Exits go wrong in India far more often than entries do. A candidate clears every interview round, accepts the offer, and then loses weeks to a notice period dispute or a background check that flags something the candidate had forgotten about. This is how the exit machinery works and where it usually jams.
Your notice period is whatever your appointment letter says it is, not what the industry generally does. Read the clause before you resign, and read it again if you were promoted or transferred, because a revised letter or a new grade can change the period. Three points people miss:
Resign in writing by email, keep the acknowledgement, and note the date. Your last working day is calculated from the date the resignation is received, not from the date your manager finally agrees to accept it.
If your new employer wants you earlier than your notice allows, there are three normal routes. Your current employer may simply release you early, often adjusting your unused leave against the shortfall. You may buy out the balance by paying the amount your appointment letter specifies. Or you may be put on garden leave, kept on the payroll but asked not to come in.
Buy-out is a negotiation on both sides. Ask your new employer whether they will reimburse it, and get that commitment in the offer letter rather than on a call, because reimbursements agreed verbally have a habit of becoming impossible at the payroll stage. Ask your current employer for the buy-out amount in writing, with the computation, before you pay anything.
These are the papers your next employer and their verification agency will ask for:
Also complete your EPF housekeeping. Your UAN stays with you for life, so ask your employer to mark your date of exit in the EPFO records. Until that date is updated, an online transfer or withdrawal request cannot be processed, and this single missing field is one of the most common reasons transfers stall.
Most mid-sized and large Indian employers outsource verification to a third-party agency. The agency typically covers employment history, education, address, a criminal record check and database or watchlist screening, and sometimes reference conversations with named managers.
For employment, the agency contacts the HR department or a designated verification desk at each past employer and confirms your dates, designation and separation status. Larger organisations often route this through a paid verification portal rather than answering email. Education is verified with the university or board, which is why a degree from a distance programme with a slow records office can hold up your joining for weeks through no fault of yours.
Genuine fraud is rare. Avoidable carelessness is not. The common flags are:
If a previous employer refuses a relieving letter, perhaps because of a notice period dispute, tell your new employer early. Most will accept an alternative pack of evidence such as salary slips, Form 16, bank credits and the EPF passbook showing contributions, along with a written explanation. What they will not forgive is discovering the problem from the agency after you have joined.
Working for two employers at the same time is prohibited under most Indian appointment letters and creates a real compliance problem for both. It shows up easily, because EPF contributions from two establishments against the same UAN in the same month are visible in your passbook.
Be careful about accidental overlaps. If you join on the first of the month while your old employer records your exit on the third, you may have a two day overlap that the new employer's system reads as dual employment. Flag it in advance rather than hoping nobody notices.
Treat your exit with the same care as your interviews. Accurate dates, a clean relieving letter and a properly closed EPF record are what turn an offer into a joining.
