What should not be in a relieving letter?

A relieving letter consists of a positive response or feedback of the employee from the organization. This article is a guide to understanding the reliving letter and what should not be in the relieving letter.

 The relieving letter is also a letter of acknowledgment thanking the employee’s services towards the company. The relieving letter is crucial for various other organizations to understand and measure you through your immediate past work job roles and experience. Apart from this, the relieving letter is issued to the employee only upon the completion of the pending work or assigned work .An employee can get their relieving letter only after they have cleared all the formalities and there are no pending jobs.

• The relieving letter should never be in a negative tone.
• The relieving letter should not criticise the employee’ work and the document should not have negative undertones. It should not demean the employee’s character.
• The relieving letter should strictly be professional in nature and should not give unnecessary information about the candidate.

A relieving letter also stands as a properly drafted communication from the organization confirming the resignation of the employee. The relieving letter once issued also shows that the company has accepted the employee s resignation and that they are discharged from their present duties. The relieving letter being an official communication follows this particular protocol of writing in a clear manner.

Therefore it is a huge responsibility and important that the relieving letter is written well as it signifies the growth and path of the employee s career. Following is a sample relieving letter and one can take help from this to write a good relieving letter.

Sample relieving letter:

Date of the letter issued

Employee Name

Employee Address

Employee Address – city 

To Whomsoever It May Concern

With reference to your resignation letter dated on.........., your resignation has been accepted and weagree to relieve you from the duties on .......... We confirm that you have worked with our company from ....... as a ..........................

During your employment with us we found you to be sincere and hardworking in performing your duties.

We would like to thank you for your service with the company and wish you the best for your future endeavours.

Best wishes

HR Manager

Executive name

Key features to remember - What should not be in a relieving letter?

• The relieving letter should always be issued from the organization’s letterhead only. It should not be issued on a blank paper
• The relieving letter has to mention and begin with the resignation of the employee and that it has been accepted by the company. It should not be left blank when it comes to the date and year of relieving.
• The employee post held in the last tenure should be mentioned in the relieving letter and unnecessary details should not be disclosed.
• The relieving letter should never talk negatively. It should always talk positively and give credit to the employee’s performance.
• The relieving letter should never criticise the employee. It should always end positively wishing the employee more success for the future.
• The relieving letter should be written in simple English yet the language and tone should be kept professional. The relieving letter should never use slang words.
• The relieving letter should always be a letter of communication to help the employee go ahead in their career and never a road block to get more career offers.
• The relieving letter should always be issued at the time of the employee leaving the company. Any delay in the issue will only dampen the employee’s career pursuits.