I am an Indian working for a local company since 1 and half years. My residence was locally transferred. Last week our company’s HR department called and terminated me effective that date mentioned. They wanted my passport and asked me to transfer my residence within 3 days or else they would cancel my residence and deport me. They have not even given me termination letter. I approached Shoun and they gave me 2 months grace period to transfer the residence. Today I received   a call from my company asking me to hand over the passport or else they would file an absconding case against me so that I would face problems. They earlier requested the passports of my colleagues and immediately cancelled the residence asking them to leave the country. Kindly advise me what is the next step to remain safe? Should I approach labor court or police station or should I hand over the passport to the company?

Name withheld

Answer: The company can’t do anything. Don’t give them your passport. You can report the threats they are making to the Labor Dept and also file a case against them with the police. Once the Labor Dept has given you two months to transfer your residence they can’t interfere.