Conundrum around employee notice period and their solutions

The notice period, a colloquial manifestation in HR parlance of the period in which the employee has to work with the employer before parting ways, has for – time immemorial – been a subject of great controversy for both the employees and the management. Making the employee serve the contractually specified notice period holds significance for both the employer and the employee – by allowing the former to gain some buffer before the employee leaves the establishment to find the requisite replacement, and the latter to look for more opportunities in the much-saturated job market – the modalities around the same often end up leaving both the stakeholders confused and skeptically poised. The questions such as whether employees should be allowed to avail leaves during their notice period, whether some punitive action should be taken against them for not serving their notice period, and whether it is proper for employers to go to the extent of not issuing relieving letters to such absconding employees as the appropriate course of action have ended up creating...