Experience certificate and relieving letter: what to include and when to issue it

What does an experience and relieving letter state?

An employee leaving a job in Punjab or Chandigarh often needs written proof of the period and designation they worked in, and that they have formally been relieved from a stated last working day: for a new employer, a visa application or their own record. This letter is that proof, issued once by the employer after the exit is essentially complete.

It covers the handful of facts that other offices and employers actually check. Our free experience and relieving letter asks for:

• The date of joining and the last working day
• The designation held at the time of leaving, and the department or team
• The employee’s ID or code, if the company uses one
• A statement on conduct and performance (see below)
• A statement on whether dues have been cleared (see below)
• The reason for leaving and the purpose of the letter, both optional

When should an employer issue it?

Only once the employee’s last working day has arrived and the exit formalities are far enough along for every statement in the letter to be accurate. A letter issued early and later contradicted by events is worse than none at all.

Dues are the sharp edge. A relieving letter that certifies dues are cleared before the full and final settlement is actually done is a statement the company may have to answer for later. So the form offers two versions: that all dues have been cleared and the company has no outstanding claim arising from the employment, or that the full and final settlement is still in process and will be completed separately, which does not certify that dues are cleared. Where settlement is still running, use the second. The full and final settlement letter is the paper that lists what is being paid and deducted once the employee has left.

Do you have to say the employee’s conduct was satisfactory?

No. The form offers two statements: that the company found the employee’s conduct and performance satisfactory, or that the company makes no representation about them. The second exists for exits that followed a disciplinary process, where an unqualified “satisfactory” would sit awkwardly beside the personnel file. Using it does not require you to explain why.

Do not treat the letter as closing every obligation between the two sides. A separate confidentiality or non-solicitation agreement may survive it, so check that before you regard the relationship as fully closed.

Who signs it, and does it need stamp paper or a notary?

Issue it on the company’s letterhead over the signature of whoever actually handles exit formalities: an HR head or manager, or in a small concern the proprietor or a partner. That signature is enough. No witnesses are needed.

In Punjab and in Chandigarh it is a factual certificate, not an instrument creating or transferring any right, so it is not chargeable to stamp duty under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, and no stamp paper or e-stamp is needed. Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 has no application to it, so it is not registrable. A notary adds nothing to a factual certificate of this kind.

Is an experience letter the same as a salary certificate?

No. The experience and relieving letter confirms the period and designation of employment and that the employee stands relieved from a stated date. A salary certificate is the separate document for confirming current salary, typically for a loan or a visa application. The month-by-month pay statement is a third paper again; see our salary slip guide.

What if the letter is for a permanent residence application?

An immigration authority often wants, from each employer, the job title, the dates, the main duties, how many hours a week the person worked and what they were paid. An ordinary experience or relieving letter often leaves these out. The experience / reference letter for PR, issued by the employer on its letterhead, carries each of them. Its box for other pay or benefits takes a line such as “Overtime paid separately at the monthly rate of Rs 3,000 on average”.

• The letter must match the rest of the file: the pay slips, bank statements, tax records and the employee’s own résumé. Hours, dates or pay that disagree between papers is what an officer reads as a doubtful claim.
• The employer should sign only what its records show. Duties inflated to fit a skilled occupation expose the signatory as well as the employee.
• Where the employee was paid in cash, or the employer is an individual or a small firm with no letterhead, say so in the letter and support it with whatever independent records exist.

What comes before this letter?

The employee’s own resignation letter starts the exit, and the notice period runs after it; our resignation letter guide covers that side. This letter is issued afterwards, to record that the exit is complete.

Questions people ask