me to explain the overlap between the previous jobs.

I worked at my 1st company only until Feb 3. I told my TL (team lead) verbally that I need to join my next job on Feb 4, so I can only work till Feb 3. He agreed and assured me that he would ensure I am relieved on Feb 3.

I have already written to the 1st company's HR, but they replied that as per records, my last working day was Feb 6.

I am really scared right now that my current company may take legal action against me, because it appears that I left one of the previous jobs without completing the notice period.

How should I explain this situation to them?

Masked Man
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ravi teja Kaveti
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    Did you give your notice correctly at the first company? What did you say in your email asking for a correction? The way you phrased that request is very important. It would allow us to see if there is room for asking again and perhaps asking a different way. Also, do you have any pay stubs? or bank records? or emails from that time period? If you were just overpaid by mistake, then that can easily be corrected once you pay the money back. – Stephan Branczyk May 19 '17 at 19:06
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    Or perhaps, you had some unused vacation days, so they added a couple of extra days without telling to make sure you'd get paid what you were owed. – Stephan Branczyk May 19 '17 at 19:15
  • Is it possible the week in question was vacation/holiday? – Peter May 19 '17 at 19:15
  • @PagMax, He's talking about this: https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/20945/what-is-a-relieving-letter-what-are-the-consequences-of-not-having-one It comes up a lot on this StackExchange, that's how I know about it. – Stephan Branczyk May 20 '17 at 05:13
  • @StephanBranczyk i mailed my first company regarding this discrepancy. and also said if i overpaid by mistake then i'm ready to pay amount back.but they are not ready to correct my relieving letter. – ravi teja Kaveti May 20 '17 at 06:49
  • @StephanBranczyk i know i did a mistake of not noticing this issue early. i didn't even know until my current company point's this issues. what precautions need to take that this will not be a issue in future and will not repeat again. thanks for helping me buddy. – ravi teja Kaveti May 20 '17 at 06:52
  • @MaskedMan i understood i did a mistake by leaving early in my first company and joining the second company on feb 4th. is there any way i can correct that mistake.or if not possible then will there be any legal actions on me by my current company? – ravi teja Kaveti May 20 '17 at 10:27
  • @ravitejaKaveti, No, that's not what I asked. "Notice" has two definitions. By notice, I meant to ask: When did you notify your first employer that you were going to leave them? – Stephan Branczyk May 23 '17 at 04:16

1 Answers1

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Relax! Nobody will take you to court over a small mistake made at the start of your career. No company, and certainly not a startup, would waste so much money in legal fees, for a 3-day overlap in job, especially in case of a relatively junior employee. Besides, the court is very likely to throw out such a frivolous case, and reprimand the company for wasting its time.

Your company found an anomaly in your employment history and asked you for an explanation. This is not a molehill that you should make a mountain of. You made a honest mistake, so just tell them that. Don't try to get "creative" and cover it up with strange excuses.

They could, however, take disciplinary action against you if they found any misinformation in your job application. However, that is highly unlikely unless there is clear evidence of fraud. In my experience, HR will most likely just make note of your explanation in their records, and close the matter since your explanation is easily believable.

Bad news for you, though, you may have to keep explaining this for a while at future jobs or interviews.1 Just tell them that it was a misunderstanding on your part, that is, you had assumed that the date agreed with the team lead was the last working day, and you did not realize the significance of the official company records back then. Unless the company has strangely rigid policies in this matter, they will not make a huge deal out of it.

1 When you have, say, 8 years of experience, few people would care about 3 days of overlap so many years ago, and they won't even bother asking.

Masked Man
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  • thansk a lot. definitely i will explain everything to my current employee and hope they will excuse me. once again thanks a lot man for your support . i appreciate it. – ravi teja Kaveti May 20 '17 at 11:49